China torch relay: Urumqi

By Shirong Chen BBC China editor

In pictures: Life in Urumqi Views from Urumqi

At about 2,500km (1,560 miles) from the nearest sea, Urumqi, capital of China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, is one of the most landlocked cities in the world.

A Chinese pop song describes Xinjiang as "a wonderful place, with beautiful scenery north and south of Tianshan mountain".

Urumqi sits on the northern side of the Tianshan range, on the famous Silk Road that leads to Kazakhstan and seven other Central Asian countries.

The city reflects the area's ethnic mix and life style. It is Muslim-dominated, but you can see many Han Chinese and other ethnic minorities here.

Uighurs are the largest ethnic group, making up eight million of the region's population of 20 million.

Patriotic volunteers

In the markets, visitors are greeted with the smell of the famous lamb barbecue and the beautiful colours of the silk cloth and carpets. There are large Turpan grapes and sweet Kumul melons.

CHINA RELAY CITIES IN FOCUS Use the map to see the full Olympic torch relay route or read about some of the key cities: Full route map, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Jinggangshan, Shanghai, Nanjing, Huangshan, Three Gorges, Kaili, Lhasa, Urumqi, Xian, Yanji, Weihai, Qufu, Anyang, Beijing

On the streets, you can see volunteers selling Chinese and Olympic flags, many of the vendors with a red heart stuck to their cheeks.

"We are university volunteers selling flags to make everyone patriotic," one of them said to our correspondent James Reynolds.

"We don't charge disabled people for them. We are very proud of the torch coming here. It's something good that comes along once every 100 years. It shows that China is powerful."

Of course, it is not entirely harmonious here. The Chinese authorities have announced extra security measures ahead of the torch relay in Urumqi, including random vehicle checks and a ban on firecrackers.

Separatist threat

Spectators have been told not to watch the relay over footbridges or shout slogans that would "harm the nation or the relay cities" in Xinjiang.

One shopkeeper who runs a stall on the route selling soft drinks and cigarettes is not very impressed.

That's the government's view: China is facing a serious terrorist threat - and this threat comes from where I'm writing these words - Xinjiang James Reynolds Reynolds' China: Xinjiang in mind

She has been told by the local government that she will have to keep her windows closed and watch the relay on television.

"What's the point of having the relay go past my door if I can't even see it and have to watch it on TV?" she asks.

This is all because the authorities are worried that Muslim separatists will target the relay.

Some of the indigenous Uighurs have been accused of belonging to a separatist group called the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or Etim, that has organised violent uprisings and bomb attacks.

Etim has also been accused of having links with al-Qaeda and of seeking to establish an independent state of East Turkestan in Xinjiang. This year China claims to have disrupted multiple plots targeting the Olympic Games.

Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, is a bustling multi-cultural city

Last week, China rolled out its Olympic security set-up by holding the last major anti-terror exercise in Beijing.

The government also appointed terrorism expert Yang Huanning as the executive vice minister for public security in anticipation of Olympic-related threats.

The torch relay in Xinjiang has been moved forward by a week from its original schedule, in an attempt to wrong foot any attempts at disruption.

The relay will start at 0930 local time and pass on to the city of Shihezi, a frontier town built from scratch by the paramilitary Production and Construction Regiments.

These regiments, made famous in China recently by a dramatic TV series called Mother of the Gobi Desert, now produce about 13% of the regional GDP and boast commercial companies that are listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and run operations as far afield as Cuba and Mexico.

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