Xinjiang's riot hits tourism in Silk Road city

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-12 09:38

Statistics show that the number of tourists to the city rose by 30.5 percent from a year earlier to 726,100 in the first half of the year, generating 320 million yuan in tourism revenue, up 93.62 percent, said Jia Weidong, head of the Kashgar City's Tourism Bureau.

"In June alone, the city received 320,000 visitors and the tourism revenue stood at 130 million yuan, which means that the peak season has just begun," Jia said.

He did not provide an estimated figure about the tourism revenue losses due to the riot.

Although tourist arrivals fell, the life was almost as the same as before in the city. People were seen walking leisurely in the streets on Saturday and young men of different ethnic groups playing basketball together at a square next to the city's main stadium.

On the other hand, signs of local residents' confidence about the future can also be seen.

At Kadejiang's market, most stall owners are of Uygur ethnic group and only 12 of them are of Han ethnic group.

"None of the 12 shops stopped businesses after the riot," said Imamu Mahmutjan, an administrator of the market.

Twenty-year-old Fan Shuangxia from eastern Jiangxi Province was one of the owners. She sells porcelain here.

"The Uygur shop owners are nice to me," said the young woman with a sort of Xinjiang accent, although she came here just a year ago.

"When some Uygur retailers come to my shop to buy goods, they needn't pay money first. They can pay me after the goods are sold out," she said.

At the mausoleum, several tour groups and independent travelers from Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Taiwan and southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were seen visiting the site on Saturday.

"The number of visitors can reach 150 today, double yesterday's figure," tourist guide Guli said.

"Kashgar is a beautiful city with great history and culture. People here are very friendly to me," said 53-year-old Karl from Germany.

"I think it's safe here. I will stay here for several other days, and I'm looking for some companions to share the transport costs for my next travel destination, Tibet," he said.

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