First Muslim kindergarten in China

10/12/2004 8:00:00 AM GMT

A high-grade Muslim kindergarten opened Monday in one of China's poorest areas, in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous region.

The Kindergarten is furnished with modern teaching equipment, will provide education in Chinese, English and Arabic, said Ma Ling, head of the kindergarten.

"Though there have been some kindergartens in the area, none of them meets the state standards in teaching and hardware resources. My husband and I decided to invest 4.65 million yuan (560,240 US dollars) to build the kindergarten," said Ma.

"The money comes from the profits of our family farm. We might have spent it on larger houses or better cars, but it prickled us when seeing so many people still struggling in poverty at my hometown," Ma said.

Su Ruoying, a three-year-old girl, with big brown eyes, long eyelashes and curly hair, epitomizes features of Hui girls. Still fresh at the new kindergarten, she seemed to be a bit nervous.

"Few girls were sent to kindergartens in the old days, but we hope our daughter can learn something here in her early childhood," said the girl's mother Ma Shaojing.

The county in the southern mountains of Ningxia, is home to the most Hui people in the region. Almost all of the men wear traditional white caps, and females, if not veiled, dress the same as men. Magnificent mosques are still the most eye-catching buildings in the urban county and rural villages.