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Following the fasting month of Ramadan, Chinese Muslims are celebrating with food the Eid holiday. They've gathered at Beijing's Islamic icon, the Niujie Mosque.

On Wednesday, about 5,000 Chinese Muslims flocked to the Niujie Mosque in Beijing to celebrate the Eid festival.

Their prayers lasted from morning to noon, under tight security and close supervision by Beijing police.

Eid marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, where believers abstain from food during the day.

[Wei Chunjie, Deputy Director, Niujie Mosque Administration]:
"For the month prior to today, we couldn't eat or drink during daylight hours, to experience hunger and suffering, to experience what it's like for the poor to feel hungry, and to know how fortunate our lives are. So today we get to celebrate and get together to pray and give thanks to Allah. So we are very glad,"

Streets surrounding the mosque are lined with stalls with snacks and delicacies. The Muslim worshipers were mostly of the Hui ethnic group, with some of the Uighur ethnic group.

The Chinese Regime has a history of deadly ethnic clashes with Muslim Uighurs in the Xinjiang region.

One Beijing resident expresses his disapproval of violence against Muslim believers around the world.

[Huang Dongming, Hui Muslim]:
"I believe that people should be judged on the basic values of morality and their desire to better themselves and society. Regardless of whether it's in Xinjiang or Libya or other Arab countries, I feel that these are not the things that us Muslims want to see. It's a phenomenon, but it doesn't reflect our nature."

Because Eid depends on the spotting of the moon, China, Pakistan and India are a few of the countries that celebrated the holiday one day later than most other parts of the world.