Photos

Silkroad travels: Ürümqi

In the next few pictures I will present the tremendous contrasts that surprised me in the capital of Autonomous Xinjiang Province, our final destination of the bicycle trip. Han chinese were encouraged to move into the Uighur lands in great numbers after the Second World War (the Province was under Soviet control until 1960, the occupants had to be chased out of the land). The connection of the city by railway to Bejing and to Almaty (Kazachstan) and the discovieres of many mineral deposits helped modernise the city. The city today has an all-important outlet function to Central Asia and the Soviet Union. An impressive stream of products and energy carriers flows on the New Silkroad through Ürümqi.