中国的多数民族是汉族，该民族占中国人口的百分之92。汉族是以汉朝 —这个繁荣兴旺的时代的名字命名的。中国的国语，“汉语”还得名于这一族。不过，除了汉族以外，中国还作为各个少数民族的老家，根据政府一共有56个。最大的少数民族之一就是回民，其全国人口在2000年一共为981.68万，自那以来，人口肯定还提高了。回民信仰伊斯兰教，他们却没有自己的语言。除了宁夏回族自治区以外，甘肃，我所在的这个位于西部的省份，是回民人口最高的省份。因此，徽县的回民自然也挺多。
China’s majority ethnicity is the Han, which makes up 92% of the national population. The Han are named after a prosperous era in Chinese history, the Han Dynasty, and also give their name to the China’s national language, known as ‘Han Yu.’ However, aside from the Han, China is also home to numerous ethnic minorities – 56, according to the Chinese government. One of the largest ethnic minorities is the Hui, whose population stood at 9,816,800 in 2000 and will have certainly risen further since. The Hui people believe in Islam, yet somewhat surprisingly do not have their own language. Aside from Ningxia, a Hui ethnicity autonomous region, it is where I am, in the westerly province of Gansu, where the Hui are most numerous. This being the case, there are plenty of Hui people here in Huixian.
The new mosque in Huixian hiding behind the trees
徽县的回民家大半聚在县城东街附近，这个地方布满了由回民经营的餐馆。但更准确地说是面馆，因为每一家都有一样的特色 — 就是牛肉面。这可以说是一种汤面，这种面源于甘肃的省会兰州，人人为此把它叫“兰州拉面”。这个简单的名字很有道理：和中国所有面一样，兰州拉面到处全都是自制的，做饭时，厨师要把面团拉起来做面条。无论面的名字怎么样，回民的牛肉面馆很容易辨认：猪肉理所当然在这里买不到。既然大部分非回民饭馆的各种菜里面都是“大”肉，这就是一个尖锐的对比。听说，回民的美食没有新疆的维吾尔族的美食那么多，餐馆里面的选择似乎限于牛肉面与羊肉面片。但是，还值得一提的是烧烤。在中国，燃煤仍旧普遍通用，因此开个小烧烤摊看得出相当容易 — 在学校靠近的商场处处都有。这些小摊子证明，各种美食都能做成肉串，除了英国人爱吃的牛肉块，毛肚口条等异国的佳肴还很多。
The Hui people of Huixian mostly live near the East Street, and so the area is dotted with Hui restaurants; or more accurately noodle bars, since each has the same one speciality: beef noodles. You could probably call these a type of soup noodles. They originate from Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, and are also known as ‘Lanzhou pulled noodles.’ This simple name makes a lot of sense: as is the case with all of China’s many noodle dishes, Lanzhou pulled noodles are always homemade. When making them, the chef has to pull the dough out to make it into noodles. Regardless of names, Hui ethnicity beef noodle restaurants are easy to spot. It goes without saying that you can’t get pork in these places, but this nonetheless means a lot when ‘big meat’, as it is known, is the centre of most dishes found elsewhere. From what I’ve heard, Hui restaurants can hardly boast as wide a selection of dishes as those of the Uighur people of Xinjiang in China’s northwest, with the menu limited, it seems, to beef noodles and lamb pian [square noodles]. That said, there is something else which must be mentioned: barbeque. In China coal is still widely used, and so it seems that opening a little barbeque stand is quite easy – in the market next to school these are everywhere. These little stands prove that all sorts of foods can be made into kebabs. Aside from cuts of meat that are well-loved in Britain, also available are various foods which are popular abroad such as tripe and tongue.
商场以外，在东街上走路时，你被回族文化包围了。沿着这一条街有好几个卖清真用品的小店。有一天我在东城散步，突然发现了一座宏伟，熠熠生辉的清真寺，崭新的。听随性的人说，清真寺两月前刚要竣工。此外，根据我同事，这座巨大的楼房可不是徽县这个相当贫穷的地方唯一座清真寺。我很想跟那里的回民沟通一下，好让我能够多一点了解回民的文化，但我犹豫不决。老师们热情地请我们去参观道教，佛教寺庙，在他们心目中这便是当地的名胜，但要说伊斯兰，这算是少数民族特有的宗教。还有教堂，我们一提到这个，老师警告我，“千万别去教堂，那里的教导激起了警察的怀疑。”
Outside the market, walking along the East Street, you are surrounded by Hui culture. Along the street are a good few shops selling Muslim products. One day I was taking a walk through the east of town when suddenly I saw a great sparkling brand new mosque. According to local passers-by, the mosque had been completed just two months ago. What’s more, my fellow teachers say that this isn’t the only mosque in this relatively poor place. I’d like to get in touch with the Hui people there to learn more about their culture, but I’m a bit reluctant to do so. The teachers happily take us out to visit Daoist and Buddhist temples, which in their mind are sites of local interest, but when it comes to Islam, this is seen more as a religion specific to the ethnic minorities. There is also a church, mention of which provoked warning from the teachers. ‘Don’t think about going there – the teaching there has come under suspicion from the police.’