(Yicai Global) Sept. 21 -- A total of 12,000 Muslim Chinese who attended the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, this year returned to China, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

There was no any major incident or issue during the visit to Mecca, said Li Ge, official in charge of the Chinese pilgrimage group. The pilgrims and all personnel successfully coped with the scorching heat, at 45 centigrade degrees at times, he added.

Chinese Muslim pilgrims returned to China by a total of 39 chartered airplanes, Li said.

Pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam, which calls on every Muslim to realize once in a lifetime provided that they are in good material and physical condition.

The number of people attending the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca this year was 2.35 million, up 490,000 compared with last year, and the highest since 2012.