According to the New York Times, the PRC has begun to provide extra pay to those army veterans, as well as some civilians, involved in the nuclear tests at Lop Nur. The subsidy began last year.

2 January 2008 saw a terrible fire take place at the Dehui International Square (德汇国际广场) department store on Qiantang Jiang Lu near the passenger train station in Ürümchi. The fire took five lives and caused millions of yuan in damage to property. Xinhua has a story on the outpouring of charity for the over 1200 families affected by the fire. Donations have already exceeded 14 000 000 RMB.

There have been more developments in the field of educational policy. At the recently-concluded 11th Meeting of the XUAR People’s Congress, several representatives pointed out the need to dramatically increase middle and high school enrollment in Southern Xinjiang, specifically in Qäshqär, Xotän, and the Qizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, with an emphasis on skills training. In Qäshqär, the rate of high school attendance is only 23%, while, in other areas, it is lower than 20%. The meeting also emphasized the need to focus on “bilingual education” and on the “Two Basics” plan. As for the lack of Chinese-language teaching resources, a major impediment to spreading Mandarin in Southern Xinjiang, representatives had no answers, only noting the need for more training. Somewhat more concretely, the XUAR Education Office has set some goals regarding the spread of “bilingual education” in the near future. According to its figures, there are now more than 150 000 students enrolled in “bilingual” classes in Xinjiang, of which there are now over 5000. There will be a new emphasis on pre-school entry Mandarin language training, which currently enrolls 141 500 or so children. In the South, the Education Office wants to enroll 85% of children of age in such programs within four years. “Bilingual” training programs will also begin to train teachers from rural areas.

People and money are flowing through Xinjiang. In 2007, over 7 700 000 passengers passed through the Ürümchi airport, up 19.6% from 2006. In 2007, Xinjiang’s 1636 companies receiving foreign investment were offered 2.852 billion USD in contracts, eventually accepting 812 million USD thereof. Foreign investment in Xinjiang in 2007 exceeded 13.716 billion USD, up 50.7% from 2006, which the XUAR, naturally, wants to improve upon. The goal is to increase foreign investment 20% to 16.5 billion USD, of which 9.8 billion will be invested in regular XUAR companies and 6.7 billion USD in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. There is also the goal of increasing net profits from import and export to 16.5 billion USD.

Ürümchi is not a very nice place to be right now. Beginning on 18 January, the city experienced the coldest weather it’s had in ten years, dropping below -20C every day for five days. Luckily, it’s been rather noticeably nicer over the last couple of days. On the 24, Ürümchi got hit with an earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale. Did anyone feel this? Similarly, Qäshqär set a record low temperature, hitting -24 C around 27 January. Likewise was Southern Xinjiang to receive a 10-year record snowfall, getting a total accumulation of 5 to 15 cm.

Actually, all of Xinjiang is experiencing minor disasters. There occurred in Ürümchi’s Midong District on the afternoon of 24 January a mining accident that took one life. The Ili River is experiencing flooding caused by the thickening of the river’s surface ice, in turn brought about by the sustained record low temperatures, flooding herders’ houses and drowning livestock in Huocheng County and in the Chapchal Sive Autonomous County. 23 families of herders and 4640 livestock animals have been evacuated.

There is some hope. The Qaramay oil fields reached their goal in 2007 of zero on-the-job deaths. The Xinjiang Oil Field Company attributes their success to improved employee safety programs. In the medical field, on 20 January, the XUAR Health Office [better translation, anyone?], along with ten other concerned organs, ordered Xinjiang hospitals not to turn away non-job-related cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. Although signs of a measles epidemic in Ürümchi have been building since November, the city reportedly has over 100 outpatient clinics prepared to provide free measles vaccinations, and the city’s Disease Prevention Center has been spreading notices and information about measles. The PRC also plans to establish Ürümchi as a model city for heating production reform and energy conservation. Ürümchi would be the second such city to be established as such under a World Bank program. Unfortunately, it seems that the over 30 000 000 RMB to be provided for this project will, at this point, only go to the construction of two new phases of pre-existing apartment complexes.

Today’s news and photos, unless otherwise credited, came from the Xinhua News Network’s Xinijang channel.

