Beijing - On an artificial hill close to Beijing's main Olympic venues a Central Asian-style brick minaret towers over ornate courtyards.

The 44-metre tower is an exact replica of the famous 18th-century Emin minaret in the ancient oasis town of Turfan, in China's far western region of Xinjiang, where Uighurs in skullcaps still drive donkey carts beneath the grape trellises.

Below the Beijing version of the Emin minaret, a few scraggy goats nibble at the ample greenery inside the the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park. But there are no donkeys, and no Uighurs.

"There are none of those people," said one of the three Han Chinese workers keeping watch on Monday over the park's Uighur area, which is designed to showcase the traditional culture of the 8- million-strong, mainly Muslim ethnic group.

Over at the Kazakh yurt, a circular felt tent like those used by Mongolians and other ethnic groups, it is a similar story.

"All the yurts have Mongolians looking after them," said one of a group of singers and dancers clad in bright pink Mongolian-style costumes.

Asked why there were no Kazakhs, another Mongolian woman said it was "because our religions are different, so it is not convenient".

Kazakhs are mainly Muslim while Mongolians traditionally adhere to Tibetan Buddhism.

Uighurs, Kazakhs and dozens of other minorities make up about 100 million, or 8 per cent, of China's 1.3 billion people.

The 55 minorities account for about half of the poorest Chinese, according to state media, living mostly in underdeveloped western, southern and northern areas.

The government is expected to include performers from all 56 ethnic groups in the Olympic opening ceremony and is promoting the park to Olympic visitors.

At the area for Uzbeks, another Muslim group, only a Central Asian grape trellis hints at their culture.

The wooden gates of the Tajik house are fastened with a rusty bolt and wire wrapped around the double handles.

Nearby is a large compound to display the culture of China's Hui Muslims, who are believed to be descendents of Chinese converts and traders who settled in China.

Open doors allow a view of a traditional Hui home, including a poster of Mecca during the haj pilgrimage season, but there are no people inside.

China officially has 21 million Muslims, about half of them from the Hui group which predominates in poor north-western areas but is spread across the country.

When asked about the absence of Muslims, Wang Kun of the park management office said it was "because some minorities don't have many people".

Wang also cited a lack of space in the staff dormitories, "because now it's the Olympics so we have some more performers (from other minorities)."

"If you invite some Muslims, you have to make some special arrangements for them," Wang said.

China has identified Uighur groups, many of whom want independence from China, as the biggest potential terrorist threat during the Olympics.

It has blamed Uighur terrorists for several recent attacks, including one which killed 16 paramilitary police in Xinjiang on Monday.

After a military crackdown on the violent anti-Chinese protests in many Tibetan areas in March and April, the government is also concerned by the possibility of Olympic protests by Tibetans or their foreign supporters.

Until recently, the Ethnic Culture Park employed Tibetan monks from the south-western province of Sichuan. Tibetan dancers and singers still add some colour to the Tibetan section.

"They haven't been here for several months," a shop assistant said of the monks. "They're coming back next year," she said.

Wang also said the monks were unlikely to return before the Olympics.

"Earlier this year we had them, but because of some business they were called back to their home towns," Wang said of the monks.

After the rioting, many areas of Sichuan were also hit by a devastating earthquake which killed at least 70,000 people on May 12.

Above the park's Hui compound stretches the Han area, consisting of replicas of famous Buddhist grottoes, the Great Wall and other architectural highlights of ancient China.

Again there are no people, although a few rich Han gaze across a brown lake from the Holiday Inn Express on the edge of the park.

Several other buildings are locked or under repair, but most of the areas for China's main non-Muslim minorities employ people in traditional costume, including Korean, Dai (Thai), Bai, Buyi and Miao.

Also known as the China Nationalities Museum, and reportedly once dubbed the "Racist Park" in a bad English translation, the park occupies the south-western corner of the huge swathe of northern Beijing redeveloped into the National Olympic Park.

The Ethnic Culture Park, one of several such places in China, says on its official website that its purposes include to "enhance ethnic unity" and that it is "centring on the theme of patriotic education".

"It is the window of ethnic policy of the government, harmony and progress of 56 nationalities in China," it says. (dpa)