Former Uyghur convict sets out on trip to heal ethnic wounds

Dolkun rides his motorcycle out of Chenzhou, Hunan province on March 31. Photo: Courtesy of rednet.cn

Dolkun Tunurganjan, 31, a Uyghur from Yining county, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, hadn't expected so many obstacles on the way of his self-funded trip around the country to spread ethnic harmony.

Starting from his hometown with his bicycle on May 22 last year when his wife were four-month pregnant, he planned to travel across 30 provinces or regions within two years.

But nearly a year later, he's only managed eight, including Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan and Guangdong, even after his bicycle replaced by a motorcycle donated by some residents in Huaihua, Hunan province in March.

"I was often rejected by hotels or restaurants," Dolkun, who arrives on Tuesday in Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, told the Global Times in his strongly-accented Putonghua via the phone. "Some even said 'Xinjiangers are no good' to my face. That was very hurtful."

One night in May in Beihai, Guangxi, he was turned down by 18 hotels in a row. In the end, he slept by his motorcycle. "There wouldn't have been so many difficulties if not for the incidents," he lamented, referring to the attacks in Kunming on March 1 and in Urumqi on April 30.

Without a map at hand and unable to read Chinese, Dolkun travels mainly by asking for directions. He often gets lost.

Former convict

Dolkun is 180 centimeters tall, with a high nose, deep-set eyes and a beard, and hails from a rural village in Yining. He previously ran a kebab stall in Zhangye, Gansu province, but was sent to a prison for seven years for a drunken rape. In the summer of 2012, he returned to Yining after release.

But he was depressed since his name was mud locally, and banks also refused to loan money to him due to his prison record. "My friends all declined to speak to me, saying I had a bad reputation," he told Southern Weekly.

He wanted to do something big to improve his reputation. Last year, an idea to bicycle around the country to promote ethnic harmony came to him. "That's my dream since childhood," he said to the Global Times. Between 17 and 20, he made four long trips on foot or bicycles as far as East China's Jiangsu province.

In an attempt to gain the trust of strangers more easily, he asked the Communist Youth League Committee in the county to issue an official proof of his identity. The committee deemed the idea was good and passed it to county officials. And soon Dolkun was picked as an exemplar.

The county organized a big farewell ceremony for him that four hundred students joined. The local security bureau also made a special unofficial "traveling around China" identity card for him.

The league also suggested he visit the Youth League Committee in every counties or cities and have them stamp his notebook. Now the 50 plus page book is full of several hundred seals, Dolkun said.

On the road

But the official proofs failed to help much, especially after the Kunming knife attack which claimed 29 lives. Passersby avoided him and more hotels, and even store owners refused to serve him. And he was often taken to police stations, not because of his prison record but because of his Uyghur looks.

Li Xin, a reporter from rednet.cn in Changsha, Hunan, became a major coordinator for Dolkun, who telephoned Li nearly everyday when he met with problems. "I've talked with countless hotel owners and police officers to explain his identity," Li told the Global Times.

Despite lots of setbacks, Dolkun has no plan to give up. "I have to keep my word," he said.