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Officially, the People's Republic of China encourages atheism.
However, the dominant religion in China is Buddhism with Buddhist temples
and places of worship throughout the country. Daoist temples can also
be found, as are mosques in Muslim areas and in all large cities, which
have regular prayers at the prescribed times. Catholic and Protestant
churches can also be found in most big cities.
Chinese Philosophies and Religions
| Religious |
Number |
Description |
| Sites |
85,000 |
All registered religion sites |
| Professionals |
300,000 |
Ministers, priests and other full time administrators
|
| Religion bodies |
3,000 |
National associations and organizations |
| Publishers |
74 |
Institutions publish religion books, magazines
|
| Lamas Temples |
13,000 |
Temples and monasteries |
| Lamas &
nuns |
120,000 |
Full time |
| Buddhist temples |
3,000 |
Temples and monasteries |
| Buddha |
1,700 |
Full time |
| Taoist temples |
1,500 |
Permanent |
| Priests/priestesses |
25,000 |
Full time |
| Religion believers
|
100 million |
Most of them Buddhists or Taoists |
| Imams temples |
40,000 |
Permanent |
| Islamic temples |
30,000 |
Permanent |
| Moslems |
18 million |
Mainly minorities in North, West or South-West |
| Churches |
4,000 |
Independent from Rome |
| Clergymen |
4,000 |
Full time |
| Catholics |
4 million |
Under national association |
| Churches |
12,000 |
Permanent |
| Assembly places |
25,000 |
Worship places other than churches |
| Protestant |
10 million |
Comparing with 700,000 before 1949 |
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