Ding Lan poses for a portrait in Al Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo
Beijing-based photographer Giulia Marchi’s series ‘Musilin: Call Her Fatimah’ is an eye-opening look at the complexities of being Chinese Muslim, as seen through the experience of Ding Lan, a 22-year-old woman studying Islam at Al-Azhar University in Cairo.
Ding Lan, whose Muslim name is Fatimah, is one of many young people who leave their hometowns in provincial China to seek a better understand of their culture abroad.
Egypt has traditionally been a center for Islamic studies, and Ding Lan and her peers study the Koran and learn to read and write in Arabic.
Marchi’s series explores the struggles and prejudices Ding Lan faces as she builds an identity while juggling Islam with her Chinese culture.
Scroll down to see some photographs, and view the entire series here.
Ding Lan poses without her veil in Henan Province, China
Ding Lan follows a lesson in a female class in Al Azhar University
Ding Lan prays in a mosque in Abbasseya, Cairo
Back from Cairo, Ding Lan looks for a taxi in Beijing, but taxi drivers do not stop as she is wearing a veil
The Ding family gathers around Ding Lan’s great-grandfather's grave, the day of the 36th anniversary of his death. Ding Guangyou (his name) was the Imam of Mapo village.
Dan Xianju, 75, Ding Lan’s grandmother, has prepared the dinner for her family, Shanxi Province, China. Meals always adhere to Islamic dietary law.
Ding Lan with Ding Wen, Hui Muslim Chinese met in Cairo, the day of their wedding in Changzhi, Shanxi province in China. Now they live together in Cairo.
[via Feature Shoot and Photographic Museum of Humanity, images and captions by Giulia Marchi]