Xinhua Network News Xinjiang Channel 新华网新疆频道

• 30 December 2007: Authors celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Xinjiang Writers’ Association on the 27th of December. The Association started in 1957 with only 50 members; today, 2000 authors are members.
• 31 December 2007: Three climatologists wrote a treatise on global warming’s effects on China’s Northwest for the Economic Consultation Newspaper. The summary is as follows: “As a result of global warming, our country’s Northwestern region is currently undergoing a transformation from a warm, dry climate to a warm, wet climate, and so in the future this arid area may become relatively moist. Experts believe climatic transformation will have a major practical and strategic impact on the local ecology, on regional economic development, and on other relevant factors. The Northwestern region ought to actively carry out responsive measures to exploit changing ecological resources, simultaneously taking advantage of the situation yet preventing and avoiding harmful side effects, thus bringing about better and faster economic and social development.” Seems to me that they’re saying “if global warming makes the Taklamakan Desert into a thriving oasis… more power to it!” Though I admit I haven’t read the full text, which is available through the above link.
• 31 December 2007:Regional Social Sciences Union held its annual meeting in Urumqi on the morning of the 29th. 200 scientists attended, revealing research results from 2007 and exchanging academic information.
• 31 December 2007: The Regional People’s Inspection Agency’s Anti-Corruption Bureau announced that this year special investigation operations lead to the conviction of 13 individuals working in the field of health care, including the Regional Health Department Financial Regulations Bureau Chief Chen Jianguo (sentenced to 10 years imprisonment) and the former president of Kashgar Prefecture People’s Hospital Zhu Zhong (sentenced to 14 years).
• 31 December 2007: The Party Secretary of Aletai Prefecture divulged on the 29th that the regional government has already approve the upgrade of Beitun (Beitun in Google Earth) to full city status and will also invest 400 million yuan to help bring about this status change. Beitun, which is the headquarters of the 10th Division of the XPCC, previously only held township status. Intensive urban planning projects aimed at remodeling Beitun began on April of 2007 and was carried out by both Chinese and British engineers.
• 31 December 2007: Qadir Qurban, a Uyghur computer specialist at the Changji police department, has become a candidate for Olympic torchbearer. Qurban was recommended by the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture for his efforts in bringing about stability via the implementation of the latest crime fighting theories and technologies. As the torchbearer selection process continues to unfold, Qurban works out daily and continues to pour efforts into his work, knowing that at the very least he can contribute by helping quash any preemptive efforts to hamper the Olympics through his technological work.
• 1 January 2008: This New Years a number of shopping centers passed out discount cards which triggered an upsurge of “panic buying,” leading a Xinhua writer to conclude that holiday frenzy shopping at extremely crowded shopping centers has turned to a new consumerist tradition in Urumqi.
• 1 January 2008: Surveys conducted and funded by the China Petroleum Tarim Oilfields Company and China Petroleum Northwest Oilfields Company have confirmed 974.1 billion cubic meters of proven natural gas deposits in Aksu Prefecture, enough to fill energy quotas for 200 million residents.
• 2 January 2008: On the morning of the 2nd, Urumqi International Airport had to close for the second time within a month due to heavy fog. Several hundred passengers were affected by the delays.
• 3 January 2008: The Central Propaganda Ministry, the National Broadcasting Headquarters, the Regional Party Committee and the Regional Government in cooperation with local industries are carrying out the “TVs for Ten Thousand Homes” project, which will provide 273 thousand 53 cm color TVs to low-income, rural households across Xinjiang. Akto County (a place known for being a hotbed of resistance) resident and program beneficiary Maimaiti Wushou’er gushed, “I didn’t expect that during Qurban festival I’d be sitting on my kang watching television, I must thank the party and the government for their care and consideration. Now I’ll definitely study with enthusiasm party policies, science, and cultural knowledge, and soon I’ll be able to cast off this poverty.” Imagine that! Maybe America can learn a thing or too from China: televisions, not bombs.
• 3 January 2008: Full-scale construction work on the Kashgar-Khotan railroad will begin this year. Surveying investigations and planning for this new railroad was conducted in 2007; now, the projects 6.5 billion yuan worth of construction investments will be directed towards the actual implementation of a new 775 kilometer railroad connecting Kashgar city with Minfeng in Khotan prefecture. The railroad is expected to begin operation in 2010.
• 4 January 2008: The city of Urumqi recently began the first “National Causes of Pollution Survey which will attempt to clarify the data available on pollutant producers in Urumqi by investigating the amount of pollutants, their sources, the directions by which they spread, their regional distribution, the current condition of pollution prevention systems, and expenses being put into pollution management. The data produced by the survey will form the foundation for upcoming pollution management reform.
• 4 January 2008: In 2007 Xinjiang companies extracted 26.4 million tons of crude oil and 21.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas, making Xinjiang the number 1 gas and oil producer in the country. According to current estimates, 20.8 billion tons of crude oil and 10.8 trillion cubic meters of gas are yet to be exploited.
• 5 January 2008: Nur Bekri, acting chairman of the XUAR, made an appearance at the regional Minority Elementary and Middle School Bilingual Training Evaluation and Feedback Meeting. Bekri, who as a high-ranking Uyghur member of both the regional government and the regional party probably underwent bilingual education himself, emphasized the importance of the continuing growth of bilingual education and ensured continuing support on behalf of the government for the program.
• 5 January 2008: The 36th meeting of the 10th Regional People’s Congress Standing Committee occurred on the morning of the 3rd. The primary topic of hand was preparations for transition to the 11th Regional People’s Congress, whose first meeting is rapidly approaching.
• 5 January 2008:As part of the “Fewer Children, Quicker Prosperity” project of the regional Population and Family Planning Committee, over 50 thousand households were each awarded 3000 yuan for voluntary renouncing their right to have a 3rd child. Left unstated in the article is the fact that minorities in rural jurisdictions are permitted to have 3 children per household, so the beneficiaries of this program are probably all non-Han.
• 5 January 2008: Starting from the 6th, the China Southern Airlines route between Urumqi and Dushanbe, Tajikistan will be transformed from a chartered flight to a regularly scheduled and operating flight. The route opened in 2004 but was chartered and therefore prices were often high and flights operated on an erratic schedule. After the 6th, both prices and times for the route are expected to stabilize.
• 5 January 2008: Thanks to rapidly increasing trade between China and Central Asian nations, the export volume of Alashankou, (Alashankou in Google Earth) a trade center located on the border with Kazakhstan on Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, surpassed 50 million tons before the close of 2007, officially making it the busiest land-based railroad “port” in the nation.

Other

• 2 January 2007: David Challenger with CNN travel writes a standard-fare travelogue of his trip to Turpan. Though most of the writing is typical first impression descriptions many Xinjiang enthusiasts and scholars have long moved past – “The people were intriguing; Chinese were evident, and of course Uighurs, who looked like a cross between Mongols and Afghanis” – it is nonetheless interesting to see Xinjiang make a blip on a top-level American news network.
• 3 January 2007: Fresh produce industry website Fresh Plaza writes on the growing jujube industry in Gansu in Xinjiang. The jujube industry is expected to expand to over 3 million acres, which will make it the largest jujube base in China.
• 4 January 2007: China View runs aEnglish translation of the Xinhua article above regarding Xinjiang becoming the nation’s top oil/gas producer.
• 4 January 2007: Rocky Mountain News reporter David O. Williams makes some observations about the ski industry’s gradual shift of focus from the United States to Asia. With the skiing and snowboarding industry on the decline in the US, many American ski moguls are turning Asia’s vast untapped markets and prime skiing mountains. Ping Tian resorts near Urumqi are examined as a case study in this move; currently Ping Tian has many Americans on their team to help develop the resort into a top notch resort, including ski trainers who are passing on their skills to (former) Kazakh herdsmen.

