China's Uyghur Minority Marks Muslim Holiday In Country's Far West

TURPAN, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 12: (CHINA OUT) A Uyghur family pray at the grave of a loved one on the morning of the Corban Festival on September 12, 2016 at a local shrine and cemetery in Turpan County, in the far western Xinjiang province, China.The Corban festival, known to Muslims worldwide as Eid al-Adha or 'feast of the sacrifice', is celebrated by ethnic Uyghurs across Xinjiang, the far-western region of China bordering Central Asia that is home to roughly half of the country's 23 million Muslims. The festival, considered the most important of the year, involves religious rites and visits to the graves of relatives, as well as sharing meals with family. Although Islam is a 'recognized' religion in the constitution of officially atheist China, ethnic Uyghurs are subjected to restrictions on religious and cultural practices that are imposed by China's Communist Party. Ethnic tensions have fueled violence that Chinese authorities point to as justification for the restrictions. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)