Religious venues verified to stop illegal profiteering

The State Administration for Religious Affairs published the names and locations of 6,195 verified Buddhist and Taoist monasteries on Thursday in an effort to fight illegal profits disguised as religion.

The information was posted on the administration's website, where users can type in the name of a monastery to confirm its status.

Some nonreligious venues have employed fake monks and Taoists to accept donations from believers and tourists, and some of them even badgered tourists for money, said Liu Jinguang, spokesman for the administration.