China is absolutely a cultural hub and has experienced centuries of cultural exchange. On the topic of religion alone, there is so much to cover. We have Buddhism that spread from north India. We have Islam that spread across land and sea. There's Christianity from missionaries and colonial powers. And of course, we have native Chinese religions. Now of course, that all changed in the past century. The government has cracked down and officially declares no state religion, but allows some to be practiced. If there's one religion that the Chinese government really doesn't like, it's Islam. And usually, the government doesn't really have problems with its Hui Muslim ethnic group, the third largest ethnic group with 10 million; it's the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. But now we have a point of contention.
The Weizhou Grand Mosque in Ningxia, a province with many Hui Muslims, is about to be demolished because of "building violations". A topic of controversy is the construction of the mosque, which has more Middle Eastern than Chinese elements. Historically, mosques in China usually featured more Chinese elements. Obviously, it's just a move by the government to prevent a "foreign" influence. In fact, the government has even cracked down on Christianity. Churches have been forced to remove their crosses because of "violating planning rules". The Chinese Communist Party is wary of foreign influences and religions. Instead, they are trying to "sinicise religion" and make it more Chinese.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-45140551
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