China's Cultural Minorities
There are 55 ethnic minorities in China, located mostly along the periphery [ethnic]. they make up only 8% of the country's population [chpeo], but 8% of 1.3 billion is over 100 million people. The communist government has devolved some political power to some of these groups by classifying their area as Autonomous Regions [chautreg].
The large yellow star on China's flag symbolizes the Han Chinese
and the four smaller stars represent these minorities.
Remember: China is an empire [empire] that has grown over several thousand years. These "occupied" territories have different cultures and beliefs. Read the following short web sites to get an idea of the cultural diversity in china and some of the problems that may result.
READ: http://www.asianweb.net/webscape/china/cnation.htm
OPTIONAL: http://www.chinatoday.com/culture/a.htm
Read the following two articles on the Muslim Chinese: