Stirring the melting pot

In Tacheng, a city of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region bordering Kazakhstan, there is a family of 40 people from five ethnic groups.

Ma Zhiqiang, who passed away recently at the age of 82, and his wife Bai Xiuzhen, 73, have nine sons and three daughters. All of them are of the Hui minority. But the young people have married people of various ethnic groups - Han, Hui, Russian, Kazak and Uygur. Now, the old couple has 15 grandchildren and one great-grandson.

"We often meet in our parents' house, dining, singing and dancing," says Ma Jinhua, 48, the eldest daughter with a husband of Russian ethnic group.

Ma says the family enjoys many festive occasions. Some of them are Islamic holidays such as the Rozah Festival (also known as the Festival of Fast-Breaking) and Corban Festival. Some are traditional Chinese holidays like the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, which are observed by many ethnic groups.

At every party, Ma Zhiqiang, despite his old age, was always the leading dancer.

"He is very good at Russian tap dance," says Ma of her father.

After dinner, the old man led the dance before everyone else contributed songs and dances from their own ethnic groups.

Singing and dancing are so common in the family that some of them have become well-known singers and dancers. Ma Zhiqiang's grandchildren Che Hongni, 24, and Ma Xin, 18, are dancers in the only art troupe of Tacheng prefecture.

It is common for people of different ethnic groups to tie the knot in Tacheng, an important commercial town on the ancient Silk Road linking the heart of China and Central Asia. A total of 25 minorities live there, accounting for about 40 percent of the city's 160,000-strong population.

"For many years, people from various ethnic backgrounds have come and stayed. Anywhere you go in the city, you can find different ethnic groups living together," says Huang Jiajie, an official from Tacheng Prefecture Publicity Department.

However, it is still rare to see such a big and lively family in the city.

"Many girls, some of whom are orphans, from other minorities such as Daur and Tatar, heard of our family and wanted to join us," says Ma Lianhua, 46, the second daughter who married a Hui man.

"They often visit my parents and call them mom and dad."

As the head of the family, Ma Zhiqiang played a key role in keeping the big family united and happy.

"My father often toasted with 'Long live mutual understanding'," Ma Jinhua recalls.

In the 1980s, she fell in love with her Russian classmate Che Xiangqian.

Her mother, a devoted Islam, objected at first.

"But my father supported us and said if we were serious about the marriage, different minorities did not matter," Ma Jinhua says. Her father eventually persuaded her mother.

"On Christian holidays like Christmas, my husband and I would prepare gifts and visit his parents," Ma Jinhua says.

Ma and Bai also have two Kazak and one Uygur daughters-in-law. The two ethnic groups share a common belief in Islam.

"In our daily life, we pay little attention to each other's ethnic identity. We only think about the family," Ma Jinhua says. "We speak Chinese when we meet. We like cooking food of various ethnic groups."

Many tourists who have been to Tacheng are deeply impressed by the harmonious relations of so many ethnic groups.

"Although people there are dressed in different ethnic clothing and speak different languages, they are friendly to each other and to tourists from different parts of the country," says a tourist who calls himself Jianghuguke on an online travel forum.

"In any family you visit, you will be warmly received, no matter what minority you belong to."

(China Daily 04/25/2008 page16)