Some people want to see the Uygur and Han people pit against each other. But fact is showing just the opposite.

It that barbaric violence that ravaged Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, two Uygur workers sheltered 22 Han compatriots at their hostel from the ferocious mobs on the night of July 5, China Daily reported on Tuesday.

"We would risk our lives to save our Han brothers under those circumstances," one of the Uygurs was quoted as saying by the English language newspaper.

The newspaper also reported a 38-year-old Uygur man and 30 of his neighbors, all Uygurs, saved 40 Han people who were being chased by weapon-wielding rioters but had nowhere to hide. Their courtyards became a safe haven as every fleeing Han was ushered in and the mobs in hot pursuit were shut out.

The Uygur man also helped the Han victims move into a makeshift shelter and took care of them until they were safe enough to be on their own.

Han resident Zhao Shushen, one of those saved by the Uygur man, said he and his relatives were lucky to run into their Uygur savior.

The Uygur man suffered attacks for saving the Han people. When the desperate Zhao urged him to escape, the man replied: "It's nothing. We are one family."

On the street, 16-year-old Han boy Wang Mingya was full of gratitude to a group of youngsters about his age, who stopped the mob from attacking him. He only knew they were Uygurs.

"I might have died were it not for the young Uygurs," he was quoted as saying.

China Daily also cited a Uygur retiree who told the two Han workers he saved from the streets that those ruthless, murderous lot were "only a small number who do not represent all Uygurs."

"To all those who came to the rescue of the unfortunate victims or even attempted to assist them, we extend our heart-felt gratitude and hold them in the highest esteem. Their noble deeds lent a touch of humane warmth to that otherwise frightening night," the newspaper commented.

"In the days after, they will serve as invaluable sources of goodwill between the Uygur and Han communities," the newspaper said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2009)