Gradual restoration of web services

To "quench the riot quickly and prevent violence from spreading to other places", Internet connection and mobile text message services were cut in some areas of Urumqi shortly after the July 5 riot.

Zhang Xiaolei, dean of the Xinjiang branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was worried how could they conduct researches.

"Our professors traveled to Lanzhou of Gansu or Shanghai by air to download the data they needed," he said, adding that the "Internet-searching fee" was not a small amount.

Some tabloids in Urumqi relied on online information. As the Internet was crippled, the newspapers were affected greatly.

A desperate newspaper owner, who asked not to be identified, finally found Internet from a major news organization. With its own server, the organization was among the few units with Internet to the outside world.

Disruption of Internet also hampered study of college students. Abdul had applied to several American universities. While he was waiting for the replies, the man had to travel to Lanzhou by train and read his emails in an Internet cafe.

But there are some people who managed to find the good side of the isolation.

Peng Ziyuan bought many books in the past but hadn't time to read, as she spent most of her leisure time playing online games with her boyfriend.

"Now I finished four novels," she said.

Besides, she noted that as the Internet was disrupted, they had less spam mails and mobile phone messages. "My life is quieter now," she smiled.

However, the regional government has said that it would gradually restore access to some websites and Internet services, and open up mobile text messages and international long-distance phone services.

New year with hope

"It will take a long time and efforts of the entire society to revamp the relationship between ethnic groups in Xinjiang," said Ma Dazheng, director of the Xinjiang development research center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

As the New Year holiday was approaching, local government decorated the trees with paper flowers and the squares and parks with ice sculptures so as the change the city' s gloomy image after the riot.

Zou Huabin, a businessman from the eastern Zhejiang province who had been in Xinjiang for 10 years was optimistic of his business next year.

A clothes seller in the Xiaoximen clothes market, Zou said his business was affected a lot by the riot.

"Many of my friends closed their stores here and returned to their hometowns," he said. But Zou, encouraged by the tax reduction in Urumqi, decided to stay.

"Someone told me that more favorable policies shall come out next year," he said. "If possible, I would like to open a store in Kazakhstan."

After the riot, student Liu Xialing' s parents suggested that she find a job in Shanxi. "After all you have relatives there who could take care of you," they said.

But Liu refused.

"I had been living in Xinjinag for 18 years," she said emotionally. "My friends, my teachers and my memories were all here. How should I adapt to another place which was totally unfamiliar to me?"

Like Liu, the 68-year-old Zeng Ying had been living in Urumqi for 30 years. When he was young, the busy man left his children to his Uygur neighbor Patamkhan to take care.

Despite the riot, the two elderly people still visited each other from time to time. "After so many years, our friendship couldn' t vanish overnight," Patamkhan said.

Zeng and Patamkhan shared a common wish. "Hopefully next year there won' t be collision between the Hans and the Uygurs any more, and people could coexist in peace as if nothing happened."