This week saw a massive migration of herds and their flocks take a detour through Aletai City, the opening of a massive, Xinjiang funded tin-zinc mine in Tajikistan, the completion of this year’s Patriotic Muslim Cleric Training Program, new highs in yearly cotton and gold production, the first draft of the translation of the Kyrgyz epic poem Manas to Mandarin Chinese, and more, under the break.

Xinhua Network News Xinjiang Channel 新华网新疆频道

• 17 December 2007:The “port” of Kalasu (see in Google Earth) on the China-Tajikistan border in Tashkorgan County of Kashgar Prefecture, officially closed for the winter on the 30th of November. The original closure was scheduled for the 30th of October but an extension was requested due to the volume of traffic through the port. This year Kalasu saw record highs, including the export of 4046 vehicles, 55 thousand tons of various goods, and 250 million American dollars worth of materials. Workers at Kalasu attribute this rise in commerce and trade to improvements in the Tajik economy.
• 17 December 2007: An explosion in a coal mine exploration well located in Wuqia County resulted in 4 deaths and 2 injuries.
• 17 December 2007: Herders and their flocks crowded the streets of Aletai City recently due to a recent drought that caused their customary winter pastures to supply insufficient water and feed for the animals. Snows in northern Xinjiang have come a month late, throwing off the ecological balance in the area by delaying the much needed water supply which constitutes the base of the region’s wintertime environmental structure. Aletai officials quickly mobilized and organized a program to migrate the herders from their traditional winter pastures in the E’erqisi and Wulungu river valleys to untouched pastures in the Sawu’er Mountains. Units of cadres, doctors, and veterinarians escorted 10 thousand herders and their 55 thousand animals from their old pastures, through Aletai City, to their destination from the 8th to the 14th.
• 18 December 2007: A cooperation agreement was drafted and signed by delegates from Xinjiang Medical University’s Erfu Hospital and Zhongnan University’s Xiangya No. 2 Hospital. The agreement was announced in a ceremony on the 15th. The Erfu hospital, located in Hunan, is renowned across China for being one of the top hospitals in the country, particularly in the field of cardiovascular surgery. The cooperative effort will focus on improving cardiovascular facilities in the Xinjiang hospital and devising better systems for providing better treatment to high-risk Xinjiang residents.
• 18 December 2007: The groundbreaking ceremony for Xinjiang’s largest foreign project, the A’erdeng-Tuopukan lead zinc ore mine in Tajikistan, was held on the 15th. The event was notable enough for XUAR Vice-Chairman Hu Wei to personally attend. The Xinjiang Tajikistan-China Mining Company invested 73 million dollars for the creation of the facility which, after constructed, will have the ability to mine and process 100 million tons of the projected 600 million tons total. Later expansions of the facility will permit continued exploitation of the mine’s underground resources.
• 18 December 2007: This year’s Patriotic Muslim Cleric Training Program ended satisfactorily and XUAR Chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi attended the closing ceremony and gave a talk exhorting the imams and religious workers who participated in the program to vigorously contribute to socialism and social harmony.
• 18 December 2007: The regional Gold Administration Bureau has announced that for the year of 2007 from January to November, a total of 6665.73 kg of gold has been minded so far. Given average monthly mining rates and mining forecasts, the total accumulated amount of mined gold is expected to pass 7 metric tons by the end of the year, making a new all time high.
• 18 December 2007: The Agricultural Bureau of the XPCC has verified that a cotton farm run by the 33th regiment of the 2nd Agricultural Division has reached a yield of 280 kg of cotton per mu, breaking a national record and demonstrating for the fourth year in the row that the XPCC cotton fields along the Tarim river north of the Taklamakan are the highest producing cotton fields in China.
• 19 December 2007: Pollution has gotten even worse in Urumqi over the past few days, with the pollution index hitting a high of 340. According to the article, the air has becoming so thick that an artificial fog has enshrouded the city and a choking smell hangs in the air. It even goes so far as to strongly recommend wearing face masks when outdoors.
• 19 December 2007: 200 million yuan is going to be invested in a new effort to reduce class sizes in Urumqi. Starting next year, elementary school classes will be limited to 50 students and middle school classes will be limited to 46 students. The 200 million yuan investment will be used to construct 22 new school campuses in 4 of the city’s center neighborhoods in order to accommodate the reallocation of students.
• 19 December 2007: 18,850 extremely impoverished households across Xinjiang will receive a bag of flour, a bag of rice, and two buckets of cooking oil. The donations are a part of the effort to help impoverished households prepare festivities for Qurban, New Year’s, and/or Spring Festival.
• 20 December 2007: The first draft of the Chinese translation of the Kirghiz epic poem “Manas” has been completed by over 30 scholars from the XUAR Literary Union and from the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture. All 230 thousand lines of the poem have been translated but the draft is currently being reviewed by experts from Chinese Academcy of Social Sciences and the Central Nationalities University. The final edited version of the epic poem is expected to be published August of next year.
• 21 December 2007: Hospitals in Urumqi are reporting the continuous, high-level pollution that has been plaguing the city for the past several days is having a significant effect on the health of residents. The respiratory, ear-nose-throat, and fever departments of Urumqi’s major hospitals are seeing almost 100 patients with pollution related ailments every day. The lead physician of Urumqi’s health care advisory service has no doubts whatsoever that pollution is the cause of this spike of ailments; furthermore, he recommends that all residents, especially the elderly and children, minimize their time outside and wear face masks should going outdoors become an absolute necessity.
• 22 December 2007: As part of a continuing effort to improve the food production industry in Urumqi, the city government has closed over ten thousand unlicensed food industry businesses over the past year. Restaurants, wholesale food businesses, and foodstuff markets must pass sanitary inspections, safety inspections, and obtain the proper licenses or otherwise face the possibility of being shut down by the city’s Industrial and Commercial Bureau.

