Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, called Xinjiang for short, is one of the five autonomous regions of our country and is located in northwestern China and borders the three provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, and Tibet, 3100km from Beijing and 4000 km from Shanghai.

Covering an area of more than 1.66 million square kilometers, Xinjiang is the largest provincial administrative region of China. However, the population of Xinjiang does not match its area. It is about 25 million and divided into 19 ethnic groups. Among them, the Uyghurs are the largest, with more than 11 million, accounting for 47% of the total population. This is why Xinjiang is called the Uyghur Autonomous Region. Because most ethnic minorities are good at singing and dancing, it is known as the “province of song and dance”.

Xinjiang has been part of Chinese territory since the Han Dynasty (60 BC), but since the Tang Dynasty (808), due to civil strife and the invasion of northern nomads, the Chinese government lost control of Xinjiang until After the Qing Dynasty (1759) defeated the Islamic separatist regime (Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas) from Central Asia entrenched in Kashgar, Xinjiang was reincorporated into China’s territory, which is also the origin of the name “Xinjiang”, in Chinese, Xinjiang means “Newly Reclaimed Territory”.

Xinjiang, together with Gansu, has always been the most important part of the Chinese section of the Silk Road. The long-term multi-ethnic and multi-cultural exchanges have spawned many important cities on the Silk Road, such as Urumqi, Turpan, and Kashgar, which are the most important cities in northern, eastern, and southern Xinjiang, respectively. The vast area makes Xinjiang rich in natural landscapes, such as rolling snow-capped mountains and vast grasslands, as well as the Taklamakan Desert, the largest area in China. In addition, as an arid province in the northwest, Xinjiang has many large lakes, so freshwater fish is also one of the specialties of Xinjiang.