As this year’s Hajj season approaches, pilgrims are traveling to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage from around the world, including from China.
The first batch of Muslim pilgrims from China have arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj amid stepped-up preparations in the kingdom for the annual Islamic congregation due in early June.
The group landed at the international airport in the Saudi holy city of Medina before heading to Mecca, home to Islam's most sacred mosque.
The Saudi Directorate of Passports has announced readiness to process pilgrims' entry at different access points, using the most up-to-date devices manned by personnel proficient in the arrivals' languages.
First groups of pilgrims have already arrived in Saudi Arabia from several nations including Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Iran and Turkey.
For the seventh straight year, Saudi Arabia is implementing a scheme offering Hajj-related facilities.
The “Mecca Route” benefits pilgrims from Malaysia, Pakistan, Morocco, Bangladesh, Turkey and Cote d’Ivoire at 11 airports in the beneficiary countries.
The initiative aims to provide fast-track services to the pilgrims from these countries by finalizing their procedures in the homeland smoothly, starting with taking their biometrics and issuing Hajj visas electronically, through to completing passport measures, after verifying that all health requirements are met.
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Other facilities include tagging and sorting out luggage at the departure airports.
On arrival in Saudi Arabia, those pilgrims head directly to their residences in Mecca and Medina aboard buses moving on designated routes while their luggage are delivered right to their residences.
Around 1.8 million pilgrims, including 1.6 million from abroad, performed last year's Hajj, according to official Saudi figures.
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