Other News

• 17 December 2007: Forbes announces that the Asian Development Bank will provide 150 million American dollars to help Xinjiang develop its transportation infrastructure, particularly to improve the Korla-Kuche stretch of the Urumqi-Kashgar road system.
• 20 December 2007: Reuters covers the recently launched joint anti-terrorism exercises conducted by India and China. Although the exercises are being held in Yunnan, both countries have stated anti-terrorism as one of the goals of the training regimen and Reuters cannot help but note similarities between Xinjiang in China and Kashmir in India.
• 21 December 2007: China View has an English language version of a Xinhua article on this year’s total gas production in the Tarim Basin. By the end of the year, the total gas produced by the Tarim gas fields is expected to reach 15.5 billion cubic meters, a 40% increase since last year. Moreover, this year 12 billion cubic meters of the extracted gas were sent to China’s east coast through a pipeline that begins in Lunnan in Southern Xinjiang and ends in Baihe outside of Shanghai (See in Google Earth).

Xinhua Network News Xinjiang Channel 新华网新疆频道

• 25 November 2007: Twenty-one culture officials from four Central Asian countries arrived in Xinjiang representing the “SCO Member States Culture Officials High-level Research Team.” Before coming to China, the Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Krygyz who make up the team studied the cultural and economic history of Xinjiang. After arriving the officials conducted research related to cultural and economic spheres, doing things such as holding informal talks with notable cultural figures of Xinjiang (such as tightrope worker Adili Wushouer and dancer Dilnaer), visiting cultural sites such as the Xinjiang Cultural Art Museum and the Great Bazaar in Urumqi, and swapping observations about cultural and economic affairs in their own respective countries with Chinese counterparts.
• 26 November 2007: For the first time, AIDS prevention information will be inserted into the curriculum of migrant worker after-hours schools. Based on statistics on attendance at these special after-hours schools, this information will reach over 200 thousand people. At the opening ceremony, Regional Health Department Vice-Director Zhang Yongzhong underscored the potential effectiveness of this curriculum by recognizing migrant workers, due to the nature of their work and lives in Xinjiang, as one of the primary vectors for the disease. There are over 20 thousand HIV-positive individuals in Xinjiang, ranking the province 4th in the country.
• 27 November 2007: Delegates from the Xinjiang Science and Technology Department presented at the “Arabic Software Technology Exchange and Product Introduction” meeting held at the Egypt Information Technology Institute in Cairo on the 26th. The institute’s president expressed hopes that further technological exchanges could be carried out between China and Egypt. The Xinjiang delegates discussed developing trends in operating system software and office software and presented an Arabic Linux system, Arabic office software, Arabic multi-lingual dictionaries, telecom platforms, and small “knowledge-increasing” games.
• 28 November 2007: Two members of the Regional Standing Committee, Fu Qiang and Bai Zhijie, toured various destinations in Xinjiang to inspect the ongoing implementation of an electronic-classroom program funded by the Central Committee of the Communist Party. The program equips educational institutions throughout Xinjiang with computers and other multimedia equipment with the hopes that they will help raise educational standards in Xinjiang. Fu and Bai encouraged the continuing use and care of the equipment at their respective destinations.
• 28 November 2007: A new price-monitoring system has been setup in Urumqi to detect abnormal fluctuations in the prices of daily-use goods and alert the property government organizations should prices rise past a certain threshold within a certain period of time. The wholesale prices of grains, cooking oil, meat, vegetables, eggs, sugar, and other assorted daily use good will be monitored. Should any alarming abnormalities appear, the Urumqi Commercial Affairs Bureau will be alerted within one hour, and in turn will inform the relevant emergency response teams who will then carry out the necessary measures to rectify the situation.
• 28 November 2007: Urumqi’s City Council met recently and decided to invest 3.6 billion yuan in 86 construction projects over the next year, as a part of the “Charge South, Expand North, Extend East, Advance West” campaign. A large portion of these funds will be used to renovate and expand the transportation infrastructure; funds will also be allocated to Urumqi’s railway system, airport, and sewage system.
• 28 November 2007: An intensive training program has begun for Xinjiang athletes as the final winter before the 2008 Olympics approaches. The program will focus on 6 sports which apparently are the strongest candidates in Xinjiang’s athletic community; these sports are boxing, women’s volleyball, men’s archery, men’s middle/long distance running, equestrian, and taekwondo. Training is escalating, and more trainers (including 4 foreigners) are being hired to increase the intensity of the training regimens.
• 28 November 2007: Starting from the 27th of November, the number 4 will no longer appear on the license plates of newly registered vehicles with less than 9 seats. Private car ownership in Xinjiang has followed the national trend and has increased rapidly in the past several years; many owners of these private family cars desire auspicious plate numbers and try to avoid unlucky numbers, especially the number 4, which in Mandarin is pronounced similarly to the word for death, and the combination 47, which sounds similar to the phrase “die from anger (road rage, perhaps?)” and “go and die.” The removal of 4 from possible license plate combinations began in June of this year at the Qaramay Prefecture and quickly spread throughout the region, only now reaching the capital. Authorities made it a point to tell Xinhua that this was not wasting resources to indulge superstition but rather a wise measure to handle a cultural issue (I really can’t tell the difference). Personally, the 9 seats and under distinction puzzles me given the recent spate of large vehicle accidents on Xinjiang highways.
• 28 November 2007: Experts warn that lead poisoning leading to irreversible neurological and developmental damage is a high risk among children in Xinjiang. The article notably framed the effects of lead poisoning in terms of education, warning that children with high blood-lead levels will become inattentive and have eroded long-term memory and reasoning skills, leading to difficulties in the education system. An expert at the Xinjiang Chinese Medicine Institute identified highly-leaded living environments as the culprit, saying that children who like to bite things, such as pencils, toys, crayons, and household objects decorated with leaded paint, are likely to get lead poisoning due to the high lead content of these items. Interestingly, the recommended course of action contained nothing about parental or corporate responsibility, and instead recommended that children be fed lead-detox diets to counter what may be perceived as the inevitable influence of lead in Chinese households.
