A group of jade traders from Kashi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, gather at the Baiqiangzi community in Chaoyang district, Beijing, during their lunch hour on March 6. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Two days after the March 1 attack in Kunming, Yunnan Province, 9-year-old Uznar came home from school and asked her mother, "Some classmates said that they all hate Xinjiangers, because we are all bad people. Are we bad people?"

Her mother, Beijing-based Uyghur dancer Lalegul, didn't know what to say. Lalegul came to Beijing from Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in 1994 for school and stayed in the city. She married another Uyghur who was born and raised in Beijing.

Other than their facial appearance, the family is no different from any other locals. They live in a Han-dominated community, send their daughter to a Chinese-language school and speak perfect Beijing dialect.

However, after the incident, Lalegul suddenly found herself facing small troubles in daily life because of her Uyghur identity, such as getting stared at on the subway or receiving frequent ID checks. She also has to figure out how to explain these things to Uznar when she meets similar issues.

Lalegul's family is not an isolated example. Every time an incident like the Kunming attack happens, the Uyghur community is impacted to a certain degree. In order to distance themselves from the acts of terrorists, many members of the ethnic group have stepped forward to clear up misunderstandings.

A worker makes traditional Xinjiang noodles at a restaurant in Beijing. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Desire for calm

The first thing Ezizjan Dawud does in the morning after getting up is make finger food for 50 people.

These people all came from Kashi, Xinjiang, and most were neighbors of Ezizjan and his brother, Parat Patar. Most sell jade for a living, while Ezizjan and Parat run a small canteen-like restaurant at the Baiqiangzi community on Beijing's Southeast Third Ring Road.

The community is almost entirely made up of migrant workers of both Han and Uyghur ethnicities. Parat came to Beijing in 1993, while Ezizjan came in 2008. They both live in four-square-meter rented apartments in the area, earn about 4,000 yuan ($646) a month and lead typical "Beijing drifter" lives.

Besides going to the Islamic neighborhood of Niujie Street in Xicheng district every day to buy mutton, Ezizjan doesn't get around much. His time is spent inside the community where his family resides. Even though language is a barrier, he and his brother play cards with Han neighbors on the street.

"They all know me," Parat said. "I've been here for so long." The brothers expressed a desire to live peacefully, especially after the Kunming attack.

The Uyghurs have a peaceful and united community, Ezizjan said, and don't like to live in chaos. "We are all people, so I really hope we can all respect each other and we can get on well with other ethnicities," Ezizjan said.

A Uyghur trader (left) sells jade at the Shilihe subway station, Chaoyang district, Beijing. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Atmosphere darkens

Ezizjan's peaceful life was disturbed after the attack. He sensed that security had tightened. Police came from the community bureau to check on the ID and temporary residence permits of all the Uyghurs living in the area.

"They had previously checked on us, but after the incident, the police came all the time, sometimes they came from morning to evening, and higher-ranked officials came every three to four days," he said. He was also informed that he should report to the bureau if any outsider comes to the community from Xinjiang.

The tightened security has affected business. Sometimes it's not convenient for customers to come to the restaurant, or for traders to sell jade on the street. But Ezizjan said he understands the policy.

"We don't welcome these kind of people, we wouldn't let them live here either. People who live here only mind their own businesses and won't break the law," he said.

In other parts of the city, lives of the Uyghur people have also been affected.

Roza (pseudonym), a Uyghur who is member of a rap band in Beijing, told the Global Times that the band was supposed to have a performance at Mako Live House on March 8, but the show was cancelled about two weeks ago.

He was informed by the bar that they received orders from the police department there shouldn't be any performances at this time, without any specific reason.

Roza said he understands the reason behind the cancellation - to ensure safety. "All participants of this concert are students, if something happens, we can't take responsibility," he said.

However, he is still disappointed the show was canceled at the last second. "We all practiced for nothing," he said.

Roza's friend, a Han from Xinjiang named Sang Lei, told the Global Times that he feels that since the Kunming attack, there has more discussion and debates online. Like Lalegul, he has noticed that some people express some hostility toward Uyghurs, such as postings on social media with anti-Xinjiang or anti-Uyghur sentiment.

"Among all people in Beijing who are from Xinjiang, 99 percent are disgraceful, thieves, drug-sellers, they cheat people on the street and sell walnut cookies with mercury inside," one post wrote.

