People undergo security checks at the entrance of the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, last week. [China Daily]

Wang Yang's last memory of his parents is standing over their bloodied bodies in the street outside their home in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

His mother's last words to him had been: "Run home and hide."

Like hundreds of others who lost loved ones in the July 5 riots last year, the 6-year-old ethnic Han orphan is still adjusting to his new life, yet he insists he no longer feels afraid.

"I was so scared that (July 5) night. The rioters were scarier than any monsters I know," said Wang at the SOS Children's International Village, where he has lived for almost a year.

When Wang arrived at the village, staff said he refused to talk. He believed the safest place was under the bed - the place his mother taught him to hide.

"He was obviously traumatized by the whole thing," said Yao Yiyun, who is now the boy's full-time guardian. "We all were."

After his parents were brutally beaten to death, Wang said he returned with neighbors to where he had seen them last. "I found them lying on the ground bleeding. I kept shaking them to wake them up but they didn't respond," he recalled, staring blankly into the distance.

Shaking his head, he said: "I really don't want to think about it any more."

Yao said that since the youngster has been at the village, he has been obsessed with just one question: Why did the rioters take his mother and father away? "I have no answer to that," she said.

Today, Wang is enjoying his new life at the village, which is home to children from eight ethnic groups, including Uygur, Han and Kazak, and says his ambition is to become a great painter.

"Although I still miss my parents badly, thanks to my new 'mum' (Yao) and my friends, who have all been so good to me, I'm not scared any more," he said.

One person who has helped a great deal with Wang's slow but gradual recovery is fellow orphan Abduwarz. "Abduwarz is my best friend because he always protects me," said Wang, who is almost inseparable from his Uygur classmate.

Despite the fact Uygurs killed his family, Wang said he feels no hatred towards the ethnic group.

"There is always good and bad people in any ethnic group," said Wang thoughtfully. "I know Abduwarz is good and the Uygurs who killed my parents are bad."

A total of 197 people were killed and more than 1,700 injured in Urumqi last July 5, when thousands of rioters took to the streets armed with knives, metal poles and bricks.

Following initial investigations, the Chinese authorities blamed separatists based overseas for orchestrating the unrest and suspended text messaging, international calling and Internet access. All services have been restored over the past year and life in the city has slowly returned to normal.

For Du Li, however, the horror of having to identify her 49-year-old husband's body at a police station 12 months ago is still as fresh in her mind as if it was yesterday.

"It's been one year now and all I want is to get my husband's mobile phone back," she said tearfully. "I want to see if he got the text messages I sent him warning not to go home (that night)."

Du had lived with her husband and 25-year-old son in Urumqi's Tianshan district, one of the areas worst affected in the riot, which is next to a shantytown built on the slopes of Heijia Mountain.

According to a report by the regional government, most of the rioters from southern Xinjiang, such as the Kashgar and Hotan prefectures, were unemployed migrants who had been living in 48 shantytowns across the city before July 5.

More than 21 percent of houses next to Heijia Mountain were not registered, while out of the 13,000 people who live there, about 72 percent are ethnic Uygur, said Tianshan district officials.

At the time of the riot, Du Li was in hospital recovering from an operation.

"My son was with me and I think we'd have been killed if we'd been at home. The situation was out of control," she said. "I called him hundreds of times and only got through at about 10 pm, but all I could hear was shouting and explosions. I couldn't hear his voice."

Du reported her husband missing the next day and was called to the district police station to look at some pictures of victims on July 8.

"I kept telling myself that he wouldn't be among them, that he must be in a hospital," she said. "My hope was shattered when I spotted the pink T-shirt I bought him not days before (the riot)."