The Hui people are a Chinese ethnic group, typically distinguished by their practice of Islam. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They are concentrated in Northwestern China (Ningxia, Gansu, Xinjiang), but communities exist across the country.

China (1980) 5 Yuan (front) - A Hui Chinese Muslim man and a Tibetan lady

Most Hui are similar in culture to Han Chinese with the exception that they practice Islam, and have some distinctive cultural characteristics as a result. For example, as Muslims, they follow Islamic dietary laws and reject the consumption of pork, the most common meat consumed in Chinese culture, and have
also given rise to their variation of Chinese cuisine (Chinese Islamic cuisine). Their mode of dress also differs only in that adult males wear white caps and females wear headscarves or (occasionally) veils, as is the case in most Islamic cultures. Population 9.82million (2000 census).

In modern usage, the definition of Hui does not include ethnic groups such as the Uyghur, who live in China and practice Islam, but are Turkic people and are thus different culturally from Han Chinese. For example, in Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region, where about 10 percent of the Hui of China reside, the Hui have a distinct ethnic identity from that of the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyz, who are Turkic peoples.

The Tibetan people are a people indigenous to Tibet and surrounding areas stretching from Central Asia in the West to Myanmar and China in the East.

The Government of Tibet in Exile claims that the number of Tibetans has fallen from 6,330,567 to 5.4 million since 1959 [4], while the government of the People's Republic of China claims that the number of Tibetans has risen from 2.7 million to 5.4 million since 1954 [5]. The SIL Ethnologue documents an additional 125,000 Tibetan exiles living in India, 60,000 in Nepal, and 4,000 in Bhutan.

Tibetans have a legendary ability to survive extremes of altitude and cold, an ability no doubt conditioned by the extreme environment of the Tibetan plateau.

Most Tibetans generally observe Tibetan Buddhism and a collection of native traditions known as Bon (also absorbed into mainstream Tibetan Buddhism). The Tibetan Muslims are also known as the Kache.

Tibet boasts a rich culture. Tibetan festivals such as Losar, Shoton, Linka (festival), and the Bathing Festival are deeply rooted in indigenous religion and also contain foreign influences. Each person takes part in the Bathing Festival three times: at birth, at marriage, and at death. It is traditionally believed that people should not bathe casually, but only on the most important occasions.

Tibetan art is deeply religious in nature, from the exquisitely detailed statues found in Gompas to wooden carvings and the intricate designs of the Thangka paintings. Tibetan art can be found in almost every object and every aspect of daily life.

Tibetan medicine is one of the oldest forms in the world. It utilizes up to two thousand types of plants, forty animal species, and fifty minerals. There is a strong belief amongst Tibetans in reincarnation, including the Buddhist concept of Bardo during post-mortem.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Hui People" and "Tibetan People"