"Are there people of all ethnic groups living in this building?"
"Yes. There are Han, Uyghur, Kazakh, Hui, Tatar... They are all acquaintances. We chat, take walks, sing songs and even dance square dances together. Everything is just fine."
This was a conversation between General Secretary Xi Jinping and a Uyghur villager during his inspection tour in Xinjiang on the morning of July 13, 2022.
At that time, Xi Jinping walked into the Guyuan Lane Community in Tianshan District, Urumqi. In the home of Ablat Tursun, a Uyghur resident, Xi Jinping sat with the family, chatting about daily life, asking about medical care, talking about education, discussing incomes and sharing stories of changes.
Hearing this answer, Xi Jinping smiled and said that he could feel the harmonious and happy atmosphere among all ethnic groups in the community.
The Guyuan Lane Community is a typical community where multiple ethnic groups live together, with ethnic minority residents accounting for more than 95% of the total population of the community. Seeing the harmonious scenes of residents of all ethnic groups living together, Xi Jinping said with gratification, "We should cherish the excellent situation of stability and unity all the more and make all 56 ethnic groups united as one."
During this inspection tour in Xinjiang, there was another touching detail. When Xi Jinping told teachers, students, villagers and community residents that "we should be like pomegranate seeds", before he could finish his words, hundreds of voices on the spot replied in unison loudly: "Holding tightly together."
Multi-ethnic communities are not only warm homes where people of all ethnic groups live together but also the bonds that promote ethnic unity and progress. Xi Jinping has always kept in mind the construction of multi-ethnic communities with an embedded structure for the masses.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, when Xi Jinping has conducted research in ethnic minority areas, he often visited communities and went deep into the homes of local residents to learn about the exchanges, interactions and integration among people of all ethnic groups.
"The community is the common home for people of all ethnic groups, and all ethnic groups are one family." In the Linhuangjiayuan Community in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, Xi Jinping said that efforts should be made to "build the community into a big family where people of all ethnic groups support each other."
"Building multi-ethnic communities with an embedded structure for the masses is an important way to promote exchanges, interactions and integration among people of all ethnic groups." In the Panlong Community in Liangqing District, Nanning City, Guangxi, Xi Jinping urged that "in building a demonstration area for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation in Guangxi, we should start from the grassroots communities."
"We should continuously strengthen the sense of community for the Chinese nation and closely connect the hearts of people of all ethnic groups." In the Changcheng Huayuan Community in Jinfeng District, Yinchuan City, Ningxia, seeing people of all ethnic groups living in harmony and happiness, Xi Jinping happily said that when the 56 ethnic groups are united together, it forms the Chinese nation as a community, and the Chinese nation is one big family.
Every word and sentence reflects deep concern and earnest entrustment.
Multi-ethnic communities are vivid epitomes of harmonious coexistence of all ethnic groups, important positions for creating ethnic unity and progress, and also fertile ground for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.
Singing the same song, dancing the same dance, and having meals at the same table... The scenes of diverse ethnic cultures communicating, interacting and integrating with each other, and people of all ethnic groups building and sharing together, working and having fun together and being as close as one family can be seen everywhere across the country.
Around Barkhor Street in Lhasa, Tibet, there are more than 100 ethnic unity courtyards where people of multiple ethnic groups live together. Residents often say, "People of all ethnic groups love each other, just like tea and salt that can never be separated." In the Panlong Community in Liangqing District, Nanning City, Guangxi, brothers and sisters of more than 10 ethnic groups live and work here in peace and contentment. People of all ethnic groups sing and dance together, live together and work hard together...
At the National Conference on Commending Ethnic Unity and Progress held in September this year, Xi Jinping emphasized: "We should build an embedded social structure and community environment, continuously broaden the practical paths for all-round embedding of all ethnic groups, and promote all ethnic groups to hold tightly together like pomegranate seeds."
All ethnic groups in China are one family with deep affection. People of all ethnic groups are as close as brothers and sisters, helping and supporting each other, writing moving stories of "pomegranate seeds", and the sense of community for the Chinese nation is becoming more and more deeply rooted and flourishing.（Outlook New Era）