Hui People – the Chinese Muslims
Hui minority (回族) is the most widely existed minority among the 55 minorities in China. Hui people are mainly inhabited in north and north-west of China, although you can almost find their existence in every single provinces in China. They practise Islam and following Islamic dietary laws. However, you will find Hui people from the north and north-west of China usually are a lot more strict with following their religious belief, while the Hui people down south are a lot more relaxed. Don’t be surprised if you met some Hui people, who don’t mind taking a few bites of some pork dishes.
Hui people have their own dress mode: men will usually wear white round caps while women wear head-scarves and sometimes veils with a long gown. However, most of the younger generations especially men prefer the trendy modern clothes than their traditional dress mode.
The origin of Hui people
are formed by immigrated Muslims from nearby countries. During the mid 7th century, groups of merchants from Parsa and Arab came to China and stayed in the south coast cities as well as inland northern cities. In the 13th century, while the Mongolian soldiers fought their way to the west, more Muslims from central Asia moved into China. These Persian, Arabic people and immigrants from central Asia all practise Islam. They gradually blended into local Han people, Mongolian and Uyghur culture and formed a new ethnic group – Hui.
Freshly Pulled Noodles
Chinese Mandarin is Hui people’s first language, and Arabic is their second language, which is mainly used for reciting and reading the Koran. However, there are limited number of Hui people that can read, write and speak Arabic in China.
Festivals of Hui people
are closely related to Islam religion. They practise fasting every year and celebrate the same major Islam festivals as the rest of the Muslims around the world.
Anyone who has lived in China for a while will notice that there are a few noodle restaurants run by Hui people in almost every single city in China and their noodles are cheap, tasty and served real fast. If you lucky, you can also see how the chef pulls a handful of noodles out of a flour dough.
