Dongguan mosque caters to Muslims in Xining

Dongguan mosque caters to Muslims in Xining

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Xining, China

This is the fifth article in a series based on a visit to
China, courtesy of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In Xining, tue ("yes" in Chinese) becomes nam, and an Arabic
equivalent is used for mei you ("no", pronounced may yo-oo), that
is, la.

When we first met Nurdin Cheng in front of the beautiful
Dongguan mosque he didn't hesitate to strike up a conversation in
Arabic, with nam and la seemingly punctuating his every sentence.

The short, yet well-built 22-year-old then took us Indonesians
on a tour around the 2.2 hectares of the mosque's compound, which
is situated in this capital of Qianghai province, about 1,300
kilometers to the west of Beijing.

A nearby shop sign was visible, announcing that a local shop
sold computer keyboards with both Chinese and Arabic characters.

The Dongguan mosque has a curious history. It was built 600
years ago, but its mostly wooden interior was engulfed in a fire
during the Qing dynasty in the 17th century. The mosque on
Dongguan street, in the area where most of the 120,000 Muslims in
the city of about one million people live, was rebuilt in 1914.

Cheng said he learned Arabic and to read the Koran at the
Dongguan boarding school.

"But I also learned science and mathematics, just like at
other schools," said Cheng with a warm smile. About 400 students
study at the boarding school.

Dongguan mosque director, Ma Zhi, 55, said there were 900,000
Muslims in the whole of Qinghai province and 1,300 mosques. "Ma"
means Muhammad in local dialect.

Bordering on Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Gansu province
and Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan province, Qinghai is the
fourth largest province in China with a population of 5.3 million
people. It occupies a total area of 720,000 square kilometers.

Elevated more than 2,000 meter above sea level and on an area
of 400 square kilometers, Xining or Western Peace is larger than
half of Jakarta.

In Xining there are more than 220 mosques, but Dongguan mosque
is the major one.

"On Friday, up to 20,000 people pray in Dongguan mosque," Ma
said.

Men and women dressed in Muslim attire are a common sight in
this part of Xining. Near the mosque is a strip of shops run by a
Muslim cooperative associated with the mosque. There are
restaurants with signs in Arabic and Chinese characters
advertising Muslim food. Mutton dishes from Qinghai seem to be
especially popular.

Islam and Tibetan Buddhism are two major religions in Qinghai.
Apart from its beautiful architecture, the Dongguan mosque is
decorated with Chinese calligraphy.

It so happens that one of the staff who manage the mosque is
an accomplished calligrapher.

The great talent of Hassan Wang Wei Ren, 61 -- an
internationally renowned calligrapher, whose works have been
displayed in many countries, including Japan and the United
States -- is evident in his work at the mosque. His name has been
entered in the Chinese equivalent of the "who's who" directory.

As a professional calligrapher, Wang practices six hours a day
writing Chinese characters, an art he first learned in 1958.

"Back then, I practiced for eight hours a day," he said of the
days when he worked in a printing factory. Like most Muslims in
Qinghai, Wang -- who has seven children and three grandchildren
-- comes from the minority Hui ethnic group.

Mastering at least 10,000 Chinese characters -- three times
the scope of ordinary people -- Wang, who hailed from Tian Jin,
is also dean of the Institute of Oriental Studies and a member of
the Institute of Chinese Calligraphy and Paintings.

Qinghai province is a place where many other ethnic minority
groups live also, each with their own distinct culture and
religion, like Tibetans, Tu, Sala and Mongols.

It is not by accident that Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said
in Beijing during his meeting with Indonesian journalists that
"knowing Qinghai means knowing China."

China has 56 ethnic groups, but the Han people comprise 91.6
percent of its population of 1.3 billion people. In sum, there
are nine Han for every ten people. As a nation, China is more
homogeneous than Indonesia, where there is only one Javanese
person for every two people.

Although religious freedom has a long history in China, only
about 10 percent of the population practice a religion.

A top government official says that minorities are allowed to
have more than one child, particularly in remote areas where they
often have three children. The government launched the one-child
policy for the Han people in the 1970s.

"Minorities also have privileges in education. Passing grades
for university entrance are lower for minorities to help boost
their number in higher education institutions," said Guo Genwang,
director of the protocol and information division at the Qinghai
Foreign Affairs Office.

They also pay lower tuition fees at schools and universities,
Guo said.

The mayor of the autonomy region in Qinghai also has to be a
Muslim and two of Qingha'si deputy governors were Muslims, he
said.