ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Uyghur migration within China and explores the complexity of minzu identity through Uyghur staff members’ everyday lives in the Tarim restaurant in Ürümchi. It reveals that minzu identity has served a key role in generating symbolic capital for Uyghur migrants to access social resources, education, and job opportunities, especially at the height of ethnic tensions. The minzu identity has also consolidated the divided oases- or regional-based identities through shared cultural values and traditions. During my fieldwork in the early 2010s, Islamic practices and values were observed in the everyday management of the Tarim restaurant and among the daily practices of the employees. The restaurant provided important social space and support for many young Uyghur migrants.
