On a cold winter afternoon, 74-year-old Ma Xiulan sat with some 200 other men and women wearing white skull caps on the floor of a hall in Beijing. The group listened attentively to a man speaking on a platform.

The small, thin woman from North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region appeared calm, even though 48 hours later she would climb aboard a plane for the first time in her life for a 12-hour flight to have her lifelong wish fulfilled.

She was being briefed about China's religious and foreign affairs policies before beginning her Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

Her son Ma Wenhua stood outside the hall, peering anxiously at his mother from time to time. He couldn't stop worrying about her.

"She is weak. I hope she can get through the 38 days safely," Ma, 51, said.

But he was resolved not to stand in her way. Every Muslim hopes to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime and his mother had been dreaming of the trip for years.

Overcoming obstacles

Initially, the big obstacle was money.

Then last year, the whole family Ma Xiulan, her husband, three sons and a daughter pooled their resources to raise the 30,000 yuan (US$3,800) needed for the trip. The trip organizer, the local Islamic association, will be given 24,170 yuan (US$2,980) for the charter flight, passport and visa application and the other main pilgrimage expenses while the rest will go to cover the ancillary expenses, such as food in Mecca and the train ticket from Inner Mongolia to Beijing.

"My parents' sole income is my father's pension of 800 yuan (US$100) per month, so the pilgrimage will devour almost all their savings," said Ma Wenhua.

Ma Xiulan applied to the local religious affairs bureau last year but was turned down as the quota had already been filled.

Bai Zhihui, vice-chairman of the Islamic Association of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said the Saudi Arabian Government sets a quota each year which determines how many Chinese pilgrims can go to Mecca. This year, the autonomous region can send 233 people, which is 20 per cent more people than last year.

In November, Ma Xiulan was overjoyed to learn that she had been accepted for this year's pilgrimage and immediately began to prepare for the trip.

To save money, Ma is carrying 5 kilograms of rice, 3 kilograms of flour, 3 kilograms of fine dried noodles, 8 kilograms of solid food and some dried vegetables and mutton.

She plans to cook for herself in the lodgings rented by the China Islamic Association in Mecca, where the pilgrims will stay during the trip.

Unlike Ma Xiulan, You Zhanxian, 77, and his wife Ma Lanying, 75, are taking along about US$2,000 to buy food in Saudi Arabia.

"I have earned some money from my small real estate business, so I am going with my wife. Our five children are all here to see us off," said You, who has partial hearing loss.

He said he had read a lot about the pilgrimage and knows the trip would be tough for people as old as himself and his wife.

"The weather is hot and there are huge crowds, but we are well-prepared for the hardship," You said with a smile.

Bai Zhihui said that economic and physical factors counted a lot for those contemplating the Hajj and it was also important to have a pious heart.

However, many Chinese Muslims, especially those living in rural areas, cannot save up enough money until they are old, when their physical health may have started to deteriorate, Bai said.

"We usually let old people go provided they are not seriously ill because it may be the only opportunity they have in their whole life," Bai said.

Seventy per cent of the people in the Inner Mongolia group are above 60.

Medical services will be available to the pilgrims as two Muslim doctors are flying with the group.

Bigger quota

According to official statistics, 9,785 Chinese Muslims will travel to Mecca by charter flight at the end of the year for the annual pilgrimage.

Yang Zhibo, vice-chairman of the China Islamic Association, said most of the pilgrims to Mecca this year are from eight provinces and autonomous regions Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and Henan.

"Applicants are better off these days and the Saudi Arabian Government has increased its quota, so there are more pilgrims going to Mecca this year than at any time in the country's history," said Yang.

In May 2006, to ensure pilgrims' safety, the China Islamic Association signed an agreement with the Saudi Arabian Government which stipulated that Chinese Muslims could only make a pilgrimage to Mecca in groups organized by the China Islamic Association. The Saudi Arabian Government does not issue visas to pilgrims applying through other channels, for example, people who want to go to Mecca as tourists.

A group of Chinese pilgrims that had paid a travel agency 8,000 yuan (US$986) found themselves stranded in Pakistan last August, unable to enter Saudi Arabia.

After the incident, the Saudi Arabian Government increased China's quota.

Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines will arrange a total of 31 non-stop charter flights for pilgrims this year. The pilgrims will be provided with transportation, medical and accommodation services. Special Muslim food will be provided on the charter flights, Yang said.

On November 29, the first pilgrim charter flight took off from Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, and arrived at Medina, Saudi Arabia, after a 10-hour flight. The last batch of pilgrims departed from Beijing yesterday.

Despite the daunting trip ahead, the old woman from Inner Mongolia said she was glad she could finally make the trip and added that she did not expect to feel in the least tired.

She said she was grateful to her husband, two years her senior, for giving her the opportunity.

"He said he is stronger than me and can wait a few more years. I hope he can also make the pilgrimage one day," she said.

Watching her board the flight, her son Ma Wenhua said he would go home and then make a 30-hour bus trip to return to Beijing on January 22 to meet his mother back from the Hajj.

"I hope everything will be OK when she gets back," said the dutiful son.

(China Daily 12/18/2006 page5)