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Xinjiang People Are “Welcome” All Over the Country
Saturday, Oct. 3rd, 2009
Yesterday was my first time to Shenyang city. And it was the first time I was so “warmly” welcomed by Shenyang people that I almost slept on the street last night.
I was very tired after I had done my business yesterday and wanted to check in a hotel, yet I ended up finding no single hotel that would accommodate me after three hours searching. When I called a hotel in advance, they all claimed that they had vacant rooms. But when I showed up at the reception desk, all the hotel receptionists would say upfront that they didn’t receive anyone from Xinjiang. They would still reject me even after I showed all my IDs. I asked them who had set up the rule and they replied that it was the Public Security Bureau. It was so unfair! I had turned to many hotels and they all had the same reaction, as if I was a thief—there was no kindness at all. I was extremely disappointed by this city that had given me a good first impression. In the end, I asked them to call the police there, who photocopied my IDs many times, and even suspected that my ID was faked… After a long argument, they finally allowed me to check in. I tape recorded the conversation between the hotel and the police and was planning to post it here, but then realized that it’s unnecessary. “Mutual understanding” was probably the only excuse I could find to comfort myself. Now that I can understand this incident, what if it had happened to someone else, would they understand this? What’s the benefit of doing this? How long is this going to last? It was good that I can speak Mandarin and could communicate with them. How about those people who just come out of Xinjiang for business or tourism? Do they have to sleep on the streets? Does the state government really have such a regulation? I think it’s because the way that the local government dealt with this is too superficial.
I made myself calm down while lying on the bed for a while. I thought about it carefully and I actually think the attitude of those law enforcement officers in this particular period is understandable, but isn’t it worth reflecting on the acts of the local government targeting a certain group of people? I’ve encountered a funnier incident this morning. Because of work, I needed to reply to an email. And I found a net café and went to the reception desk.
“I want to use the Internet. How much do I need to pay for the security deposit?”
“10 RMB.” Answered the staff promptly without looking at me.
I took out my ID and said to him, “Here you are.”
“Sorry, your ethnic group can’t use the Internet.”
“Why not?”
“Because of the state regulation.”
I had no choice but leave, with a smile. And it was the same reaction when I asked the second net café…
Hours after this article was posted online, the phrase “Sorry, your ethnic group can’t use the Internet” became one of the hottest discussion topics in Chinese BBS and blogosphere, including overseas online forums. Many Chinese (Han) netizens expressed their sympathy to Kuerbanjiang and anger towards discriminatory measures he experienced. Three days later, Kuerbanjiang Saimaiti took this post off his blog and replaced it with a new post saying that he did not intend to have his post “used by people overseas” and “we are all a big family of the motherland.”