Recently, the following post, once found at this address, was passed on to me by a friend. It seems to have circulated on the Web since perhaps early November. It is a lengthy and impassioned plea for, at the very least, some respect and hope for the people of Xinjiang of all stripes, who, the author argues, have endured countless hardships for the benefit of their fellow citizens in the East. The author expresses despair at the dashed hopes of the Opening Up of the West and anger at the cancer left by atomic bomb tests in Lop Nor.

The whole document has a feeling of the old Yip Harburg song, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” “Once I built a railroad…”

My English translation is a little hurried. Comments are welcome.

Also, does anyone else think that the author must be from Korla?

今天的十大头条： 新疆人，对不起，谢谢你

Today’s Top Ten Leading Stories: Xinjiang People, I’m Sorry, Thank You

对不起，谢谢你
新疆的石油运走了，
新疆的天然气运走了，
新疆的棉花运走了，
新疆的钾盐运走了，
新疆的黄金运走了，
新疆的和田玉运走了
……

I’m sorry, thank you

Xinjiang’s oil was transported away,

Xinjiang’s natural gas was transported away,

Xinjiang’s cotton was transported away,

Xinjiang’s leopoldite was transported away,

Xinjiang’s gold was transported away,

Xinjiang’s Khotan jade was transported away

…

原子弹却降临在新疆了
……

The atomic bomb was indeed tested in Xinjiang

…

新疆，一百六十万平方公里的土地，一千九百万各族人民.我们世世代代生活在那片土地
上.我们骄傲，我们自豪.没有理由，就因为那片土地叫新疆.

Xinjiang, an area of 1 600 000 square kilometers, 19 000 000 people of every ethnic group. We have lived on that patch of earth for generations. We are proud, we feel proud. There is no reason, just that that patch of earth is called Xinjiang.

这片占祖国六分之一版图的土地，承载着什么，又蕴藏着什么.这里有四十七个民族的儿
女，或耕耘，或牧羊，或买卖，或采矿.千年的腥风血雨，早已被坎儿井的清清流水洗得
干干净净；千年的历史沧桑，早已被天山上的雪莲花薰陶得浓郁幽香.新疆人，无论什么
民族什么宗教信仰，都渴望自己的家乡能够拥有平等的发展机会与空间.

This patch of earth that occupies one-sixth of the area of our ancestral country, what does it contain, and what does it hide. Here there are the sons and daughters of forty-seven minzu, working the fields, or shepherding sheep, or buying and selling, or mining. One thousand years of bloody history have long since been washed clean by the clear flowing waters of the karez; one thousand years of great historical changed have long since been purged by the snow lotuses and Coumarouna odorata of the Tianshan until they are sweetly fragrant. Xinjiang people, no matter what their minzu or religious beliefs, all hope that their home can have the opportunity and time to develop fairly.

西部大开发，一个曾经让我们振奋不已的口号.一时间，就连塔克拉玛干边缘的万年荒山
上，也用白色的石头拼出了大字：西部大开发，新疆是重点，巴州要大干！

The Great Opening Up of the West, a slogan that once endlessly inspired us. At one time, even upon the mountains around the edge of the Täklimakan, uncultivated for untold ages, we used white stones to spell out big characters: The Great Opening Up of the West, Xinjiang is the focus, Bazhou will make a big effort!

曾经告诉过我们，创世未有的发展机遇降临在了我们的头上；曾经告诉过我们，克服与忍
受暂时的损失与困难，因为长远的幸福是属于我们的；曾经告诉过我们，资源埋在地下永
远变不了金钱；曾经告诉过我们，大型基础设施建设会带动新疆人的就业；曾经告诉过我
们，长长的管子把石油天然气送到了内地，长长的管子还会将大把大把的税收送到新疆人
的手中……

Once they told us, an opportunity for development the likes of which the world had never seen had fallen on our heads; once they told us, endure and withstand temporary loss and hardship, because long-term fortune belonged to us; once they told us, resources buried underground would never become money; once they told us, the construction of large-scale basic-level facilities would spur the employment of Xinjiang people; once they told us, long pipes would take oil and natural gas to the Interior, long pipes might still bring piles of tax revenues to Xinjiang people’s hands…

