The New Dominion

This week, Xinjiang saw more and more national park action, continuing victories for the Flying Tigers, a great outpouring of charity for Xinjiang’s first “Donation Month,” a new bus route to Mongolia, and more, under the break.

Xinhua Network News Xinjiang Channel 新华网新疆频道

• 11 November 2007: Jimusaer County (see in Google Earth) adds to the recent national park frenzy (see Sayram Lake National Wetlands Park and Kanas Geological Park) by carrying out an extensive refurbishment and improvement of the Sandbank Ecological Park, Xinjiang’s largest desert park. In the first stage of construction, 15.8 million yuan will go into a shelterbelt, an Ethnic Garden (民族特色风情园), and sand-faring and amphibious tour vehicles. In the second stage, 600 million yuan will go into making desert pastures, a botanical research center, and a wildlife viewing area.
• 12 November 2007: In order to the continue the development of bilingual education throughout Xinjiang, the regional Financial Department has allocated 70.39 million yuan to be used primarily in Kashgar, Khotan, and 7 “pastoral regions.” The money will mostly serve as subsidies to offset costs for tuition and school items and to assist in paying the incomes of participating teachers.
• 12 November 2007: As a part of this year’s effort to prevent severe air pollution over the winter, the city of Urumqi has created a “Redlist-Blacklist” system of incentives to encourage heating companies to abide by environmental regulations. Companies that violate these regulations (for example, by improperly disposing of sulfur-contaminated water, or due to a boiler accident that damages the factory’s environmental protection equipment) are placed on the publicly viewable black list, while companies that consistently uphold environmental protection are honored on the red list. Other than losing or gaining face, the article does not mention any other repercussions or rewards for being on either list.
• 12 November 2007: After a November 7 loss (104-87) to the Jiangsu Dragons in Nanjing and a home victory (115-104) against the Shanghai Sharks on November 9, the Flying Tigers rallied at home on November 11 and toppled the number 1 ranked juggernaut, the Ba Yi Rockets (116-106).
• 13 November 2007: The former director of the Regional Health Department’s Office of Financial Planning, Chen Jianguo, was sentences to 10 years imprisonment and stripped of his political rights for one year for corruption. On 16 separate occasions from 2002 to 2005, Chen accepted bribes totaling over 330 thousand yuan.
• 13 November 2007: Kanas Geological Park has closed for the winter season and the park management has completed its statistical snapshot of the this year’s tourist season. This year the park saw 929 thousand tourists, 50 million yuan from ticket sales, and 730 million yuan from general tourist revenue.
• 13 November 2007: Mother nature reminds us that Xinjiang is a geological hotspot by sending a magnitude 4.6 earthquake to Luopu County (earthquake epicenter in Google Earth) on the southern rim of the Tarim Basin. There were no casualties.
• 14 November 2007: A new international passenger route between Xinjiang and Mongolia was officially opened on October 28. The route is between Qinghe County in Xinijang and Burgan, which is located in Mongolia’s Khovd Province (see route in Google Earth). The international route between these two locations was original established in 1992, but was closed due to insufficient passenger numbers and unacceptable road conditions. A renewed interest in the route and road repairs have helped bring about this year’s reopening. (Hat tip to Michael at The Opposite End of China for alerting me of this exciting new find).
  
