Zhang Lixia waited fearfully as two young Uighur men approached her liquor shop in downtown Urumqi just days after ethnic unrest here left more than 180 people dead.
But the two Muslim men dressed in stylish polo shirts and neatly pressed slacks wanted no trouble, rather a bottle of Johnny Walker whisky, some Chinese spirits and several packs of cigarettes.
After the transaction that neared 300 yuan (40 dollars), Zhang offered them several bottles of soft drink for free as a friendly gesture.
"I'm so scared when the Uighur men come in," the 45-year-old Han Chinese shop owner told AFP afterwards.
"Never in my wildest imagination did I think that something like this was going to happen."
Zhang was referring to protests on July 5 in Urumqi, the capital of China's far northwest Xinjiang region, that saw thousands of Uighurs take to the streets in a protest that turned violent.
Uighurs, who have long complained about repression and discrimination under Chinese rule, attacked Han people and looted their shops, triggering a strong crackdown by security forces.
At least 184 people died — 137 of them from China's dominant Han ethnic group — and more than 1,000 others were injured in the worst ethnic violence to hit China in decades.
Zhang and her husband are part of a huge wave of Chinese immigrants who have flooded Xinjiang in the government's drive to develop the nation's vast western regions and alleviate huge population pressures in China's heartland.
More than 1.3 million Han moved into Xinjiang between 1998 and 2006, according to government figures that do not take into account many unregistered migrant workers.
Han made up about 40 percent of the region's population of 20.5 million people in 2006, according to the official data.
Last year, Zhang quit her clerical job at a state-run bank in central China's Henan province and her husband, a former soldier who was once stationed in Xinjiang, sold his transport truck so they could move to Urumqi.
They put a 150,000 yuan (22,000 dollars) down payment on the tobacco and spirits shop, and planned to grow old happily in Xinjiang.
"When we first got here, we loved it, we thought Urumqi was a great place, better than Henan," Zhang sighed, her smile rarely leaving her rotund face.
"All the people here were so friendly, we thought the Han and the minority people got along really well. Now everything feels so dangerous."
Although the government has insisted that race relations were not a cause of the unrest, Uighurs frequently complain that the overwhelming number of Han Chinese immigrants is threatening their livelihoods and traditional culture.
The government believes that by bringing in manpower and expertise to exploit Xinjiang's vast energy and mineral reserves, the nation's 30-year economic boom can be sustained and the Xinjiang economy can be developed.
"The Han Chinese can help the minority peoples raise living standards," said Zhang Jiantao, Zhang's 45-year-old husband, echoing the government view.
He was greatly dismayed with the riots and said he witnessed the brutality with which some Uighurs beat and killed Han Chinese. He said he was also concerned about the way in which the Han retaliated by beating Uighurs.
"In the 1980s, I was stationed here as a soldier," Zhang said while sitting among cases of soft drinks, spirits, beer and cigarettes.
"Since then I have always had a very deep impression of Xinjiang, the natural environment of Xinjiang is incredible, the people are friendly. I had always thought that one day I would come back to live permanently."
He is less concerned about the situation in Urumqi than his wife and remains intent on staying.
The couple also hope their 22-year-old daughter and their college-aged son will follow them out to Xinjiang and begin a new life here with them.
"My son was just here for the summer vacation," Zhang said.
"We had planned to travel to the Tianshan mountains and the Takalaman desert, but then the riot erupted. It left a very bad impression on him, so he went back to Henan."
Share This Article With Planet Earth
