JEDDAH: Fouzia Khan ARABNEWS
Wednesday 10 October 2012
This year an estimated 13,800 Chinese pilgrims from 26 different provinces in China will perform Haj. It’s the largest number of Chinese pilgrims to perform Haj, said Ibrahim Hong Changyou, head of the Chinese Haj delegation in a press conference at the Chinese consulate yesterday.
China has a population of more than 20 million Muslims, with almost 35,000 mosques and 40,000 imams.
“I am very happy to lead the Chinese Muslim Haj delegation once again this year. The Chinese government is concerned about educating its Muslim (citizens) about the Haj regulations set by the Saudi government,” said Changyou.
He also said that almost 10,000 Chinese pilgrims have already arrived in the Kingdom and the rest will arrive by Friday on nine special Haj flights. Almost 7,000 Chinese pilgrims are in Makkah and 3,000 are in Madinah, where they will stay for five days before arriving in Makkah. The last flight of Chinese pilgrims will return them to China on Nov. 22.
Categories: Arab World, Asia, China, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia