Roses bloom in Khalitan's garden.[Photo by Yang Yang/China Daily]

Six years later, the young man, Du Ronglu, received his parents' letter and decided to return to Shandong. Despite his unwillingness, Khalitan's father sewed into his cotton-padded clothes 17,000 yuan ($2,520), a huge sum then, which the father had earned by selling sheep leather.

Du did not return until 2017. "He appeared at our door suddenly and we were happy to see him," she says.

The two families often visit each other on holidays and special occasions like Khalitan's elder daughter's wedding on Sept 15.

On a wall of Rose Manor hangs another photo of Khalitan's ethnic Han friends. "They are my daughters' ganba and ganma (similar to godfather and godmother). I love them."

In 2004, Khalitan took her elder daughter to a national violin competition in Beijing. There were 16 children from Xinjiang in the competition and her daughter got the first prize. They met a couple from Northwest China's Shaanxi province, whose son was a contestant, too.

"When the father, Liu Haozhong, saw us, he came over and introduced himself, saying that he grew up and worked in Xinjiang. He called me later to say that we should not waste my daughter's talent and he offered to help if we went to Beijing. So I listened to him and quit dancing immediately and took my two daughters to Beijing," she says.

"It was my first time going to Beijing and I knew nobody. They helped us to rent a basement and found teachers for us. We became great friends," she says. "The more ethnic groups there are, the more friends you can have, and the more you can gain, because a lot of great things happen."