For those who love hiking, camping and everything having to do with the “great outdoors”, there is no better place than Xinjiang, China.

Part 2 of the wildly successful series on the best recipes for making Xinjiang Uyghur food at home. If you love the food, you’ve got to try it yourself!

What is FarWestChina’s most controversial post? Most beautiful post? How about the one post that I believe is least appreciated? Check them all out here as part of the My 7 Links promotion. It’s good!

Are you hoping to make a trip out to Xinjiang sometime in the next couple of years? If not…you should!… but if you are planning a trip I’d like to point you to a new section of the FarWestChina website that I am proud to unveil…the Xinjiang Travel Resources!

While oil continues to spew into the Gulf, on the other side of the world a different crack is leaking crude. Strangely, the black oil running jagged down the sides of this mountain have the look of dried blood. It’s only fitting…

About this time last year I was invited by a good Uyghur friend to take part in one of Xinjiang’s most popular pastimes: the BBQ. Having spent part of his life behind a Xinjiang kebab stand outside the province my friend shared with me the secrets that make the kebabs in Xinjiang that much better than those beyond the provincial borders.

Late last year I received the one official document that proved to be more elusive than any visa I have ever applied for: my Chinese driver’s license.

The stereotypical Uyghur is poor. According to many, their low economic status in China’s resource-rich province of Xinjiang is the driving force behind the region’s instability. Few Uyghur have the opportunity to leave Xinjiang and those who do can typically only find low-paying food industry employment.

But what about those Uyghur who, against all odds, become professionals in their field, respected and reasonably paid. What do they think about China and how do they feel about Uyghur/Han relationships?

As much as I would like for you to think that this website is the only place you can find information about Xinjiang, it’s not. As a matter of fact, over the years there have been multiple websites created about the region by foreigners…

How much information is really getting into and out of Xinjiang? Is the internet completely cut or just partially? If so, how am I updating this blog while still living in Xinjiang? And the question on everybody’s mind who has any concern about Xinjiang: when will they turn the internet back on?