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Here’s my ideas for some things I want to do this year and I’d love to get your feedback on any of it, PLEASE:

• Xinjiang’s Best Food: I would love to continue this series this year with the possible addition of a “How to cook your own…” video series.  This would of course star my wife instead of myself, but I think it could be something worth trying.
• Xinjiang Worker Profiles: The longer I live here the more I notice all the local people around me who work hard and for the most part go unnoticed, and I’ve already been talking with some of these people to get their story of why they’re here in Xinjiang.  Examples include taxi drivers, Uyghur bread makers, a Uyghur doctor, and some government officials I know.
• Short Stories: This website exists because I have learned to love writing (and I live in Xinjiang), so I want to have fun with some creative stories.  I find that I personally retain information when it is attached to a colorful story, so instead of just rehashing a news story I want to tell you a true-to-life (names changed) story from perspectives other than my own.  Example:  I went to a Uyghur wedding last month.  I could just rehash the details of the wedding in first-person and what I thought about it – you know, the regular blog stuff – but instead I think you would get so much more out of it if I had fun living the story through the bride’s eyes (a personal friend).
• Photo of the Week/Month: I’m not sure how often I would want to do this, but through all the travels my wife and I have made around Xinjiang we have amassed a large quantity of high-quality pictures that we haven’t yet been able to share.  I could just load them all to a photo sharing site but I’d rather give people the chance to enjoy them.  Those photo sites are like walking into a museum – you only appreciate the first few until your legs get tired (or in this case your eyes).