BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Muslims across China are celebrating the Eid-al-Adha festival, or the Festival of Sacrifice, before the dawn of the New Year on Sunday.

    More than 3,000 muslims, including diplomats and expatriates from Islamic countries, gathered on Sunday in Niujie Mosque in downtown Beijing for a service to mark the festival.

    "This is one of the most important service of the year. We have slaughtered 50 sheep and cows," said Li Shuwen, an imam of the mosque.

    The Eid-al-Adha festival, which falls on Dec. 31 this year, is being celebrated by more than 9.8 million muslims in China.

    Angshah Hihai, 38, woke his three sons at 5:00 a.m. to get ahead of 120,000 others who flocked to the Dongguan Great Mosque in Xining, capital of northwestern Qinghai province.

    Muslims in neighboring Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region were just as ardent. Many mosques became crowded, and believers had to pray on carpets laid outside the mosques.

    "I feel an obligation to offer my thanks-giving prayers for a better life," said wheelchair-bound Na Guowei, 75.

    The Eid-al-Adha is also a time for shopping, family feasts and galas.

    "I have sold more than 100 sheep in two days," said Tursun, a livestock dealer in a market south of Urumqi, capital of the western Xinjiang region.

    "This is a good end to the year," he said.

    Believers slaughter sheep, goats, camels and cows to celebrate the occasion. The meat is given to friends and relatives or to the poor.

    Traditional snacks, including cakes, roasted nuts and Sanzi, a noodle-shaped fried food, are festival musts. Brand-name toffees, candies and chocolates are also getting popular.

    Wedat Mijiti, a highway officer in Xinjiang, bought several packs of his favorite Sanzi. "This year is special, as we celebrated two of our most important festivals in the same year, Eid-al-Fitr, the festival of breaking the fast, and the Eid-al-Adha."

    Eid-al-Adha, also called Id-al-Qurban in the Uygur language, is a four-day festival, which marks the end of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

    Livestock are slaughtered to commemorate the Prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son Ismail to show obedience to God.