page_title: Hainan
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Hainan / Demographics / Religion
caption_attribution_description: 中文（简体）‎: 三亚凤凰清真东寺
context_page_description: Hainan is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China, consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. The Hainan Island, the largest and most populous island under PRC administration, makes up the vast majority of the province. "Hainan", the name of the island and the province, literally means "south of the sea", reflecting its position south of the Qiongzhou Strait, which separates it from Guangdong's Leizhou Peninsula and the rest of the Chinese mainland.
  The province has a land area of 33,920 square kilometers, with Hainan Island occupying 32,900 square kilometers and the rest divided among over 200 islands scattered across three archipelagos, namely Zhongsha, Xisha and Nansha. It was administered as part of Guangdong from 1950 to 1988, when it became a separate province; around the same time, it was made the largest Special Economic Zone established by Deng Xiaoping as part of the Chinese economic reform.
  The Li people, a Kra–Dai-speaking ethnic group, are native to the island and are a significant minority group in the province, comprising 15% of the population. Their native languages include the Hlai languages.
context_section_description: Most of the Hainanese population practices Chinese folk religion and Chinese Buddhism. The Li population has a Theravada Buddhist minority. Most of the Utsuls of the island, a branch of Cham people living near Sanya, are Muslims. Because Hainan was a point in the travel route of missionaries, there are some Christians. According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2009, Christians constitute 0.48% of the province's population.
  Nanshan Park is the centre of Buddhism on Hainan Island. Encompassing more than 50 km² (19 sq mi) of rainforest, the site includes countless grand temples, statues and spiritual gardens the likes of Saviour Garden and Longevity Valley, with intricately trimmed hedges and abundant in lotus flowers, a venerated symbol in Buddhism meaning virtue or purity.
  At the heart of the valley is the grand Nanshan Temple, its gates flanked by stone figures of Buddha in front of the Tang dynasty-style entrance. The interior displays images of the Four Heavenly Kings amid statues of other deities enshrined in renderings of stone, gold and jade.
  Perhaps the most popular site within the Nanshan Buddhist Cultural Zone is the awe-inspiring stone rendering of the Bodhisattva Guan Yin, emerging out of the South China Sea to stand at 108 metres, taller than the statue of liberty.
  The Nanshan Buddhist Cultural Zone is visited by thousands of tourists and pilgrims each year who come pay homage to the site that plays a significant role in the religion in China and to sample some of the finest Buddhist vegan cuisine on the island.
caption: The East Mosque in Sanya, an example of Chinese-Islamic architecture.
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