BEIJING: China is spending $3.5 billion on Yinchuan city, 600 miles west of the national capital, to turn it into a World Muslim City, replete with a mosque-like golden palace, Arabic street signs, and an elaborate light and dance show inspired by The Thousand and One Nights, that is, the version in which Aladdin was born in China.
Since 1958, Yinchuan has been the capital of the Ningxia region governed by China’s Hui Muslims. The project is part of the government’s larger bid to improve relations with the Arab world by emphasising shared Sino-Arab history and culture. The Muslims in the region speak Mandarin and are ethnically related to the Han majority.
The park seems to possess all the cultural sensitivity and sophistication of Disney’s Epcot. The female visitors who desire an authentic mosque experience can be fitted with a makeshift abaya, a robe-like dress. Tourists are encouraged to dress their kids in traditional outfits from the gift shop. A 900,000 square-foot terminal is being added at the nearby airport to accommodate the hoped-for flocks of Arab tourists.
Soon there will be direct flights from Amman and Kuala Lumpur. The centrepiece of Yinchuan’s transformation is a lavish theme park that celebrates the history and culture of largest Muslim ethnicity, the Hui. According to Ningxia’s tourism bureau, the park is a Sino-Arab cultural bridge that can promote all aspects of Sino-Arab exchange and cooperation.
The park achieves a monumental scale, with its sparkling edifices designed to evoke India’s Taj Mahal and Turkey’s Blue Mosque. Yinchuan’s pivotal role in China’s Middle East outreach reflects Beijing’s recent efforts to strengthen its cultural ties to the region. Not content to rely on economic relationships with Arab partners, China’s leaders now insist that their diplomacy be underpinned by cultural prestige.
A new white paper, released in January 2016 to coincide with President Xi Jinping’s state visits to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, presents an ambitious list of projects intended to raise China’s profile: the establishment of a Chinese university in Jordan, support for Chinese language training in the Middle East, more spots for Arab students to study abroad in China, international art exhibitions, the translation of classic Chinese and Arabic texts, and exchanges of women’s delegations.