Muslims in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region began celebrating on Thursday as one of the biggest religious festivals in China gets underway.
Ramadan, the monthlong Muslim holy month marked by daily fasting, ended on Saturday with the feast of Eid al-Fitr for the 12 million Muslims in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
Millions of Muslims across China began celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, on Friday.
Party chief of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region joined a group of Muslims for the fast-breaking meal during the last day of Ramadan in the regional capital of Urumqi on Friday night.
The truth in Xinjiang is completely different from a rumor that claims Muslims cannot fast during Ramadan, some Turkish businessmen and returned overseas Chinese learned their own experiences.
Muslims in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have been observing Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, since June 22. Ramadan continues until July 18 in Xinjiang, home to more than 12 million Muslims and 24,000 mosques, according to Ma Pinyan, a researcher at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.
Alim Amat was a successful businessman in Xinjiang before deciding to sell everything and smuggle his entire family to another country where they suffered under the influence of the extremist who had radicalized them.
Ramadan is an important religious festival and Chinese Muslims are no different to any other followers of Islam around the globe.
More than 100 clergies and Islam believers discussed their Ramadan experiences at the Xinjiang Islamic institute in Urumqi, the autonomous region's capital, on Saturday.
It is thus preposterous to say the local government forbids Muslims from fasting just because some of them choose not to fast for personal reasons.