China torch relay: Urumqi views

Rachel Yang works in a bar in Urumqi and she describes the atmosphere in the city on the eve of the torch's arrival.

Urumqi has a substantial Muslim population

Urumqi is on the western side of China and very far away from Beijing. So it's great to have the torch pass through and feel attached to the Olympic Games. As Chinese we are all proud of that.

The arrival of the torch has also been good for our city. Urumqi has become cleaner. There are many flowers and Chinese flags.

But there is bad news as well. For the coming days our roads will be shut down because of the torch. I work in a bar and if the road is shut down we won't get many customers. That is the dark side.

I wish I could hold the torch - maybe I'm not perfect enough! But at least I'll get the chance to see it on the road.

Xinjiang has athletes in the Chinese basketball team - including someone from the Uighur minority.

A large portion of the population of Xinjiang is Uighur. I have many Uighur friends and we have a good relationship. Sometimes we have different opinions because of religion. Some of them don't drink alcohol. They speak more directly. I notice these cultural differences.

I also see that people have become more open-minded. For example, my Uighur friends previously couldn't marry Chinese or foreigners. Now they can.

So we can see small changes everyday in Urumqi. There are always new buildings, and last month the government widened the roads to allow 10 cars down.

This city has grown very fast but it is still not as big as cities like Beijing and Shanghai. We could say that Urumqi is like a younger brother to these cities.

I love Urumqi. I think this is the best city in China. Every day I communicate with foreigners. The city is special because it has so many minorities. I can see all the cultural differences and change happens every day.

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