Dilnar said she has been living in a community where Uygur and Han ethnic groups were living together.

"Everybody of the Han ethnic group has been nice to me in my 43 years," she said.

"When I ask my Han friends to give me a hand in this or that way, some of them will reply: just relax, Dilnar, I will do whatever I can do for you," she said.

Tit for tat not solution

Last year, Xinjiang's gross domestic product grew 11 percent to reach 420 billion yuan (62 billion US dollars), government statistics show.

"It's a beautiful land with a distinctive folk culture that attracts tens of millions of tourists every year," Yu said.

"The city wasn't even affected by the global financial crisis, but now, I'm not sure when my company can re-open because some of my employees have left after the riot," he said.

Still, More shops re-opened on Thursday, even in Erdaoqiao market, one of the riot hot spots. More than half of shops re-opened and quite a few young Uygur men were seen selling prepaid mobile phone cards at the market on Thursday, just like before.

Security forces patrolling the streets used loudspeakers to ask citizens to "show restraint and keep calm" and "never do something that makes our own people painful but the hostile forces happy".

The hostile forces are the separatist World Uygur Congress, which the government blames to have instigated Sunday's riot, in which 156 people died and more than 1000 injured.

"For my part, what I can do is not to raise the prices of my commodities," the shop owner Tuo said. "In that way, I can at least reassure the nearby residents and help stabilize the society."

"I don't believe tit for tat could solve problems. You beat me today, I will take revenge on you tomorrow, and you will come on to me for a fight again the day after tomorrow... If so, the city will never be in peace," she said.

A businessman Rishat of the Tartar ethnic group has proposed that a donation foundation should be set up with the support of all ethnic groups in the city to help treat those injured in the riot.

"Everyone can play a role in restoring the disrupted social order," he said.

Dilnar, the Uygur dancer, told Xinhua that it might take time for the two ethnic groups to forgive.

"But we shouldn't be pessimistic," she said. "After all, we are brothers and sisters, we still need to live together in the same city in the future and we shouldn't sadden each other again."

"As the first step, let's drop our clubs and shake hands," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2009)