曾经……

Once…

新疆是一个什么样的地方？涓涓细流会将天山与昆仑山的雪水送到牧区农场，一眼望不到
边的大草原，遍布着牛羊……新疆，就是这样一个地方，绿洲农业，咱不靠天吃饭，旱涝
保收；高山草甸牧业，咱不愁一个月不下雨草场就会旱死.新疆没有发生过饥荒，三年自
然灾害时期，内地人就是扒在火车车厢底下也要来新疆，就算是在星星峡被当作盲流拦住
遣返回原籍，也要在半道上跳下火车徒步进新疆.新疆，就是这样，那里有土地，那里有
雪水，那里，有希望.

What kind of place is Xinjiang? Brooks and streams may carry the meltwaters of the Tianshan and Kunlun Mountains to pastures and fields, a grassland the edge of which the naked eye cannot see, covered in cows and sheep… Xinjiang, it’s just this kind of place. Oasis agriculture, we don’t depend on Heaven to eat, the harvest is protected through draught and flood. Animal husbandry in the mountain grasslands, we don’t worry if the ranges dry out after a month without rain. Xinjiang has never had a famine, a three-year period of natural disasters. People from the Interior even want to cling to the bottoms of train cars to come to Xinjiang. Even treated in the Starry Gorge [a gorge in the Hexi Corridor] as aimless migrants, barred, and made to return to their place of origin, they want to jump out of the train on the way and walk into Xinjiang. Xinjiang, it’s like this. There is land there, there is meltwater, there is hope.

我们觉得自己生活得很幸福.

We felt that we lived happily.

可是，突然有一天，人家告诉我们，人家来帮咱们了，咱们的生活会更好更好了！这个时
候，我们心存感激，我们同样被从那种平静的生活中唤起而后振奋，因为我们被告知
，会有更大的希望！

But, suddenly one day, someone told us, there’s someone coming to help us, our life is going to be better, better! At this time, we felt appreciative. We, too, were stirred up and excited out of that peaceful and tranquil kind of life of ours, because we were signaled, we may have even more hope!

……

…

一晃八年了.

All of a sudden, eight years passed.

当初为我们憧憬过美好蓝图的人啊，你们在哪儿呢？

Those of you who looked forward to a beautiful blueprint for us, where are you?

请来看看我们的新疆.

Please come and look at our Xinjiang.

西部大开发，究竟是什么？

The Great Opening Up of the West, what is it really?

资源，包括那些具有战略意义的能源，被那条长长的管子送到了沿海地区.这，我们不计
较.可是我们又得到了什么？就业机会吗？看看那些从事新疆能源开发的企业，不都是内
地的大型企业吗？咱们新疆人的孩子，又何曾享受过这样的就业机会.西安石油学院毕业
的新疆孩子，想要进新疆的石油单位工作那是难上加难.因为这些待遇优厚的工作岗位，
全部都被这些内地企业自身的员工所占据.你可以随便去一家石油石化单位听听，遍地北
京口音、东北口音、山东口音，就是没有新疆口音.那咱们新疆的孩子能在石油单位找到
工作吗？不是不可以，而且还基本专业对口：加油站给汽车加油.带动相关产业的发展吗
？要知道，西气东输的管道，是在宝鸡生产的.高水准的生活吗？你知道在上海一方天然
气是多少钱吗？一块二；你知道在新疆一方天然气是多少钱吗？一块二毛五.而你知道新
疆人的工资水准是多少吗？一个教龄三十年的中教高级教师，月薪不过两千五，这还是
06年加薪后的工资；一个五十岁的正厅级干部，月薪加补贴不过三千块.那么普通老百姓
呢？工人、农民、一般公务员呢？我们在消化着巨大的剪刀差，我们在默默无闻得为东部
的大发展埋单.

