There may be no better time than the present to travel to Xinjiang, says tourism chief Chi Chongqing.  We’ll make it worth your while.

It should come as no surprise that the tourism industry here has taken a nose dive into the desert sand and government officials are working hard to speed along its recovery.  Considering how vital tourism is to the economy here it’s good to see that measures are being taken to rescue an industry that has lost an estimated 1 billion yuan since the Urumqi riots.  Their proposal, …

I have to admit that life without the internet is a life lived quite simply. I have read more books in the last 3 weeks than the previous three months combined. Of course the list above doesn’t make me exactly excited to get my life back online.

It’s been a terrible and awkward week this week here in Xinjiang, but things are finally calming down.  For the first few days, the entire province was shut down, and although slowly things are being switched back on, sadly, the internet is not one of them.  International phone lines have also yet to be returned.

I’ve mentioned this story once before on this site but I find it so amusing that I decided to share it one more time in light of America’s Independence Day.  For any person who has lived in China during the Spring Festival you’ll appreciate what these women were trying to do.  Absolutely true story.

I’d like to introduce you to one of the most popular buildings in Karamay, a small city of only 200,000 people here in Xinjiang. It represents the only place of worship that is not only accepted by the local government but also boasts a large membership from their ranks.

On Sunday, July 5th at around 9:30pm Beijing time, a riot began which has crippled Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang province. As with any such event here in China, reports are sketchy and numbers vary drastically.  Misleading photos and estimations are already circulating all over the web.  Reliable details won’t be available for at least another 24 hours, but here is a list of what can be confirmed:

Every Friday (or sometimes Sunday) in cities all over Xinjiang, small blocks in the middle of the city are transformed into a maze of stalls, carts, and mobile kitchens. For the entire afternoon the buzz of marketplace activity breathes life into what during the rest of the week is usually an empty lot. You can visit a Muslim Market as far away as Shanghai and the most famous can be found in cities such as Kashgar or Hotan (Khotan), but in fact any Xinjiang city that boasts a …