• 29 November 2007: The Regional Construction Department has teamed up with Disabled and Elderly Committee of the Civil Affairs Department to begin discussing the implementation of the National “100 Disability-Friendly Cities” notice, which in Xinjiang will include the cities of Urumqi, Shihezi, and Qaramay. Newly roads, apartments, tenements, and dormitories must comply with disability standards; at least 50% of public places such as theaters, schools, libraries, and museums are to be renovated to fulfill disability standards; and at least 30% of the commercial centers in these cities, like shopping malls, will also be required to meet disability standards. Construction for the disabled-friendly project will begin in 2008; a “midterm checkup” to check the project’s progress will be held on 2010.
• 29 November 2007: Three consecutive days of high levels of pollution in Urumqi, from the 26th to the 28th, have prompted the city’s Environmental Protection Department to issue a “blue” air pollution warning for the first time. The blue warning is issued after a “level-three” pollution index is maintained for three consecutive days, while the yellow warning is issued for three consecutive days of “level-four” pollution and the red warning is saved for two consecutive days of level-five pollution. The main cause of the high pollution currently plaguing Urumqi is the arrival of cold weather which has triggered an expected spike in heat-supplying measures which naturally brings about a corresponding rise in air pollution.
• 29 November 2007: The 47th meeting of the 10th Regional People’s Government standing committee began on the afternoon of the 28th. The four topics of discussion were “Regional Emergency Management Work Regulations,” the draft of “Regional Implementation of Botanical Epidemic Ordinances,” the draft proposal of “Regional Cotton Fire Safety and Management Methods,” and the draft of “Regional Atmospheric Damage Early-Warning Signal Distribution and Desemination Methods.”
• 29 November 2007: XUAR Chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi underscored the role the oil and natural gas industry plays in Xinjiang’s economic landscape while inspecting the Northwest Oil Fields branch of Sinopec. Tiliwaldi acknowledged the contribution oil and gas has given to the development of Xinjiang, dubbing them the “mainstay” and the “army” of Xinjiang’s continuing economic growth (perhaps the XPCC was slighted at such an analogy? Who knows.). Tiliwaldi also claimed that in order to broaden this socioeconomic contribution, the oil companies must quicken the pace of oil and gas exploration and exploitation.
• 29 November 2007: The Drug Prohibition Task Force of the Xinjiang PSB and the Guangzhou PSB busted a heroin-smuggling ring in Guangzhou on the 21st, arresting 5 individuals, including one Pakistani citizen, and confiscating 4380 pounds of heroin. This drug smuggling operation had trafficked and sold “Gold Crescent Moon” drugs in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Yunnan, Xinjiang, and other locations under the guise of a legitimate business. Xinjiang’s continuing development of international trade with neighboring countries played a pivotal role in providing the supply lines that maintained the drug trafficking ring.
• 30 November 2007: The Regional AIDS Prevention Committee Office announced that this year 1043 AIDS patients have received free medical treatment as a part of growing regional efforts to combat the AIDS epidemic in Xinjiang. Also as a part of this effort, 29 national-level and 38 regional-level “monitoring stations” have been constructed, offering free AIDS diagnostic tests. The free AIDS treatment program began two years ago and not only increased availability of screening and treatment but also trained 1500 doctors and 1800 nurses to supply manpower to the effort.
• 30 November 2007: In what can only be called “a crippling blow to the progress of science worldwide,” the Regional Education Office has decided to cancel next year’s science competitions at the elementary school level. The official reasoning was that between schoolwork responsibilities and the cram classes （补习班）that most elementary school students must shoulder, the science competition represents an undue source of stress for the already busy students. Most parents and teachers expressed approval of the decision, but manufacturers of 3-panel cardboard displays have yet to chime in with their view on the decision.
• 30 November 2007: Starting from next semester, all rural students attending compulsory education will receive free textbooks and will not be required to pay school-related incidentals. The “two-free” policy began and autumn 2003 and, according to statistics, has resulted in a notable, positive impact on middle and elementary school student retention rates in agricultural and pastoral regions across Xinjiang.
• 1 December 2007: On November 30 Urumqi Environmental Protection Bureau announced that the National Environmental Protection Bureau has been selected as a pilot city for the National Motor Vehicle Pollution Management project. Because of Urumqi’s unique geographical position and growing car ownership, vehicle emissions have become a large enough problem for intervention on the national level. Around 20 million yuan of capital, along with the support of the central government, will be used to construct a high-level emissions testing center in Urumqi that will tag vehicles with unacceptably high emissions with yellow license plates, carrying out the first step of the pilot program, which is to identify the vehicles that should fall under closer scrutiny and management.
• 1 December 2007: The fishing industries of the most landlocked region of the world is expected to produce 880 thousand tons of products by the end of the year, and increase of 6% since last year. Xinjiang has a thriving “famous brands” industry that consists of selling products for their uniqueness to the region; Korla’s famous pears, Turpan’s famous grapes, and Hami’s famous melons are but three examples. The article states that the growth of the fishing industry can be partially attributed to successful campaigns to market fishing products as a regional specialty (特色). Along side pears, grapes, and melons, we may also expect to see “Sayram Lake White Salmon,” “Bayingholin Perch,” “Yili Sturgeon,” and other fine “famous brands” in stores throughout China.
• 1 December 2007: The Flying Tigers continue their rise to the top, defeating the Zhejiang Lions (103-88) on the 25th, the Zhejiang Wind Stallions (85-71) on the 28th, and the Yunnan Bulls (121-11) on the 30th. The Flying Tigers have risen to second place in the league after the Guangdong Tigers, previously a first place contender, suffered two losses. Now the Flying Tigers are competing only with the Jiangsu Dragons for the top position, both teams having a record of 13 victories to 2 losses.

