Vineyards, jade shops deserted in Hetian
- Source: Global Times
- [08:25 July 09 2009]
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By Qiu Yongzheng in Hetian
Business owners in the peaceful tourist town of Hetian, southern Xinjiang, feared not for their lives yesterday, but their livelihoods, as violent riots continued to rage in the region’s capital Urumqi, 2,000 kilometers to the north.
“Normally I make 60 to 100 yuan a day, but since Sunday, there’s been almost no one on the street,” taxi driver Jilili Maitoheti told the Global Times.
“There’s supposed to be an exhibition of wool carpets and jade (for which Hetian is famed) in just over a month, but if the situation doesn’t calm down, everyone will miss out on the opportunity to make some money,” he said.
About 15 kilometers outside Hetian, the usually bustling tourist attraction of Grape Corridor was equally desolate yesterday. The vast oasis of sprawling vineyards usually attracts hordes of visitors from home and abroad at this time of year, but since the riots began, business has dried up.
A young man sitting with a group of friends at a bus stop in Baqige, a village within the corridor, said the absence of tourists had left local people with little to do.
“The Internet’s down, so we can’t even play online games,” he said.
In the neighboring village of Layik, a worker at the Ancient Walnut Tree Park said the place had been almost deserted.
“I haven’t seen a single tourist since Monday,” he said.
On Tuesday, a few tourists were spotted at Hetian Airport, they were all booked on outbound flights.
Among them was a businessman surnamed Li. He told the Global Times he had traveled to Hetian to recruit students for his private school, but after the violence broke out in Urumqi he became fearful and decided to return home.
“I was in Kashgar in August, when terrorists killed more than 10 policemen,” he said.
“You never know what they’ll do.”
Officials in Hetian refused to talk about the impact on local tourism, but several of them told the Global Times that, “peace is the first productivity in Xinjiang,” a phrase taken from a speech made by former leader Deng Xiaoping who said, “science and technology is the first productivity.”
As of yesterday, there had been no riots in Hetian, but armed police remained stationed in Tuanjie Square, in the city’s downtown area, and a convoy of motorcycles and armored cars patrolled the ring road.
An employee at the Wenzhou Grand Hotel asked guests not to leave the building at night.
Li Hongwei contributed to this story