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The Hui people (, Xiao'erjing: خُوِذُو / حواري, Dungan: Хуэйзў/Huejzw) are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in China. Hui people are found throughout the country, though they are concentrated mainly in the Northwestern provinces and the Central Plain. According to a 2011 census, China is home to approximately 10.5 million Hui people, the majority of whom are Chinese-speaking practitioners of Islam, though some practice other religions. Hui people are ethnically and linguistically similar to Han Chinese with the exception that they practice Islam, engendering distinctive cultural characteristics. For example, as Muslims, they follow Islamic dietary laws and reject the consumption of pork, the most common meat consumed in China, and have given rise to their variation of Chinese cuisine, Chinese Islamic cuisine, as well as Muslim Chinese martial arts. Their mode of dress differs primarily in that old men wear white caps and old women wear headscarves, as is the case in many Islamic cultures, however most of the young people of Hui ancestry are practically indistinguishable from mainstream Han Chinese. The Hui people are one of 56 ethnic groups recognized by China. The government defines the Hui people to include all historically Muslim communities not included in China's other ethnic groups. The Hui predominantly speak Chinese. In fact, the Hui nationality is unique among Chinese ethnic minorities in that it associates with no non-Sinitic language. The Hui people are more concentrated in Northwestern China (Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang), but communities exist across the country, e.g. Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Hainan and Yunnan.