Other News

• 29 November 2007: An article published by China.org.cn celebrates apparently successful efforts by the Tarim Oilfield Company, the Institute of Ecology and Geology, and the XPCC to combat and even reverse desertification in Xinjiang by planting new forests. Allegedly, a “green belt” in the Taklamakan has been expanding since 1994 when the Tarim Oilfield Company started planting trees adapted to the desert climate, while on the other side of the Tianshan , the XPCC has expanded sacsaoul forest coverage in the Gurbantunggut Desert to 15 million mu, starting an ecological chain reaction that results in fewer sandstorms, more precipitation, and greater plant growth.
• 30 November 2007: The Los Angeles Times ran a bare-bones-basics guide to traveling through Xinjiang on a motorcycle. The guide essentially summarizes conditions in Xinjiang categorized by topics relevant to motorcyclists: road conditions, gasoline, laws, etc. If your interested is piqued, be sure to check out the more personalized and detailed account of Michael Manning’s trans-Taklamakan adventure here.

Blogs

• 26 November 2007 and 30 November 2007: Michael Manning discusses teaching English in Xinjiang in a 26 November post, then shares some Xinjiang-related clips of a National Geographic Silk Road Documentary in a 30 November post.

Xinhua Network News Xinjiang Channel 新华网新疆频道

• 18 November 2008: The Regional Health Department has announced the launch of the “Peaceful Hospitals” campaign. The Xinhua article mentions that in the past few years there has been an unacceptable deterioration of doctor-patient relationships in Xinjiang, with a few incidents resulting in medical workers receiving injuries (the article does not elaborate on these curious events). In order to rectify a “lack of proper confidence and understanding between doctors and patients,” the Health Department a small committee to coordinate efforts aimed at “strengthening medical service principles, improving the quality of medical treatment, establishing harmonious doctor-patient relations, resolving doctor-patient disputes, strengthening the hospital security systems, safeguarding order in hospitals, launching reform efforts, and building an overall healthy hospital environment.”
• 18 November 2008: A dramatic armed carjacking occurred in Urumqi on the 16th. This incident, which took place in broad daylight at the Xingguang Market （星光夜市）on Mashi Lane （马市巷）involved 3 carjackers stealing a white automobile after forcefully removing the driver and one occupant. According to eye-witness reports and testimonies from the victims, as the victims were waiting in their vehicle, one carjacker entered the car through the side door and sat in the passenger seat, while the other two opened the two rear doors and sat down in the backseats. One brandished a gun as the others handcuffed the occupant in the back. Eventually, they ejected the occupants and began to drive off, whereupon the victims decided somehow that the best course of action would be to try to stop the carjackers by standing in their vehicle’s path. They became the first and only casualties of the carjacking after the vehicle collided with them, though the victims’ intervention efforts did cause the carjackers to crash into two other vehicles on their way out. The two victims were immediately sent to the hospital for minor injuries, and the robbery is being intensively examined with special fervor by the police’s criminal investigation unit because of the involvement of firearms.
• 19 November 2007: The Regional Forestry Department announced renewed planning efforts to prevent and control desertification in Southern Xinjiang, specifically in the region known as the “Three Prefectures,” Khotan Prefecture, Kashgar Prefecture, and Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture. The goal of these efforts is to raise further funds for the ongoing biological and non-biological projects aimed at staving off the continuing encroachment of the Taklamakan Desert into these areas.
• 19 November 2007: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have jointly submitted a list of “Silk Road” cultural sites to the UNESCO as candidates for this year’s selection of World Heritage Sites. China’s candidates are: Jiaohe Ancient City, Gaochang Ancient City, Bezekilk Grottoes, Astana Tombs, Tuyuk Grottoes, and Taicang Tower in Turpan; the Ancient City of Loulan in the Bayingholin Prefecture; Subash Ruins, Kizil Grottoes, Kumutala Grottoes, and Senmusaimu Grottoes in Aksu Prefecture; Mahmut al-Kashgari’s tomb in Kashgar Prefecture; and the ancient ruins of Niya in Khotan prefecture. The final inspection committees for UNESCO will visit these sites next August.
• 19 November 2007: According to the latest observations, there are 13 pregnant mares among the wild horses in the Qaramay Wildlife Preserve.
• 19 November 2007: The first batch of over a thousand demobilized soldiers of the Xinjiang Military Region departed from Urumqi to return to their original hometowns. Xinjiang’s Vice-Chairman, Gupaer Abibula , along with the Vice-Chairman of Daily Affiars and several of the Xinjiang Military Region’s top brass all saw the soldiers off and thanked them for the work they did in developing and stabilizing Xinjiang.
• 19 November 2007: Urumqi’s Labor and Social Security Bureau began a special investigative program that will examine the income and pay situations of migrant workers employed in the metropolitan area. The investigation, which started on the 16th and will last until January 16th will look into the hiring and processing of migrant workers and how companies meet the workers’ basic needs such as food and drink. The investigation will focus on the construction and coal mining industries, and will also handle the reporting, fining, and punishment of companies that do not meet the proper standards.
• 19 November 2007: According to statistics published by Urumqi’s Municipal Government General Office, of the “10 Western Provincial Capitals,” Urumqi ranks 4th in per capita disposable income, after Hohhot, Chengdu, and Xi’an. Urumqi’s per capital disposable income was calculated at 8701 yuan (vs. 12,024 Hohhot, 10,833 Chengdu, and 9723 Xi’an).
• 19 November 2007: According to China’s National Observatory, one of the best places to observe August 1, 2008 total eclipse will be the grasslands of Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County in northeast Xinjiang (See in Google Earth). The local government has already begun planning for huge festivities in the grasslands on the day of the eclipse. Bring your own tent.
