About 1,000 people had gathered in Hubei province's Shishou city since Friday, angered by the death of 24-year old Tu Yuangao, whose body was found Wednesday evening in front of the hotel, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Xinhua said Tu worked as a chef at the hotel and some residents believed he was killed by gangsters or by the hotel's boss, who is related to the city mayor.

More than 200 people were injured in the clashes between police and residents outside the hotel, according to a Hong Kong-based rights group, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

Xinhua said there were no reports of injuries. Protesters blocked roads, smashed windows and set fire to the hotel while preventing police from moving Tu's body, which had been inside the hotel, it said.

Discontent with local officials and police in China often leads to mass protests, which can gather in size and force with remarkable speed. Mild frustration can turn into fury within minutes.

A local resident surnamed Chen said protesters started gathering outside the hotel Friday and by late Saturday had clashed five or six times with police, smashing six police vans and fire trucks. Chen said thousands of armed police with shields and batons were deployed in the area.

The crowd started dispersing early Sunday, but security was tight, he said.

"The area around the hotel is still cordoned off by hundreds of police with batons," Chen said in a telephone interview Sunday.

A man who answered the phone at the Shishou government said the crowd dispersed after local authorities persuaded them to leave and there had been no conflicts since Saturday afternoon.

The man, who refused to give his name, said authorities were investigating the death of Tu, whose body was moved from the hotel to a funeral parlor Sunday. Chinese media reported that police ruled out murder, saying they found a suicide note.

Amateur video clips of the protest posted online showed hundreds of riot police marching down a street to reinforce a human barricade formed by officers who held their shields above their heads, supported by police vans and fire trucks. In one clip, hundreds of protesters were seen surging toward police, picking up objects from the ground and hurling them at the officers, who retreated.

The video appeared to be posted by a U.S.-based user on YouTube, which is blocked in China. It could not be independently verified.