In the past few decades, Prato (Tuscany) has become the city with the highest concentration of Chinese residents in all of Europe. Although being mostly economic migrants, local Chinese, after many years of living in the city, have been developing many interests and needs that move away from the merely economic ones, such as the need to practice their religious faith. The Chinese Buddhist temple in Prato is only one of the many symbols of the diversity within the Chinese migrated groups who live in this city. This article retraces the path that brought to the inauguration of the temple and analyzes its social ‘function’, both within the city and within the Chinese communities.
This chapter focuses on the Chinese Muslim community of Dubai, both the Hui community, as well as the growing number of Han Chinese who have converted to Islam. Special attention is given to the role of international Islamic education networks in facilitating migration to Dubai. The research for this chapter is based primarily on interviews carried out with Chinese Muslim residents in Dubai between 2008 and 2020, and also builds on earlier interviews carried out with Hui students studying at Islamic schools in China and overseas. Different dimensions of the lives of Chinese Muslims in Dubai, and the potential impact of the growing number of converts and transnational marriages creating a new hybrid international Chinese identity are also examined.
This chapter examines the religious lives of Chinese expatriates in the United Arab Emirates, a country that has recently formed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with China. Taking into consideration uae’s immigration policies, its social and cultural context, as well as the characteristics of Chinese religiosity, this paper delineates the contour of Chinese religious spaces in a Muslim-majority society. This study serves three goals: first, it adds to our knowledge of the diverse religious experiences of overseas Chinese, especially the post-2000 cohort; second, it sheds light on the influence of Chinese state apparatus in overseas Chinese communities against the backdrop of Belt and Road Initiative; third, it contributes to the ongoing discussions on Muslim societies’ responses to religious diversity.