Resources, including those power sources which hold a military significance, have been taken away by those long, long tubes to the coastal regions. This, we don’t bicker about. But what have we then received? Employment opportunities? Look at those enterprises that handle the exploitation of Xinjiang’s resources, aren’t they all big companies from the Interior? The children of we Xinjiang people, how then have they enjoyed these kinds of employment opportunities[?] Xinjiang kids who graduate from Xi’an Oil Institute, if they want to enter a Xinjiang oil work unit, that’s harder than hard. Because these generously-paying work positions, all of them have been taken by those big companies from the Interior’s own employees. You can go to any oil work unit and have a listen, it’s all Beijing accents, North-Eastern accents, Shandong accents, but there are no Xinjiang accents. So can kids from our Xinjiang find work in an oil work unit? It’s not that they may not, and what’s more they are proficient in the most basic profession: putting gas in cars at gas stations. Does this spur the growth of related industries? You have to know, the pipe that take Western gas to the East, this was built in Baoji [a city in Shaanxi with an amusing name]. And a high standard of living? Do you know how much a cubic meter of natural gas costs in Shanghai? 1.2 RMB. Do you know how much a cubic meter of natural gas costs in Xinjiang? 1.25 RMB. And do you know how much the standard salary of a Xinjiang person is? A high-level middle-school teacher with thirty years’ experience, his or her monthly salary is not above 2500, and this is after the pay raise in ’06. A fifty-year-old main-office-level [正厅级?] cadre, his or her monthly salary is not above 3000 RMB. So what about regular everyday people? Workers, peasants, normal service personnel? We are digesting an enormous disparity. Unknown to the public, we are paying the bill for the great development of the East.

乌鲁木齐与库尔勒，一北一南，南北疆的领头城市.让我们来听听这两个城市老百姓的故
事.

Ürümchi and Korla, one in the South, one in the North, the leading cities of North and South Xinjiang. Let us listen to the stories of the everyday people of these two cities.

乌鲁木齐，一个人口二百万的大城市，却拥有着一个长期困扰老百姓生活的难题：打车难
.上下班的高峰期，老百姓往往站在零下二十多度的严寒里，半个小时打不上一辆车.你要
问出租车都到哪儿去了？问一百位司机九十九个都会告诉你：加气站排队加气呢！乌鲁木
齐的出租车烧液化气，新疆是产油的地方，怎么会缺液化气呢？独山子石化的同志们会耐
心的告诉你：新疆同胞们，咱们忍忍吧，新疆的石油和天然气得保证西气东输和内地大城
市用油的需要……当北京的出租车换上了大排量的伊兰特时，当上海居民的厨房里冒出了
纯蓝的灶火时，请想想，生产石油与天然气的新疆人民，还在寒风里站着；新疆的司机，
还排在一眼望不到头的长队里焦急的等待，而这些司机，也得吃饭也得买房也得供孩子上
学，他们本来可以拉活的时间，白白的耗在了等待上……

Ürümchi, a city with a population of 2 000 000 [actually around 3 500 000, now], indeed has a difficult long-term problem for the lives of everyday people: it’s hard to get a cab. At rush hour when people get on and off work, everyday people often stand in the more-than-negative-twenty-degrees bitter cold. Even after half an hour, they cannot get a cab. Want to ask where the cabs have gone? Ask one hundred drivers and ninety-nine will tell you: they’re in line at the gas station to get gas! The cabs of Ürümchi have been converted to run on natural gas, but Xinjiang is a place that produces oil, so why convert them to run on natural gas? The comrades at Dushanzi Petroleum will patiently tell you: Xinjiang siblings, let’s sit tight, eh? Xinjiang’s oil and natural gas have to guarantee the transportation of Western gas to the East and the oil-use needs of the big cities in the Interior… When the taxis of Beijing are traded for great lines of Elantras, when in the kitchens of Shanghai a pure blue stove-flame is lit, please think, the people of Xinjiang who manufacture oil and natural gas are still standing in the bitter wind. Xinjiang’s drivers are still waiting impatiently in a line, the end of which cannot be seen, and these drivers, they also have to eat and give their children schooling. When they could be making a living, they are wasting their time pointlessly waiting…

