It's not only Christianity and Islam the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) is cracking down on and asserting its control over; homegrown religions like Daoism and imported belief systems like Buddhism now face more measures aimed at curbing and rolling back their commercialization.
The ban on building large statues, for many years a target of the Party's religious administrators, has been stepped up. There has also been a sharper focus on using local religions to empty the pockets of domestic — and occasionally foreign — tourists.
Many of China's most popular tourist attractions revolve around centuries-old Buddhist and Daoist temples. For example, the 1,500-year-old Shaolin temple in central Henan Province has long been under the scrutiny of authorities.
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