From The Guardian:
China has three times as many religious believers as previously thought, according to a new survey that suggests this nominally atheist nation has never been more open to the “opium of the masses”.
Professors at East China Normal University estimated that about 300 million people – equivalent to more than 30% of the adult population – followed Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Muslim or other beliefs.
The new figures cast doubt on official statistics, which claim China has only 100 million religious worshippers, as well as calling into question the government’s assertion that superstitious beliefs will wither away under communist rule.
