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Download China's economic miracle no longer needs any special introduction.
But images of the booming coastal cities are hardly a true reflection of its ethnic diversity and varying landscapes.
This week, our correspondent Clarence Chua travels to the desert region of Ningxia to find out more about the Hui Muslim minority.
It's about noon at the prefecture-level city of Wuzhong and several young Hui students have arrived at the Beida Mosque.
And the mosque is the only place they can go to if they wish to study Arabic or the Quran.
“My name is Li Ke Yang, 33-year old. I have been studying at this mosque for 13, going on 14 years. I study the Quran and the teachings of Islam in the hope of developing the religion and also to increase my Islamic knowledge.”
But Beida Mosque imam Ibrahim Ma explains that young students like Li are becoming a rarity.
“Our mosque does not attract many young people, more on the middle aged group or the elderly. Maybe during Rahmadan you’ll see some of the young people. The spread of Islam in China is pretty conservative now. It’s not like in the past where there are mass conversions. Here in China Islam is a personal belief. We never force people to convert. We want people to embrace Islam willingly.”
Ningxia is officially known as the Hui autonomous province but in reality ethnic Han Chinese are in the majority.
However, in Wuzhong city the story is rather different.
Here, Hui Muslims make up more than half of the 1.5 million inhabitants.
The Hui Chinese look almost indistinguishable from their Han counterpart.
And unlike other Chinese Muslims like the Uyghers, the Hui people’s native tongue is Mandarin.
Buy sometimes their eyes betray their ancestry.
Many Hui Muslims I met have green or light brown eyes.
“A portion of the Hui people of Arab and Persian travelers who came to China via the Silk Road. They remained and intermarried with the local Hans or other ethnic groups.”
But Ibrahim Ma says not all Hui people have Middle Eastern roots.
“A portion of the Huis are also Hans who converted to Islam. Although there is a difference between one’s ethnicity and religion, sometimes in China they are referred to as one and the same. And after many years they are also being referred to as the Hui. Now they are very few Hans who become Muslims unless there is a mixed marriage.”
Wuzhong is also a regional religious and commercial hub, with more than a 1000 mosques.
And the Chinese authorities are trying to capitalize their ancient links with the Arabs.
Last month a Sino-Arab trade expo was held at Ningxia’s capital Yinchuan.
There is even a Disneyland like “Islamic Park” in Yongning that is located between Yinchuan and Wuzhong.
McDonalds and Burger Kings have not reached these parts of China but famous local brands like Li-Ning, Anta and Stepwolf are already dominating the high street in Wuzhong.
And 44-year-old trader Ibrahim Wang is worried that young Hui Muslims are losing their religious identity.
“There are no restrictions to learn more about Islam in China...but instead of learning more about their religion the younger generation of Muslims are getting caught up in the material world. That is the biggest problem.”
All the mosques that I visited in Wuzhong seem to attract the old and middle aged.
Ibrahim Ma explains why.
“We should attract more graduates and send them to Malaysia, Indonesia, Syria and the Middle East to learn more so that they could be good religious teachers. But even this is hard because in other countries being a religious teacher is regarded highly but in China their income is low and so they have a low social status. So naturally many are not interested.”
Wang Jin Yu is responsible for Islamic education at the Wunan Mosque.
He refutes the perception that the religious decline among young Muslims in China is a direct result of government oppression.
“We have constant discussions with the authorities to have better a better understanding of each other. To let them know or perspective and needs on certain things. Of course after September 11, Islam is put under the spotlight. But we are Chinese Muslims and we reject all these extremist influences from outside. Islam is in reality a beautiful and compassionate religion. The authorities are generally very supportive of our activities as long as we stay out of politics. I don’t think there is any suppression of Islam. In fact being a minority has benefits. We could have more than one child, entry requirements for school are lower and others”.