• 20 November 2007: A 220 thousand kilowatt power grid was opened at Kashgar on the 16th. XUAR Chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi was present at the opening ceremony and pressed the button activating the grid himself. The power grid represents yet another node in an ongoing high-level construction product started in 1988 with the goal of supplying a steady source of electric power to all of Xinjiang.
• 21 November 2007: The 34th meeting of the 10th National People’s Congress Regional Standing Committee opened on the morning of the 20th. Three lectures were heard, one on how XUAR can implement national flood control measures, another on promoting the use of a different type of walling material (??), and the third on the preservation of non-matierial culture in Xinjiang. Many affirmations were made to implement the policies established at the 17th National Congress.
• 21 November 2007: Ever wonder why Urumqi’s air is infamous for its pollution? Perhaps its been the coalfield fire that has been blazing away for the last several years! A small article on Xinhua states that a fire in the coal fields of Sulfur Valley (delightful name, 硫磺沟 – its a small township located just southwest of Urumqi. See Sulfur Valley in Google Earth) was finally extinguished recently. Soon afterwards, Xinjiang’s second largest coalfield fire in Tielieke township, Aksu prefecture (See in Google Earth), also was extinguished on the 19th of this month, after four years of vigilant management. At its largest extent, the fire at Tielieke covered over 923 thousand square meters. The fire is estimated to have destroyed 1.8 million tons of coal.
• 21 November 2007: Starting from December, all public toilet signs in Urumqi will fall under one integrated system of standards. Apparently, due to the lack of standards, public toilet signs all over Urumqi are hung in inappropriate or hidden places with vague and unhelpful directions (anyone from Urumqi who wants to testify to this situation, by all means, comment and share). In order to rectify this unacceptable situation, the Urumqi Municipal Scrap Management Center (any volunteers for a better translation of 废弃物管理中心?) held several discussion meetings and finally came up with a standardized system of signs that is eagerly expected to raise the overall standards of public toilets all over Urumqi. Urumqiliqs, prepare to say au revoir to the quaint British rendition of 公共厕所 to “WC.” Now it’s all rendered as the much less flattering “toilet.”
• 22 November 2007:Urumqi’s Political and Law Department has publicized a rising trend over the past year of pregnant and breastfeeding women selling and trafficking drugs. Currently the courts are examining 20 drug cases involving women which altogether involve 33 female suspects, 10 of whom are either pregnant or breastfeeding. The article notes that this trend is just one part of a larger, alarming growth of drug trafficking in general in Urumqi, particularly of heroin. The relevant governmental departments are currently holding discussions on how to handle these unprecedented criminal cases, particular in regards to the handling of the suspects’ children.
• 22 November 2007: The National Safety Supervision Head Office has published a list of 28 Xinjiang coal mines that will be closed by the end of the year for failure to comply with safety standards.
• 22 November 2007: The Meteorological Bureaus of Kashgar and Khotan have recently resolved two cases of international meteorological mystery and intrigue. Right after the resolution in August of a case of illegal weather monitoring by the Japanese in Hami Prefecture, two illegal atmospheric monitoring stations were discovered, one in Tuopuluke Village (Yengisar County, Kashgar Prefecture) and one in Luopu County (Khotan Prefecture), this time built by an American company, the Xinjiang-Pacific Agricultural Resources Development Corporation (新疆太平洋农业资料开发). According to the article, automatic weather monitoring equipment had been operating for over year when discovered by authorities in September 2006. Though the equipment was built on land owned by the company, the monitoring was conducted without the proper permission and certifications. The Meteorological Burueaus of the two prefectures have concluded their investigation and will confiscate all illegally obtained data from the XPARDC, tear down their facilities, and fine them Y10,000. The article notes that unique weather data acquired in the vicinity of the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau is valuable in thermal-conductivity research and thus provides incentives for clandestine monitoring by foreign firms.
• 22 November 2007: Xinjiang’s Flying Tigers continue their unprecedented performance in the CBA. After suffering an away defeat to the number 1 Guangdong Tigers in Zhongshan on the 16th (93-104), the Flying Tigers slipped past the Dongguan Cheetahs in an away game on the 18th (107-100), then defeated Shanxi on the 21st (114-88) and the Beijing Ducks on the 23rd (105-73) in Urumqi. The Flying Tigers are still ranked 3rd in the league after the Guangdong Tigers and the Jiangsu Dragons, although all three of these teams have a record of 10 victories and 2 defeats (I give mad props to whoever named the Beijing team… good sense of humor).
• 22 November 2007: China Southern Airlines will begin regular flights between Urumqi and Ashgabat on 12/18. Flight CZ6015 leaves Urumqi every Tuesday and Saturday at 22:10 Beijing Time, arriving at Ashgabat 3.7 hours later. Flight CZ6016 leaves Ashgabat every Wednesday and Sunday at 3:40 Beijing Time. Once this route opens, Xinjiang will be connected to all five Central Asian states.
• 22 November 2007: A lengthy special report lauds the XPCC’s efforts in building and protecting “green ecologies” in Xinjiang’s arid climate. The report is divided into three sections. The first describes a string of Bingtuan Farms that form a “green belt” between the Taklamakan Desert on the West and the Kumtag Desert on the East. The second section describes similar efforts along the Tianshan Mountains at the southern edge of the Gurbantunggut Desert and the northern edge of the Taklamakan. The final section discusses the XPCC’s most recent efforts to employ high-tech equipment to convert arid and semi-arid ecologies into irrigated, farmable land.
