Nothing quite compares to winter in Xinjiang. Because of the province’s sheer size, describing this season of the year with one blanket statement is nearly impossible. Pictures are the only thing that do Xinjiang’s winter justice.

In Xinjiang, camels aren’t just for riding. Take a look at this crazy photo captured by a FarWestChina reader during her travels through Hotan, Xinjiang.

In 2009 photographer Aphra Pia visited China to travel along the fabled Silk Road.

Somewhere between Urumqi and Kashgar these nomads have set up tent at the foot of the Tian Shan. THIS is why you take a train when you travel in Xinjiang, not an airplane. How are you supposed to see this through a small hole thirty thousand feet in the air?

What happens if a lowly Uyghur bread maker looks like he should be modeling for an Asian clothing designer or starring in a movie? As 22-year old Xinjiang native Litahong is finding out, you instantly become a star on Weibo, China’s Twitter-clone.

Though they can be found throughout China, these Uyghur sweets somehow taste best when traveling through Xinjiang. At the bazaar in Kashgar, this stuff was so sticky that it ripped the braces right off the back of my upper teeth…

Most people associate the Uyghur oven with flat bread, that wonderful food that the Uyghur are appropriately known for. However, these ovens are used to cook so much more, including lamb and the samsa you see above.

To buy or not to buy…that is the question these two Uyghur boys ponder as they listen to a sales pitch at a Uyghur market in Xinjiang.

A beautiful B&W photo by British photographer Jonathan Browning featuring a horse being tested at the Sunday livestock market in Kashgar.

It’s haunting and beautiful. It’s Xinjiang winter. It’s China’s army.