Lalegul said some of Uznar's classmates might have picked up information about the Kunming attack from the TV or from parents' conversations. She said they told Uznar that many Xinjiangers are killers and said they didn't want to play with her. It made her uncomfortable and she tried to explain to Uznar there are good and bad people in every place and in every ethnicity.

After the Kunming attack, Kurbanjan Abdusamat, another Uyghur living in Beijing, said public transportation has become inconvenient to use.

On March 3, he was getting a taxi in Beijing and six empty ones passed by him without stopping. On the subway he noticed that sometimes when he sat down people near him immediately got up to leave, clearing the area.

Actions louder than words

Kurbanjan came to Beijing with a clear purpose: to help bridge understanding between Uyghurs and other ethnicities through photography. Once a vendor in Xinjiang, he later became a photographer and came to Beijing in 2006.

He has been battling with the negative effects of incidents such as the Kunming attack. In 2007, he shot a documentary called Heishan Diary, about the Uyghur children who live in a mountain region near Hetian. Afterwards he also shot photos.

The exhibition was well-received. But a year after the exhibition, on July 5, 2009, a riot happened in Urumqi which resulted in violence and deaths. The riots set back all his efforts to introduce Xinjiang to others, Kurbanjan told the Global Times, adding that he could feel suspicion and hostile attitude toward Xinjiang and Uyghurs.

In 2011, Kurbanjan organized another photo exhibition in Beijing, about Uyghurs living in Hetian. More than 15,000 people came to see the exhibition in a week. Just as he thought he had improved the image of Uyghurs, an attempted plane hijack happened on a flight from Hetian to Urumqi in 2012.

"Every time I made an effort, something else would happen," he said. "It's very hard on all of us."

Despite these setbacks, he is still organizing another photo exhibition about Uyghurs in Beijing. And just like him, many others have come forward to help correct their image.

Alim Halik, a 41-year-old Uyghur barbecue vendor and philanthropist, who has in the past donated much money to charity and been cited as a role model in Guizhou Province, donated 5,000 yuan to the victims' families through the Yunnan Information Times.

Besides comforting the family, he hopes this act can be a start in solving the misunderstandings people might have against the Uyghur people.

"I'm doing my part for the victims of the Kunming incident," he told the Global Times.

Following his example, two entrepreneurs, one Uyghur and one Han, both donated through the Yunnan Information Times, donating a total of 45,000 yuan to the victims' families.

The day after the attack, a public letter started circulating on the Internet collecting signatures, stating that all Uyghurs condemn such action and hope it will not create a barrier between ethnicities. Within two days, around 60 people had signed on it.

Young people are also making their voices heard online. Faruk Yalkun, a freshman student at the Senior High School of Urumqi, who has a rap band, posted a musical video online dedicated to his hometown. In the music video he rapped about "melons, the scenery and the beautiful women" in Xinjiang.

Faruk told the Global Times that after the Kunming incident, many people pointed fingers at Xinjiang.

He feels the need to help his hometown within his power and dissolve the misunderstandings outsiders might have towards Xinjiangers, he said.

"We feel that this time we need to be calm and send out some positive vibes," he said. "Many of my friends posted on WeChat and Weibo to let outsiders see what Xinjiang is truly like; the image cannot be wrecked by just a small group of people."

Faruk's older sister studies at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou. But Faruk said that when she tried to book a hotel with her Guangzhou ID card and university student certificate, she was turned down.

"After the Kunming incident, there has been more tension and misunderstandings about Xinjiang, because many people only hear about the place from the Internet and haven't actually seen it with their eyes," Faruk said. "In Xinjiang, the difference between ethnicities isn't as great as people might think."

He was proud his song had been shared thousands of times online and made to TV programs and said it had served its purpose.

Sang Lei said that whether he is in Xinjiang or in Beijing, he has always respected his Uyghur friends and won their respect as well. When they meet misunderstandings after such incidents, they try their best to patiently explain and dissolve differences.

"We should all stop arguing, because arguing is not only meaningless, but also can hurt one another," Roza posted on his Weibo account.

"For everyone from Xinjiang living outside the region, whether you are here for school or work, establishing your best appearance and reputation, that's the biggest contribution you can do for our people."