Chinese Muslims Celebrate Corban Festival

Millions of Chinese Muslims celebrated the tradition of Corban across the country Tuesday and Wednesday.

In northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, 76-year-old Liu Wenming attended a religious ritual at the Nanguan Mosque in the regional capital, Yinchuan, Wednesday morning, along with some 10,000 Muslims.

"My son, daughter and grandchildren will come from different parts of Ningxia to have a family lunch with me. Then we will visit other relatives and friends," said Liu.

In Qinghai Province also in the northwest, many Muslims began to gather at the Dongguan Mosque in the provincial capital Xining before 8 a.m. Tuesday. By 9 a.m., roads outside the mosque were packed with pious Muslims.

Ten ethnic groups in China, including the Hui, Uygur, Dongxiang and Bao'an, celebrate the annual festival -- but they celebrate it on different days. Some celebrated it on Tuesday while others celebrated it Wednesday. The timing depends on each ethic group's tradition.

The Corban Festival, also known as Id Al-Gurban, is a major Islamic festival that shows believers' faith and obedience to Allah. People slaughter livestock and divide it into three parts.

One part is for the family. Another part is for relatives and friends. The third part is for charity.

China has more than 20 million Muslims. They mainly live in Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and Henan.

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2010)