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Residents buy vegetables at a market in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on the morning of July 10, 2009. [Xinhua]
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With the reopening of kebab stalls, shops, bank and post office outlets, life in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is returning to normal after Sunday's deadly riot.
On Friday, the city's No.104 bus resumed operation. All the 43 bus lines were in normal operation, said the Urumqi Public Transport Group.
Security was strengthened as each bus had a security guard on board, said a source with the group on Friday. About 190 buses were burnt or smashed in the riot, which killed at least 156 people.
Special personnel were dispatched to patrol key bus lines, gas stations and car parks, the source said.
All post office outlets in the city had resumed normal operation, the Urumqi Postal Bureau said Friday.
University admission letters from across the country to Urumqi will be sent to the candidates' homes in time, the bureau said. Currently, it is a time for Chinese colleges and universities to recruit new students after the national entrance exams held early last month.
The Urumqi Branch of the Bank of East Asia at the People's Square, a center for Sunday's riot, resumed business on Thursday.
"The riot may have some impact on Xinjiang in the short term, but the impact will weaken as times goes by," said a female public relations clerk of the bank, who declined to be identified.
"Xinjiang is destined to be a hotspot of development because of its distinctive resources and geographical location, "she said. "Some foreign-invested companies hope to tap the Central Asia market via Xinjiang."
Restaurants in Urumqi have also begun to restore business.
"Our meat pancakes sell well and are very popular among domestic and foreign tourists," said the boss of a restaurant near the Grand Bazaar in downtown Urumqi. The restaurant, offering Uygur food, reopened on Thursday.
Ymamjan, general manager of another large Uygur restaurant near the bazaar, said the restaurant suffered a loss of at least 20,000 yuan a day after the riot. It had 4,000 to 5,000 guests every day. It reopened on Thursday.
Ymamjan said he expected tourists both at home and abroad to still come to Xinjiang.
