Ürümqi

In China’s far northwest, Ürümqi (“ooroom’chee”) is the capital of Xīnjiāng, China’s second largest province accounting for 17% of the country’s land mass. For many years this has been on my list to visit, on account of its extraordinary surroundings. Xīnjiāng itself contains the Taklamakan Desert and, skirting it, the various routes of the ancient silk road that once linked China with the Roman Empire. Converging on Xīnjiāng from the east are some formidable neighbors: Pakistan’s Karakoram Range and K2, the world’s second highest summit; Tajikistan’s Pamir Range; and a span of Asian borders including India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia. To me this is the most intriguing area of China.

In addition to Taiwan and Tibet, Xīnjiāng is one of three territories that Beijing struggles to contain. Thirteen ethnic minorities nearly constitute a majority in Xīnjiāng, the predominant one being the Uighers (“wee’ger”) who total eight million. Uigher-Han relations have a turbulent history and continue to be tenuous today. Following the most recent uprisings last year, the government has yet to restore internet access to the province. Tensions in Ürümqi are not so subtle, either, and its streets are patrolled by armed riot police.

Beijing is desperate to harness Xīnjiāng for its oil and gas reserves. Similar to Tibet, a twofold strategy is employed: inject Han immigrants in the workforce and communities, and install infrastructure bearing the Beijing thumbprint. The former strategy is particularly clever, as it establishes a cultural undermine: young ethnic minorities are learning Mandarin in school, and often perceive it to be their link to the outside world: movies, music, video games, work opportunities, etc.

Considering its history, it’s less difficult to imagine Xīnjiāng as an autonomous Central Asian republic, which it actually once was. For several years in the late 1940’s, Xīnjiāng gained a window of independence and was self-governed as the East Turkestan Republic. But in 1949, en route to a diplomatic meeting in Beijing, its leaders went mysteriously missing, and shortly thereafter Xīnjiāng was regained by the People’s Liberation Army.