The Dungan people (Chinese-speaking Muslims from Northwest China) fled to Kyrgyzstan in 1877 after the failure of their uprising against the Qing Dynasty; they settled in Semirechie as well as the Ferghana Valley.
In the early 20th century, Uyghurs, Dungans, and Han Chinese alike came to the Ferghana Valley as migrant workers in coal mines, cotton mills, and farms; some settled down permanently in Kyrgyzstan.
The agricultural failures incurred during the 1950s Great Leap Forward spurred many people from Xinjiang to flee to the Soviet Union, including Kyrgyzstan, to escape hardships in China.
[8] Kyrgyzstan and other post-Soviet states are popular destinations for people from Xinjiang because they offer the opportunity to learn Russian, which has become important in urban job markets such as Urumqi.
[8] Kyrgyzstani workers also blame unskilled Chinese migrants for taking jobs away from local people and thus forcing them to migrate to Russia to find work, where they themselves face the danger of violence motivated by xenophobia.
[3] During the 2010 riots in Bishkek which overthrew Kurmanbek Bakiyev's government, the Guoying Center, a prominent symbol of Chinese traders' presence in Kyrgyz's capital city, also became a target for mobs, who looted shops and burned the building.