• 22 November 2007: Adelihan, a 62 year-old Kazakh herdsman from Fuhai County, Altai Prefecture, lauds the local Pastoral Settlement Program as a blessing which “has broken up the difficulties our people have faced for thousands of years.” Last year, Adelihan received 26 thousand yuan worth of subsidies and was able to use the funds to construct a house, a place to store fodder, and a winter enclosure for his livestock, thus obviating the need to perform the arduous annual migrations he undertook as a youth. Local governments receiving funding from the Pastoral Settlement Project and the Earthquake-Proof Low-Income Housing Project and in turn distribute them to eligible herders. In Altai, 8114 Kazakh households enjoy benefits similar to Adelihan. The project aims to settle 60% of the Kazakh herders in the Altai region before the end of the 11th 5 year plan.
• 23 November 2007: The “Bright Future for the Silk Road Construction Project,” jointly funded and carried about by the Netherlands and China, has been completed over five years since the projects inauguration in January of 2002. The project was designed to resolve the lack of electricity for many families living in Xinjiang’s more remote agricultural and pastoral regions by providing and installing solar power equipment in these areas. The project’s funds totaled over 22.9 million euros, 60% of which was provided by the Dutch government and 40% of which was provided by China. The project successfully supplied electricity to over 65,000 families. XUAR Chariman Ismail Tiliwaldi and the Dutch ambassador to China attended a ceremony celebrating the completion of the project.
• 23 November 2007: The remains of Chen Xifu, who according to the article was “an outstanding member of the communist party, [and] an ardent warrior for the principles of communism,” were honored in a ceremony in Urumqi. Many prominent figures in the regional government and party attended. Chen joined the CCP in 1939 at the tender age of 15. Chen’s participation in wartime and revolutionary activities eventually brought him to Xinjiang, where we would eventually serve a number of increasingly important administrative roles, from the Kashgar Military District’s Confidential Affairs Vice-Section Chief to the Vice-Director of the Regional Standing Committee. Chen passed away in Beijing on the 16th at the age of 83. More information on Chen can be found in Mandarin at the link.
• 23 November 2007: The Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture experienced 3 earthquakes in rapid succession on the 22nd, at 8:16, 8:18, and 8:22. These three earthquakes registered as a 3, 4.1, and 3 on the Richter Scale, respectively. Although there were no casualties, the earthquakes were easily noticed by people in the vicinity.
• 23 November 2007: Thanks to an intricate network of high-tech weather station, the Xinjiang Oil Company has prevented over 200 million yuan worth of losses to weather-related calamities in its Qaramay Oilfields. Before the 1990s, the Qaramay Oilfields would lose 8000 tons of oil every year to disasters caused by adverse weather conditions, particularly lightning striking oil refining equipment at inopportune times, causing explosions and fires. After installing an interconnected system of weather monitoring systems throughout its oilfields, however, the company’s annual oil losses have been reduced to less than 3000 tons every year, since weather conditions around the fields are now being actively monitored and the proper precautions are taken when dangerous weather threatens facilities.
• 24 November 2007: The Urumqi Police Department resolved 3 major criminal cases in the past few weeks.
  • The first occurred at noon on the 16th, when three suspects posing as policemen subdued and “arrested” three shoppers with fake guns after accusing them of using counterfeit money. After forcing the victims into their vehicle, the suspects demanded a Y10,000 fine from each. While waiting for the first victim to retrieve the money from his apartment, the other two victims managed to escape the vehicle, upon which the three suspects also decided to flee. Five days after the victims reported the incident to the real police, all three perpetrators were arrested.
  • A 15 year-old girl was kidnapped on the 20th and was held hostage for a Y30,000 ransom. After the police were contacted, a rapid investigation revealed that the perpetrators were holding their hostage in a Changji hotel. The next day, the hotel was raided, the hostage was safely retrieved, and the three kidnappers were arrested.
  • A woman was murdered and robbed after withdrawing money from the bank on the 21st. The perpetrator tailed the woman after she withdrew the money, eventually shooting her and stealing the 10,000 yuan and other items the woman had with her at the time. The police conducted a rapid investigation, and on the second day the perpetrator was arrested along with a homemade pistol (!!!!), 4 bullets, and the woman’s stolen items
• 24 November 2007: As part of its spirited campaign to reduce unacceptably high levels of pollutions plaguing the metropolitan area, Urumqi has decided to ban outdoor barbecue vendors in four city center neighborhoods. That’s right, folks. Incomplete but already conclusive investigations have revealed that the impure byproducts of the barbecuing process (e.g. soot and smoke?) constitute a significant part of Urumqi’s air pollution problem. Starting from the 22nd, barbecue vendors in the above-mentioned neighborhoods will, with the assistance of authorities, begin to migrate their equipment indoors. In the future these vendors are also expected to install soot-minimizing equipment to their barbecues or switch to alternate sources of heat such as natural gas or liquid gas. A limited number of outdoor barbecues will be permitted in these neighborhoods, but only in certain authorized areas and with equipment meeting emission standards.

Other News

• 21 November 2007: More coverage of the historical victory of the epic coal fire mentioned above can be found here at China View and here at the Times Online. These English-language articles add more juicy tidbits to the firefighting saga. For example, the fire at Tielieke had been burning since the 1950s, has released more than 70,000 tons of toxic gas annually since it started, and was finally vanquished by drilling holes to the underground fields and stuffing them with water and slurry.
• 23 November 2007: An article written by a Times Online correspondent in Khotan describes the effect of the recently instated mandatory background checks for Muslim candidates interested in joining the Haj. Interested participants must now demonstrate a personal history free of criticism of the PRC and separatist tendencies before being permitted to journey to Mecca.

Blogs

• 21 November 2007: Michael at The Opposite End of China wonders if criticism of the annual ritual of cotton-picking students in Xinjiang is valid or is a knee-jerk criticism of a genuine character-building activity.