Congregations are swelling as increasing numbers of young people among China's Moslem minorities are inspired by Islam in the country's westernmost region.
Students even take time out during lunch hour to perform noon prayers.
The resurgence of Islam in Xinjiang is causing an uneasy relationship between Communist Party officials and Moslem clerics, between Han Chinese and ethnic Uighurs. In recent months, more and more Moslems appeared to be acting outside the country's law, prompting Xinjiang regional authorities to close hundreds of illegal mosques. Unauthorised schools that preach Islam have also been banned. Government and party officials fear anti-Chinese separatists seeking to set up an independent state of East Turkestan are using Islam as a base to win popular support. With Moslems making up almost all the 10 million ethnic minority residents of Xinjiang's 16 million people, Beijing has a lot of watching to do.