July 2018

The Muslim Quarter in the city of Xi’an in China is inhabited by the Islamic Hui people. It is a handful of confined and crowded passageways, through which locals and visitors compress in both directions. There are many yelling and aggressive merchants on each side of the alleys as well, making this an intriguing and absorbing area where one can find bizarre foodstuffs, interesting people, and fantastic souvenir arcades. The history of the Xi'an Muslim Quarter can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty in the 7th Century, when Arab merchants migrated there after being on the move for months along the Silk Road looking for trading opportunities in China. With the creation of the People’s Republic of China, most religious happenings in the mosques ceased, particularly throughout the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. The mosques in the Xi’an Quarter were either defaced, destroyed, closed, or turned into factories. The government began to relax its policies towards Muslims in 1978, allowing the closed or occupied mosques to reopen. Today, The Islamic Association of China is an officially sanctioned religious organization and is provided a certain extent of safety, but it is subject to numerous constraints and limitations. The level of religious freedom enjoyed by Muslims in China varies from region to region. The fact that this area has been the home to Chinese Muslims struggling to practice their faith for more than a millennium is something that most visitors regrettably never observe or ponder. Mutton dumplings, green bean jelly, braised sheep hooves, and scorpions on sticks are far more interesting to the novelty-seeking consumer/ traveler. In Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter, looks like capitalism and communism have at last found a common ground, however controversial.