Three people were injured during the clash, which began the day after the Feb 9 Lantern Festival and took several days to bring to an end, Zhang Guangyu, a staff member at a mosque in northern Hebei province, told Reuters.

'It had nothing to do with religion or ethnicity,' Zhang said. 'The two villages have never fought before.' Relations between the Han, who make up more than 90 per cent of China's 1.3 billion population, and the 10-million-strong Hui can be sensitive and Beijing has warned of rising social unrest in the country as growth slows and unemployment rises.

Fireworks set off by children from the Hui village of Niujinzhuang set fire to firewood in the neighbouring Han village, Gengzhuangzi, on the Lantern Festival, the end of the Chinese New Year holiday when fireworks are lit across the country.

By the following day, the dispute had escalated into a battle between the adults of both villages, an official with the Niujinzhuang village told Reuters, declining to give her name.

She did not say how many villagers were involved.

'At least 1,000 armed police and officials from higher authorities came here to calm things down,' she said.

'The police didn't clash directly with any villagers.' Officials were still posted in the villages, she said.

The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Hong Kong said that over 1,000 people were involved in the incident.

In 2004, a dispute over a traffic accident in neighbouring Henan province escalated when Han and Hui were trucked in to join in fighting. Seven people were killed before martial law was imposed. -- REUTERS