Xi'an and its Hui connection

Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, was the starting point of the Silk Road during the Han Dynasty (202-220). Xi'an, then known as Chang'an, became an international metropolis as China's capital during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Diplomatic envoys, businesspeople, missionaries and foreign students visited the city in droves those days.

During the Tang Dynasty, four immigrants from the Middle East and Central Asia reached Xi'an; they were to become the progenitors of the Hui people in China.

The khalifa or ruler of Arabia sent his envoy to Xi'an in 651 and thus introduced Islam to China. In the next 150 years, Arabian envoys came to China in 37 batches, and more than 4,000 of them settled in Xi'an. Some businesspeople from Persia and Central Asia also made Xi'an their home.