Buddhism of china

Buddhism was introduced to China around the first century A.D. Since the fourth century A.D, it was widely spread and gradually became the most influential religion in China. Buddhism in China is divided into three branches according to varied language families, namely, Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Pali Buddhism and there are about 200 thousand Buddhist monks and nuns under these three branches. At present, there are more than 13 thousand Buddhist temples that are open to the public, 33 Buddhist colleges and nearly 50 types of Buddhist publications in China.
As one branch of Buddhism in China, Tibetan Buddhism is mainly spread in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province with some 7 million believers from Tibetan, Mongolian, Yugu, Monba, Luoba and Tu nationalities. Pali Buddhism is popular in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and Simao region in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province with over one million believers from Dai, Bulang, Achang and Va nationalities. The believers of Chinese Buddhism are mainly Han people, who live all over China.