Ever since reading Blaine Kaltman’s Under the Heel of the Dragon, my views about language in education have been challenged.  In my city of 200,000 there is only one Uyghur-language high school and judging from the rumors I’ve heard recently they may soon switch to Mandarin.
Why is that?  Or rather, why is that important?

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.

Spring seems to me to be the perfect time to introduce a site-redesign. It’s been a long time coming and I freely admit that FarWestChina was in bad need of a face-lift. So after over a month of coding, testing, and fixing I am finally content to introduce the new FarWestChina!

Mongolia, like northern Xinjiang, has been hit with one of the deadliest winters in decades, and although this type of news isn’t as eye-catching as earthquakes in Haiti or Chile, the needs are just as real. They have a goal of donating almost $2,000 to Mercy Mongolia, which for the rural residents of the area is a fortune.

While most of the focus of Xinjiang’s communication clampdown has been on the internet, I thought I’d share with you one more intriguing part of the new life here in the restricted province.

In the midst of every crisis, certain industries naturally flourish. Sometimes it seems this idea can be employed for good, such as World War II pulling the United States out of depression, while other times it can bring out the worst, exemplified by the number of phony charities that appeared after 9/11. Sometimes, however, it’s just for fun – and such is the case for one such business that has blossomed since H1N1 hit Xinjiang: face masks.

Dear FarWestChina Readers,

Following a tradition that I practice in my normal, non-internet life, I’ve decided to write all of you a quick Christmas letter wrapping up the year 2009. It’s been an eventful year to say the least,

Last year about this time my wife and I were invited to the grand opening of a local bakery/coffee shop. Usually we shy away from such invitations because in most cases our presence is a publicity stunt (we’re the only westerners in our city), but we agreed this time due to the owner being the mother of one of my students.

About 6 months ago, back in the days when I could access the internet here in Xinjiang and certain websites weren’t blocked, I mentioned on Twitter that Coke just opened a new bottling plant in Xinjiang. At the time I didn’t really think much of this announcement and had doubts whether I would even notice any change, but I was wrong.

Thanksgiving in Xinjiang has always been an adventurous occasion for my wife and me. One year was sadly spent at Pizza Hut in Urumqi after searching unsuccessfully for a traditional Thanksgiving meal; last year I actually walked around the city with a live turkey under my arm – a gift from one of my adult students who told me it was the only one within a 100km radius of the city.