China's Vanishing Beards and Mosques

The BBC has found new evidence of the increasing control and suppression of Islam in China's far western region of Xinjiang – including the widespread destruction of mosques.

Authorities provided rare access to religious sites and senior Islamic officials to support their claim that their policies only target violent religious extremism, not faith itself.

But after his official tour was over, China Correspondent John Sudworth set out to investigate.