Over half of China's Muslim population are from the Hui people. The Hui are ethnically and culturally indistinguishable from the Han majority in China, except for their religion. The Hui are dispersed throughout China, living in every province and every major city. There are large concentrations of Hui in certain regions, such as in the Ninxia Hui Autonomous Region in Central China. The Hui are known as good businessmen, and many are also well-known as national masters of the martial arts.

The Hui belong to several major Tariqa, or Sufi "paths". These include the Naqshbandi-Jahriyya, Naqshbandi-Khufiyya, Qadiriyya and Kubrawiyya.

Source: "Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nationalism in the People's Republic," by Dru C. Gladney (Harvard University Press, 1991).

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