The Muslim population of China's western provinces celebrated the end of Ramadan, Islam's month of fasting, on Sunday.
   
In the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, 1 .91 million Muslims took part in the celebration at local mosques.
   
Around 1,000 Muslims, dressing neatly and wearing white caps, gathered around 10 a.m. at the famous Nanguan Mosque in the autonomous region's capital Yinchuan to attend the sacred ritual.
   
In the city of Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, a large group of believers went to the Dongguan Mosque, the province's biggest, to end their Ramadan.
   
Ma Xiande got up at seven in the morning. Dressing up neatly, he rushed to the mosque with his son.
   
Ma joined the crowd who were kneeling in the courtyard of the mosque, and greeted the surrounding people in Arabic.
   
As the imam announced the start of the ceremony at half past nine, all the Muslims piously began their worship in the mosque.
   
A table of delicious food with strong western Chinese flavors had been well prepared at Ma's home.
   
He said all his family members, including his two-year-old grandniece and his 88-year-old mother, got together to enjoy the first meal after the long fasting month.
   
To him, the religious ceremony is also a family ritual.
   
Ren Qixing, chairman of the Ningxia Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, sent his congratulations on behalf of the CPC committee and government of the autonomous region.
   
He said the remarkable economic development and social progress in Ningxia are attributable to the joint efforts of both the Han, China's majority ethnicity, and the region's Muslim Huis.
   
Major officials of the autonomous region joined in the fast breaking ceremonies in many districts and townships of Yinchuan, extending their greetings to local Muslims.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2004)