In the Hui Culture Park, in Yongning County, 25 kilometers from Yinchuan, there is a Hui Ethnic Museum. It is the only Islamic-themed museum in China. According to a guide, the rich exhibits here not only attract local Hui people, but also tourists from the other parts of China and abroad, including guests from the Middle East. All the Hui people are very energized after their visits here, as it displays their history and culture.

    Most of the museum guides are Hui girls. Zhang Yuxin, one of the guides, is a 22-year-old graduate majoring in Arabic from the Ningxia Islamic Institute. She says she just works here temporarily, because she applied to study at Al-Azhar University in Egypt and is waiting for a visa.

    “I can speak fluent Arabic in daily conversation, but I want to be a professional translator,” says Zhang, which is why she wants further study abroad. Zhang’s home is in Sanyin Town, Guyuan City. Her mother runs a restaurant that provides food prepared according to Islamic law. “Since ancient times, the Hui have been good at doing business. Their businesses range from selling furs and running restaurants, to transporting goods,” says Zhang.

    She discusses business in a clear and logical way, despite her youth. She says the Hui’s business ability is innate. Talking about her future plans after studying abroad, she says she expects to be a translator, helping Chinese traders or Hui construction companies that have projects in Middle Eastern countries, or assisting merchants from Arab areas to do business in Yiwu, a Chinese city famous as a commodities center. “Trade between China and Arab countries is increasing, but professional translators are in short supply.”

    Zhang says that many of her schoolmates share the same ambition — studying in Egypt or other Arab countries, and then becoming translators. “Islam encourages both boys and girls to study,” says Zhang. “My parents are not worried about me because Egypt, where I am going, is a Muslim country.” While working in the museum, she is willing to sing a song praising Muhammad in Arabic if any visitor expresses an interest.

Booming Halal Industries

    According to Wang Yan, the Halal food and Muslim commodities displayed in the store are mainly produced in Ningxia’s Wuzhong and Guyuan. In China, besides the Hui, there are 10 other ethnic groups that practice Islam, such as the Uygurs and the Kazakhs. More than 20 million people follow Islamic dietary laws.

    Walking in the streets of Yinchuan, one can often see two Chinese characters for “Qingzhen,” which means Halal. “All of the high-class restaurants in Ningxia only provide Halal foods,” says Zhang Wei. Although the Hui make up only one-third of the total population of Ningxia, Halal foods play a dominant role.

    According to Wang Jian, director of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Ethnic Affairs Commission, by the end of 2007 Ningxia had 9,000 sizable Halal food businesses. Most of them were restaurants, and only 1,700 were food processors, wholesalers and retailers. In 2007, Yinchuan saw a total output value of RMB 1.961 billion from its Halal foods, tonics and Muslim commodities processing and production sector.

    Ningxia Laoheqiao Halal Meat Co., Ltd. is located in the southern suburbs of Wuzhong City. There, over 800,000 sheep and 80,000 cattle are slaughtered every year. According to Xi Yushan, director of the company’s administrative office, Wuzhong houses more than 650,000 Hui, accounting for over 50 percent of the city’s population.