Spirit of unity for the young at heart

Community ensures residents enjoy a variety of activities and are fully cared for, report Xu Lin and Mao Weihua in Kashgar, Xinjiang.

Youngsters play basketball and a father teaches his daughter badminton as duos of different ages play table tennis, and seniors relax in wheelchairs and on benches, soaking up the sun in Kashgar's Donghu community.

"Living here makes it easy to play table tennis. Our greatest wish is to become professional players someday," says 13-year-old Xerzat Abduwali. The boy of the Uygur ethnic group practices with his 10-year-old brother Erxat for about three hours every day.

Donghu's public facilities and vibrant atmosphere also attract residents from neighboring areas, among them 75-year-old Wang Xiuzhen. She enjoys playing table tennis with her 76-year-old husband for about an hour and a half in the community every day.

"I picked up this hobby when I was young. Now, I have plenty of time to play again, and it keeps me healthy," Wang says.

This is a common scene at Donghu (meaning "east lake") community in Kashgar, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Six ethnic groups — Hui, Tajik, Kazak, Mongolian, Uygur and Han — live together in the community, which has 2,600 households consisting of 6,201 residents, 41 percent of whom are elderly, and 21 percent children.

A pilot project that started early last year, Donghu has become Kashgar's first integrated community. It aims to create a 15-minute "living circle" for residents of all ages, a walkable radius within which they can meet daily needs, such as shopping, education, healthcare and entertainment.

"Residents of different ethnic groups live here together like family," says Zhang Xiaozhen, director of the residents committee. "We focus on sincerely serving the needs of the children and the elderly, who make up the majority of our residents."