• 14 November 2007: The Management of Safety Production Goals Meeting convened on the morning of the 13th and commissioned 6 Inspection Teams that will travel throughout Xinjiang investigating safety standards in spheres ranging from coal mining to traffic to fire prevention.
• 14 November 2007: The dates of the 34th meeting of the XUAR 10th Standing Committee has been set from the 20th to the 23rd of November.
• 14 November 2007: The success of the “Deliver Warmth and Compassion with One Day’s Wages” program has prompted Xinjiang’s party organs to declare November “Donation Month,” with the hope that donation efforts in subsequent Novembers will continue to aid low-income residents of Xinjiang battle the imminent cold weather.
• 14 November 2007: Surgeons of the Aksu’s Number 1 People’s Hospital’s Gynecological Department have successfully removed a 30 kg (66 lbs) ovarian tumor from a 55 year old woman. The patient, who hails from Wushi County, discovered that she had a 6.7 inch diameter tumor two years ago, but was unable to treat it for economic reasons. This year, within a period of two months, the tumor experienced abnormally rapid growth, giving the patient a waist circumference of 149 cm (58.6 inches). The new growth affected her daily living so much that she decided to visit Aksu, and on arrival doctors sent her immediately to the operating table, which implies that the patient had the ironic fortune of having an ailment so bad the doctors would treat it for its own sake, in spite of the costs involved.
• 14 November 2007: A six member international team for the Xinjiang Przewalski’s Horses Propagation Research Center has hired 3 Kazakhs to track wild horses in the Qaramay Mountains Ungulate Natural Reserve during the winter season on the Center’s behalf. Kazakh nomadic herders migrate with their flocks to the mountain pastures of the reserve during the winter, making them the most likely candidates for monitoring wild horses. The three choices chosen from 128 candidates, and all are around 30 years old and have enough education as to be able to submit written progress reports to the Center.
• 15 November 2007: The preliminary stages of a project to build a protective structure over the ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple in Jimusaer county have been completed. Beiting’s “West Temple” was constructed sometime between the 11th and 13th century and at that time served as a prominent center for Buddhist art. Preserved at the ruins are a number of Buddhist figures and frescoes.
• 15 November 2007: A punitive element has been added to efforts to help protect and conserve Przewalski’s horses in Northern Xinjiang. Drivers involved in collisions with wild horses face up to 810 thousand yuan in fines. Przewalski’s horses are classified as level one protected wildlife, and according to wildlife protection laws, their “value” is to be calculated as 12.5 times whatever administrative costs are spent to protect them - which under current calculations is 65 thousand renminbi. There have been 5 collisions in the past 8 months, and in response the Forestry Police posted a 20 thousand yuan reward for any information leading to the arrest of the hit-and-run drivers. After the reward was posted, three drivers have been arrested.
• 15 November 2007: The Flying Tigers defeated the Fujian SBS team in Urumqi on the 15th, 110 - 91.
• 16 November 2007: According to statistical data from the Regional Foreign Trade Department, the total value of foreign trade for the past 10 months has surpassed 1 billion American dollars in 5 regions: Urumqi ($2.96 billion, an increase of 61.2% compared with last year), Yili Prefecture ($1.92 billion, 3.3% increase), Changji Prefecture ($1.74 billion, 100.4% increase), Bortala Prefecture ($1.52 billion, 13.4% increase), and, for the first time, Kashgar Prefecture ($1.05 billion, 300% increase).
• 16 November 2007: Xinhua Xinjiang issues a “special report” on XUAR’s Chairman, Ismail Tiliwaldi, which includes some biographical details and information on Tiliwaldi’s philosophy when it comes to governing Xinjiang. The main points of the report can be summarized in its title: Development, stability, and harmony have all along been the primary pursuits of Xinjiang.
• 16 November 2007: This year, the total value of foreign trade imports and exports surpassed 10 billion US dollars, a milestone which Xinhua attributes to Xinjiang’s superior geographic location and abundant natural resources. Xinjiang by far is a net exporter: exports amounted to $8.57 billion, whereas imports totaled almost $2 billion.
• 17 November 2007: As a part of its National “Building the Future: CCB’s Maturation Plan for Providing Financial Aid to Low-Income High School Students” project, the China Construction Bank has 4 high schools in Urumqi 360 thousand yuan each. The program will continue on for 6 years, eventually providing 3300 low-income students at 15 Xinjiang High Schools and 840 low-income students at 4 Bingtuan High Schools financial aid totaling 6.21 million yuan.

Other News

• 9 November 2007: The UCLA Asia Institute’s AsiaMedia site runs a fascinating piece by Tim Hathaway describing his year and a half stint as a journalist and writer for the state-run Xinjiang Economic Daily in Urumqi. Hathaway’s unique position as a foreigner hired by a state run publication in China’s most sensitive region gave him a unique vantage point through which to explore Xinjiang’s social issues and current events.
• 12 November 2007: The English Edition of Xinhua Net runs an English language version of the article linked above discussing the selection of 3 Kazakh herdsmen to track Przewalski’s horses in northern Xinjiang.

Blogs

• 15 November 2007: Davesgonechina at Mutant Palm writes about the 13th century legendary Sufi mystic Nasreddin Appendi and the different ways he has been reinvented in China. He also shares a vintage claymation “Afanti” episode posted at Tudou and the news that producers in Chongqing are working on a newer cartoon incarnation of the ancient master.

Tags: basketball, bilingual education, CBA, charity, conservation, corruption, cultural preservation, cultural sites, earthquakes, ecology, education, foreign trade, foreigners in xinjiang, geology, hospitals, Ismail Tiliwaldi, journalism, justice, kazakhs, law, legends, medicine, mongolia, nasreddin appendi, national parks, newspapers, Przewalski's horse, regional government, safety, sports, transportation