A group of 740 Muslims from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region set out for Mecca on Friday, for the annual pilgrimage known as the 'hajj'. 

Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is an Islam's holiest site.

The trip, organized by the Chinese government, costs at least 30,000 yuan (about US$3,600) per person, a huge sum for people in this poverty-stricken area of northwest China.

The participants are mostly the local farmers and their imams.

Turnout has dramatically risen in recent years thanks to a sharp increase in the incomes of local farmers.

The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is home to two million Muslims. 

(CRI December 26, 2004)