Rioters torched cars and buses, smashed windows and attacked passers-by as armoured vehicles and military trucks rolled in to restore order in Urumqi.

Chinese authorities blamed ethnic Uighur Muslims for orchestrating the violence, but exiled leaders of the ethnic group said security forces had over-reacted in their response and fired indiscriminately.

The Xinjiang region is a vast area bordering central Asia that is home to nearly eight million Uighur Muslims, many who have chafed under Chinese rule for decades.

"The Uighurs attacked motorists with rocks," said a Chinese woman who saw the riot unfold from the 11th floor of a local hospital.

"They just attacked the Han people," she said. "At least 10 buses were set on fire and some private cars were overturned. I saw many people were lying on the ground and bleeding. A male student was dead."

She said the protest initially looked like students parading in the street, but it then turned violent.

"They smashed store windows and tried to rush into the hospital," she told AFP.

"Very soon, many riot police came and the hospital gate was shut. We were afraid. We stayed in our room and locked the door."

A Uighur man who owns a dry cleaning shop said the protest was triggered by simmering anger at a dispute between Han Chinese and Uighurs at a toy factory in southern China which left two Uighurs dead.

That anger erupted into violence as police arrested Uighurs converging on Urumqi's People's Square to protest. Rioting broke out near the city's bazaar with Uighurs beating up Han Chinese, he added on condition of anonymity.

"The Chinese always treat us as so low," he said, "they don't even want to look us in the eye because we are too low.

"They look down on us. This has been going on for centuries."

"There was a riot," said a Chinese man inside a store badly damaged in the violence. "People were not right in their heads and they went crazy."

"It is safe now, we will find a way to recover," he added, refusing to give his name, as other shop owners could be seen cleaning up their premises.

An American visitor said the atmosphere in Urumqi was now "very nervous."

The 26-year-old, who was in the city extending his visa, described hearing two bursts of what sounded like gunshots shortly after midnight early Monday.

Like other witnesses who talked to AFP, he asked not to be identified for fear of bringing trouble from Chinese authorities.

"I heard the gunshots and I could see the People's Armed Police, white armoured vehicles, two busloads of soldiers and green army trucks covered in canvas moving in," he said.

A 30-year-old tourist from Guangdong province said she stayed in her hostel room Sunday evening but her roommates were caught in the unrest and struggled to find a way out as the area was locked down.

"I planned to stay here for a while but now I've changed my mind because of the violence," she said.

"But I heard the airport is very packed -- I guess many travellers want to flee the city."

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