库尔勒，一个新兴的石油城市，南疆经济的桥头堡，塔里木油田指挥部所在地.石油人来
了，我们端着哈达欢迎您！指挥部建设需要用地，可以！您知道现在塔里木油田指挥部的
所在地过去是什么吗？是上千亩的良田，是库尔勒的各族人民世世代代耕作的良田.祖国
需要，石油人需要，我们无怨无悔，献出了这片沃土.可是，时至今日，塔指的一栋栋高
楼大厦建起来了，五星级公寓建起来了，塔里木油田的一口口油井喷油了，塔里木大气田
的天然气送到东方了，有谁想过那些失去土地的农民现在在干什么？那么请到库尔勒的街
头看看吧.扫大街的环卫工人，清一色的少数民族职工，问问他们原来是干什么的？他们
会遥望一片繁华的塔里木油田指挥部，告诉你，那里曾是我的家.这还是解决了就业的，
那些数以千计的失去土地的农民呢？他们没有技术没有知识，库尔勒的环卫战线也不可能
安排那么多的人.请到库尔勒河的葵花桥头看看吧.每天早晨，都有黑压压一片的壮劳
力，集中在这里，被需要临时工的老板们挑来挑去，幸运的，被挑中，干一天临时工，挣
些前，第二天早晨继续到这里来撞运气；不幸的，过了中午还没有被挑走，就只好回家饿
肚子，祈祷真主明天能赐给他一个临时工的机会……

Korla, an up-and-coming oil city, the bridgehead of the Southern Xinjiang economy, the place of the headquarters of Tarim Oilfields. The oil men came, we welcomed you with qadaqs! [a blue scarf given by Mongols to guests] The Headquarters needed land to be constructed, sure! Do you know what the current location of the Headquarters used to be? It was thousands of mu of good farmland, the good farmland worked by generations of the people of Korla of all kinds. The ancestral countries needs, the oil men need. We didn’t complain or regret. We gave up this patch of fertile land. But, up until the present day, the big buildings and towers of the Tarim Oilfields Headquarters were built, five-star apartments were built, the oil wells of the Tarim oilfields spurted oil, and the natural gas of the Tarim natural gas fields was sent to the East. Has anyone thought of what those people who lost their land are doing now? Then please go to the streets of Korla and have a look. The sanitation workers who sweep the streets, all of them minority workers, ask them, what did they used to do? They may look at the glorious Tarim Oilfields Headquarters in the distance and tell you, that was once my home. Is this solving the employment problem, those thousands of workers who lost their land? They have neither craft nor knowledge, nor can Korla’s Sanitation Front arrange so many people. Please go to the head of the Kuihua Bridge over the Korla River and have a look. Every day in the early morning, there are endless and dense mobs of strong laborers. They concentrate there, picked out by bosses in need of temporary labor. The lucky ones, picked out, do a day of temporary work, earn some money, and, on the next day, return here to try their luck. The unlucky ones, who have not been picked out by after noon, have to go home hungry and pray that, tomorrow, they will be granted a temporary work opportunity.

这还只是能源.其他资源呢？黄金呢？钾盐呢？玉石呢？

This is all still just energy. What about other resources? Gold? Leopoldite? Jade?

大规模的开发，富起来的到底是谁？

Large-scale exploitation, who’s really getting rich?

西部大开发，过了八年了，我们为什么只看到一个个资源项目上马，却很少看到科教文化
卫生人才方面的扶持与投资？要开发一个地区，资源是一条路；可是资源开采完了呢？我
们还能拥有什么？没有科教与人才的积累，到底还有多大的发展空间？

The Great Opening Up of the West, it’s been eight years. Why have we only seen a few resource projects get going, but not seen any assistance or investment in terms of popular science, culture, sanitation, or training? In order to open up a region, resources are one road, but what about when the resources are all exploited up? What can we have? Without an accumulation of popular science and talented people, how much room is there then for development?

