The flight with 332 passengers took off at 3:30 PM Friday from Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, marking the beginning of Chinese Muslims' pilgrimage to Mecca this year.

From October 30 to November 18, about 12,700 Muslims will go to the holy city for hajj in 41 chartered flights from Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, Yunnan and Beijing. The number of pilgrims is 700 more than that of last year.

Male Muslims wore gray robes and white hats, while the ladies were in traditional scarves and blue vests. Each of them had a symbol of national flag embroidered on the clothes.

As average age of the Muslims was 60, who also lacked experience of traveling abroad, training programs have been offered before their departure, said Xiao Yuchuan, head of the Gansu religion bureau.

Gao Zhanfu, vice president of the China Islamic Institute, said the Muslims were lucky. "This year, more than 12,000 people have the chance to visit Mecca, while ten years ago, the number was just 3,000," he said.

In Gansu alone this year, a total of 2,482 Muslims, together with nine doctors and 58 other staff members would leave for Mecca.

Life-long dream to be fulfilled

To Ma Weifeng, a 66-year-old woman from Hui ethnic minority, the hajj is the most important religious task in her life, which she has waited for decades to fulfill.

"After I retired in 1997, I've been performing religious rituals five times a day and going to a nearby mosque to learn Koran," said Ma in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China's largest Hui community.

However, only a visit to Mecca could make her religious life "consummate".

"My application for hajj was approved in 2007, but I got sick then and the pilgrimage was delayed till this year," she said.

Ma would be among the 2,250 people to leave for Mecca at 5 p.m. Saturday from Ningxia, where more than one third of the region's population, or 2.1 million, are from Hui ethnic minority.

She began preparing for the trip a month ago. "I heard food in Saudi Arabia is different from ours," she said. "So I prepared more than 20 kilograms of food -- not just rice, but also pickles and vinegar."

The most important of all, she received a shot of A/H1N1 flu vaccine for free, as all the others did.

"Now that the number of A/H1N1 cases is growing, the injection set my heart at rest."

According to Li Yushan, an official with the regional religious bureau of Ningxia, 71 staff members will go with the pilgrims. "They will not only observe their physical condition, but be in charge of communication, accommodation, security, and serve as translators," he said.

The cost of each pilgrim to Mecca is 30,000 yuan (about US$4,412), he added.

Changes over years

Gan Liangcai, 60, used to serve as vice-chairman of the Islamic Association of Qinghai Province. He has led pilgrim teams to Meccasix times. To him, changes over the years were dramatic.

In 2001, Gan remembered, just 155 people from Qinghai made the journey, and the total number in China then was around 2,000.

An official surnamed Chang from the pilgrim office of the China Islamic Association, attributed the change to improvement of people's living condition. "The average cost, 30,000 yuan, was no small amount to many," he said.

This was echoed by Memet Nesuwulla from Hami city of Xinjiang. The farmer is to have his first visit to Mecca this year.

"This year we had a harvest in the orchard and the annual income could exceed 20,000 yuan," he beamed.

The escort team were also expanding. "This year 111 staff workers are going with the Muslims to help them in all aspects, including 41 medical personnel, while in 1989, only one or two organizers went with the pilgrims," Chang said.

Facilitation of procedures is another change.

"In the past, Muslims from Qinghai had to take a two-day train to go to Beijing, where they waited for at least three days before going abroad," Gan Liangcai said.

Flights from Beijing were not directly to Mecca or Medina -- the pilgrims still needed a one-day trip by bus to reach their destination.

"In total, a week had to be spent on the way," Gan said.

From 2004, direct flights were opened from Lanzhou to Saudi Arabia. Two years later, chartered flights could take the pilgrims directly to Medina, and the trip was shortened to just one day, and cost of each Muslims was reduced by 5,000 yuan.

The hajj was a tiring job, Gan noted. "Now that the Muslims could save more money and energy for worship in their holy city."

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2009)