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China Travel Guide » Places in China » Xinjiang Uighur Province
Places in China: Xinjiang Uighur Province
People from an established nomadic Mongolian tribe settled in the region which is now the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 221 BC). Around 60 BC, the Han Dynasty set up a protectorate in which Xinjiang was a part. The Chinese government changed the name of Xinjiang Province to Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in 1955 in an effort to appease some efforts within the province to become independent.
The people of the province are largely Uyghur (about forty-five percent) and Han (about forty-one percent). Smaller ethnic groups within Xinjiang include Kazakh, Hui, Kirghiz, Mongol, Dongxiang, Xibe, Tajik, Russian, Ozbek, Tatar and Daur. The populace is less Chinese in appearance than in most of China; they tend to be Turkish in origin.
The 1,660,400 square kilometres which make up the province are located in the far northwest corner of China. There are 16,630,000 inhabitants in the province, making a population density of 11.8 persons per square kilometre. Xinjiang is the largest province in China, containing about one-sixth of China's total mass.
The province is unique in several ways. The very hot Taklamakan Desert, the very high Heavenly Mountains and the deep Turpan basins are all found in the province. This makes for the wide range of temperatures from very hot to very cold, all within this one province. The best time to visit the province and be relatively comfortable is in the autumn of the year. The weather does not usually include much precipitation, only around 150 mm per year.
The Tianshan Mountains tend to divide the province into two parts with Yining, Urumqi and Hami in the north and Turpan, Hotar and Kashgar in the south. Mountains and desert have hindered farming efforts considerably. Still, 48,010,000 hectares of grassland enable the production of fruits, cotton, wheat, silk and sheep. There are mineral deposits within the province as well including oil and coal. There have been over one hundred twenty types of minerals already found in Xinjiang. Eighty percent of China's mineral deposits are found in Xinjiang.
Little farming is done in the province generally. However, in and around the city of Turpan, which is sometimes called 'the oven', one finds outstanding fruits. Grape vineyards and wine production allure many visitors to this city. The city is outstanding for another feature, the fact that it is eighty metres below sea level.
Tourism is one of the basic economic features of Xinjiang Province. Having been a part of the old Silk Road in the distant past, visitors often come seeking to know more about this part of China.
Heavenly Mountains attract a good share of tourists as well since the panoramic views are worth the climb involved to see them. The capital city of Urumqi is a densely populated city and a centre for transportation with air, road and rail connections.
The people of Xinjiang welcome visitors to their celebrations and festivals. Visitors to the province need to be sure of which time zone is being used for the various activities since the locals have their own time zones which differ significantly from those of Beijing.
Major cities in Xinjiang Uighur:
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