"Authorities say the domes are evidence of foreign religious influence and are taking down overtly Islamic architecture as part of a push to sinicize historically Muslim ethnic groups — to make them more traditionally Chinese....

"After more than 1,300 years of living and intermarrying in China, Hui Muslims — who number about 10.5 million, less than 1% of China's population — have adjusted by becoming culturally and linguistically Chinese. They even made their version of Islam accessible to Confucians and Daoists — trying to show it as inherently Chinese and not a foreign influence — by adopting spiritual concepts and terms found in ancient Chinese philosophy to explain Islamic precepts.... The dome removal campaign has met with limited public resistance.... The Hui Muslims, for the most part, have accommodated the ever-changing cultural pressures around them. Yusuf, the Muslim owner of a store near the Dongguan Mosque [said]... 'Everything changes from one era to another. During Chairman Mao's time, they tore down all our mosques. Then they built them up. Now they are tearing them down again! Just follow whatever political slogan the country is yelling at the time.... To the average person, Chinese style, Arabic style... we don't care! Our faith does not exist in our buildings. It lies in our heart,' he says, thumping his chest emphatically."

NPR reports.