China -

ixteen-year-old Zhu Tong loves skateboarding and belting out punk rock riffs on his bass guitar. But while most of his peers are grappling with English grammar, Zhu is mastering the art of Arabic. While they dream of studying in Harvard or Cambridge, Zhu has set his heart on being accepted for Islamic Studies in Medina, Saudi Arabia, once home of the greatest Islamic prophet, Mohammed.

Zhu is from one of China's Muslim minorities, the Hui, who are concentrated in the northwest of the country. Originally from Sichuan, Zhu now lives in the city of Linxia in northwestern Gansu Province where he attends an Islamic school. Nestled in a valley along the fabled Silk Road, Linxia is decidedly Hui and one of China's major Islamic cities, its skyline dominated by the minarets and domes of the city's countless mosques.

As is widely known, Islam forged its way into China via the Silk Road. But less well remembered is the religion's first foray into the country, which is said to have happened in the 7th century. Only 18 years after the death of Prophet Mohammed, his uncle arrived in Guangzhou to invite Emperor Yung Wei to embrace Islam. Though the Emperor may not have fallen to his knees on the spot, he must have been somewhat impressed because he ordered the erection of China's first mosque in Guangzhou. Though the original building was destroyed by fire in the 14th century, a Qing-dynasty building named Memorial Mosque still stands on the site.

From these small beginnings, Islam spread over China and now the country is home to some 33,000 mosques. Estimates of the Muslim population vary widely, between 60 and 200 million. The population is spread over 10 of China's 56 ethnic groups, of which the Hui are the most numerous, followed closely by the Uyghur people of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, where 23,000 mosques are to be found – over two thirds of China's total. Descendents of Turkic-speaking nomads, the Uyghur people began settling in the area now known as Xinjiang around the 7th century AD.

China's mosques can be divided into two distinct styles: the Arabic style and the Chinese or Oriental style. From their spiralling minarets to their bulbous domed roofs, Xinjiang's mosques are of the former type, having been heavily influenced by the mosques of the Middle East and Central Asia.

Some of the best examples are found in the oasis town of Turpan, in one of the hottest parts of China. Like most towns in Xinjiang, Turpan is littered with mosques, large and small, the most famous of which is Sugong Ta. Made from Turpan's characteristic mud bricks, this monochrome mosque with its single minaret was constructed in 1777.

Almost 1,500 kilometres across the Taklamakan Desert, Kashgar is another mecca for lovers of Arabic style mosques. Most celebrated is China's largest mosque, the Id Kah Mosque, its radiant yellow trimmed with mosaic. Built in the 15th century, the Id Kah Mosque is full of delightfully shady courtyards which can hold an estimated 20,000 worshippers. On Friday (Muslim Holy Day) worshippers stream inside the mosque to pray, while outside entrepreneurial youths sell disposable plastic prayer mats.

In addition to its magnificent mosques, Kashgar is home to several Muslim tombs adorned with the exquisite mosaics typical of ancient Central Asian Islamic architecture.

Islam gained a real foothold in China around the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Before then, Arab merchants established trading posts along the Silk Road, many of them marrying Han Chinese women and adopting their wives' names. They spoke the language of their adopted nation, and while maintaining Islamic customs, in many ways became integrated into Chinese society. This was the beginning of the Hui people. Unlike the Uyghurs, who stayed concentrated in Xinjiang, the Hui spread as far east as Beijing and as far south as Yunnan.

One of China's smallest provinces, Ningxia is home to the largest number of Hui people – and a correspondingly impressive collection of mosques. In Yinchuan, Ningxia's capital, the Nanguan Mosque is the largest. Originally built around 400 years ago, the mosque fell foul of the later twentieth century's revolutionary zeal (which incidentally reached as far as the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar). But it was rebuilt in the 1980s, this time in a thoroughly Arabic style, with a green-tiled domed roof and minarets.

Most Hui mosques, however, are of the Chinese rather than the Arabic style. At first glance they might almost be mistaken for traditional Buddhist and Taoist temples, except for the odd telltale signs: a crescent protruding from the roof, or Arabic script on the walls. Though Xi'an is more famous for its terracotta army, it also boasts one of the largest and best preserved of these mosques. Inside the city's bustling Muslim Quarter, and surrounded by peaceful courtyards, the beautiful timber main prayer hall of the Daqingzhen Si Mosque dates back to the 18th century.

Never to be outdone, Beijing also has its fair share of mosques. The largest is the Cow Street Mosque in Xuanwu District, built around the 10th century. It leafy surroundings and Chinese style make it seem worlds apart from Turpan's Sugong Ta or the Id Kah Mosque of Kashgar. But it is nonetheless the burial place of many Islamic clerics and contains important religious artefacts, including a 300 year-old handwritten copy of the Koran. It achieved well-deserved recognition as a national historical site in 1988.

Once the skyline in Linxia and other Hui centres would have been dominated by the minarets and temples of such Chinese style mosques. But things are changing. Increasingly, new mosques are constructed in the Arabic style, with domes and minarets that look westwards for their inspiration.

Age-old Dali, Yunnan's tourist city, was once the southern centre of Kublai Khan's Muslim empire after the Mongolian invasion of the 13th century. Its main mosque, XX, has an intriguing combination of the two styles, Arabic and Chinese. The old Hui-style architecture dominates its front courtyard buildings, while a new Arabic style prayer hall sits out the back.

Perhaps the building of new Arabic style mosques represents a renaissance of Islam in China, particularly amongst the young. It's kids like Zhu Tong, while enjoying prosperity their parents never did, who are sustaining and revitalising the religion. For travellers in the region, meanwhile, it's reassuring to know that one doesn't have to undertake a journey to the West in order to get to know more mosques.