Christian, belonging mostly to the Catholic Church. As of 2010 Muslims constitute 0.82% of the population of Hebei. Although the surveys did not provide specific data for other religions, 90.61% of the population are either nonreligious or are involved in worship of nature deities, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and folk religious sects. Zailiism is a folk religious sect that originated in Hebei. Local worship of deities organized into benevolent churches in reaction to Catholicism in the Qing dynasty. Hebei has the largest Catholic population in China, with one million members and 1.5 million Catholics according to the Catholic Church. In 1900, apparition of the Virgin Mary was said have appeared in the town of Donglu in Baoding. As a result, Donglu is "one of the strongholds of the unofficial Catholic Church in China". Many Catholics in Hebei remain loyal to the Pope and reject the authority of the Catholic Patriotic Church. Four of Hebei's underground bishops have been imprisoned in recent years: Bishop Francis An Shuxin of Donglu since 1996; Bishop James Su Zhimin since October 1997; Bishop Han Dingxiang of Yongnian who died in prison in 2007, and Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding since late 1999. Culture Language People speak dialects of Mandarin across the Hebei, with most classified as part of the Ji Lu Mandarin subdivision of Chinese. Along the western border with Shanxi, dialects are distinct enough for linguists to consider them as part of Jin, another subdivision of Chinese. In general, the dialects of Hebei are similar to the Beijing dialect, which forms the basis for Standard Chinese and the official language of the nation. However, there are also some distinct differences, such as the pronunciation of some words, made by entering tone syllables (syllables ending on a plosive) in Middle Chinese. Arts Traditional forms of Chinese opera in Hebei include Pingju, Hebei Bangzi (Hebei Clapper Opera), and Cangzhou Kuaiban Dagu. Pingju is especially popular because it tends to use colloquial language which is easier for audiences to understand. Originating from northeastern Hebei, Pingju was influenced by other forms of Chinese opera such as Beijing opera. Traditionally Pingju has a xiaosheng (young male lead), a xiaodan (young female lead), and a xiaohualian (young comic character), though it has diversified to include other roles. Quyang County, in central Hebei, is noted for Ding ware, a type of Chinese ceramics which includes various vessels such as bowls, plates,