According to Ma Tong's chronology of Ma Laichi's life, after 30 years of religious work in the Hezhou region, Ma Laichi left China in 1728 for a Hajj to Islam's holy places in the Middle East.
After returning to China, Ma Laichi established the Hua Si (; "Multicolored Mosque") school (menhuan) - the core of the Khufiyya (خفيه) 虎夫耶 movement in Chinese Islam.