The social order in Ragya Township in northwest China's Qinghai Province has resumed after a group of people sparked by a rumor attacked a police station Saturday, local authorities said Monday.

The life of the monks and local residents has resumed their normal pace on Monday. Shops are open as usual, vehicles are moving freely, monks and residents are walking on the bustling streets.

"I see nothing different from the normal except the few police cars patrolling the street," a restaurant manager said, "My business is not affected."

Police are still hunting for Tashi Sangpo, 29, a lama of the Ragya Monastery, who escaped from a police station Saturday in Ragya of the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Golog.

His disappearance sparked a rumor which led to a riot involving dozens of people from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, police said.

Sangpo was from Hebei township in Tongde County of the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, police said.

He was detained March 9 for allegedly distributing leaflets advocating Tibetan independence and for unfurling a snow lion flag, the symbol of Tibet independence.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2009)