你可曾知道，堂堂新疆大学历史系的学生们在校图书馆里竟然找不到《万历十五年》这样
非常普遍的书籍？你可曾知道，堂堂华夏第一州–巴音郭楞蒙古自治州，竟然没有一所
正规的图书馆、博物馆？大城市如此，小城市与农村又是怎样？西部大开发，为什么我们
很少见到这样的项目与投资？

Are you aware that the students of the great Xinjiang University’s History Department cannot find extremely common books like Wanli Shiwu Nian in their library? Are you aware that the great First Prefecture in China, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, still has not a single regular library or museum? Big cities are like this, so what can small cities and villages be like? The Great Opening Up of the West, why do we so rarely see projects and investment like this?

新疆人，老实巴交的新疆人，被内地人动不动就称作野蛮人的新疆人……就这样默默无闻
的承受着一切……换个角度思考，如果北京的出租车司机成天排队加不上油，会是怎么样
？如果山东的农民成批成批的失去土地，就像库尔勒的农民那样，还会不会如此沉默的承
受一切？

Xinjiang people, honest Xinjiang people, Xinjiang people who cannot move for the Interior people are who are called barbarous… Unbeknownst, they have borne all of this… Thinking about it from another perspective, if Beijing’s taxi drivers were in line all day and could not get gas, what would it be like? If the peasants of Shandong lost their land bit by bit, just like the peasants of Korla, would they still quietly bear all of this?

前两天，把原子弹空投到日本领土的美军飞行员去世了.又一次引发出关于核武器的大规
模讨论.在一次次的讨论中，你们可曾想过，在遥远的罗布泊，曾经露天爆炸过原子弹？
在美丽的孔雀河－塔里木河流域，曾经无数次的进行过地下核试验？当看到新疆刮起沙尘
暴的新闻后，你们第一个想到的肯定是：新疆那个荒凉的地方……有谁想过，从罗布泊刮
来的沙尘暴，会给世世代代居住在那里的老百姓吹来什么？

Two days ago, the American pilot who dropped the first atomic bomb on Japanese soil passed away. [The pilot, Paul Tibbets, died on 1 November 2007, dating this document to perhaps 3 November.] This once again attracted a large-scale discussion of atomic weapons. In the course of one such discussion, did you perhaps think how, in distant Lop Nor, an atomic bomb was once tested in the open? How, in the beautiful Kongque River – Tarim River Basin, there were once conducted countless underground nuclear tests? After seeing the news of the sand storms in Xinjiang, what you first thought was certainly: Xinjiang, that desolate place… Who thought, the sands that storm from Lop Nor, what will they blow to generations of people who live in that place?

一个个身边的亲友倒下了……问问原因，不是肺癌就是食道癌.新疆是著名的长寿之乡，
祖祖辈辈生活在辽阔农村的百姓，呼吸着新鲜空气，吃着五谷杂粮，周围没有任何现代工
业的痕迹，怎么会一个又一个的患上癌症呢？你们可曾知道，就在罗布泊地区的巴音郭楞
蒙古自治州，进入八九十年代以来，已经成为癌症重灾区.胡总去探望艾滋病人了，温总
去河南艾滋病村了，这是时代的进步，这是party和go-vern-ment的关怀.可是，一个因为
长期受到核辐射而成为癌症重灾区的地区，却为何从来没有被报道过，从来没有人正面回
答这个问题？

Some close friend or relative has fallen… You ask the reason, and, if it’s not lung cancer, it’s esophageal cancer. Xinjiang is a place of famed longevity, and the generations of everyday people that live in the expansive villages, breathing fresh air, eating fresh grain, with no traces of modern industry around them, how does one after another get cancer? As you may know, in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in the area of Lop Nor, since the beginning of the eighties or nineties, it has already become a cancer disaster area. President Hu always goes to visit AIDS patients, Premier Wen goes to AIDS Village in Henan. This is a generational improvement, this is the party and go-vern-ment showing they care. But, a place that has long received nuclear radiation and become a cancer disaster area, but why has it never been reported, why can no one ever answer this question directly?

一次核试验，中国人民从此站起来了，不用受纸老虎的威胁了；可是千千万万个无辜又无
知的新疆人却倒下了，可悲的是，就连他们自己，也并不知道这究竟是为了什么，更何况
他人？

One atomic test. The people of China from this point on stood up. They no longer had to accept the menace of the paper tiger. But countless poor and ignorant Xinjiang people fell. What is lamentable is that, even they themselves did not know why this was, much less anyone else?

新疆的石油运走了，
新疆的天然气运走了，
新疆的棉花运走了，
新疆的钾盐运走了，
新疆的黄金运走了，
新疆的和田玉运走了
……

Xinjiang’s oil was transported away,

Xinjiang’s natural gas was transported away,

Xinjiang’s cotton was transported away,

Xinjiang’s leopoldite was transported away,

Xinjiang’s gold was transported away,

Xinjiang’s Khotan jade was transported away

…

原子弹却降临在新疆了
……

The atomic bomb was indeed dropped in Xinjiang

…

新疆，是祖国版图不可分割的一部分；新疆人，是十三亿中国人的一部分.我们渴望祖国
的富强，我们祝福兄弟省市人民的富足，但，我们也是人，我们也有不高的要求：新疆与
新疆人，能够得到公正与公平的发展机遇，能够从这片土地所赐予我们的宝藏中得到实惠
的利益，能够有一个更为美好的明天，和祖国人民一样，在资源枯竭之后，仍然留有希望
.

Xinjiang, it is an inseparable part of the map of the ancestral country; Xinjiang people, they are part of the 1.3 billion Chinese people. We hope for the fortune and strength of the ancestral country. We congratulate the people of our brother provinces and cities on their wealth. However, we are also people. We also have requirements that are not high: Xinjiang and Xinjiang people, if they are able to receive an equitable and fair opportunity for development, if they can receive some practical benefit from the treasures of ours that are taken from this patch of land, if they can have a better tomorrow, as the people of the ancestral country, and after the resources are exhausted, yet leave behind a little hope.

朋友们，无论你在祖国的何处，当你享受这阳光下的和平的时候，请你想想那些为祖国的
和平而无知的承受着原子辐射的新疆人，对他们说一声：对不起……

Friends, no matter where you are in the ancestral country, when you share in this peace in the sunlight, please think of those Xinjiang people who, unbeknownst, for the peace of the ancestral country received radiation from the atomic bomb, and say to them, I’m sorry…

朋友们，无论你在祖国的何处，当你享受充足的能源供应与高速经济发展带来的实惠的时
候，请想想那些为另一部分人先富起来而默默承受着所有阵痛的新疆人，收起曾经对新疆
人的种种歧视与不屑，收起那些”援助新疆，支援边疆”得了便宜还卖乖的”豪言壮语”，对
他们说一句：谢谢你！

Friends, no matter where you are in the ancestral country, when you share in the practical benefit that comes from the sufficient provision of resources and the high speed of economic development, please think of those Xinjiang people who, unbeknownst, endure pains for another group of people to become wealthy first. To those who have received all kinds of discrimination and disdain against Xinjiang, who have been cheated and bamboozled by the “grandiloquence” of phrases like “assist Xinjiang, support Xinjiang”, say to them, thank you!

我们的要求并不高，一千九百万新疆人民，在无力改变现状与全局时，在仍然需要长时间
为东部的发展做出牺牲时，只需要得到别人真诚的尊重，只想听到一句诚心的：

Our requirements are not very high. 19 000 000 people, at a time when they are powerless to change the present and overall situation, at a time when they still need to sacrifice for a long time for the development of the East, only need to receive others’ sincere respect. They only need to hear one sincere:

新疆人，对不起，谢谢你.

Xinjiang people, I’m sorry, thank you.

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.