Day Seven in Xinjiang

By Dominic Swire

August 23 Sunday

Today was another traveling day as we headed back to Urumqi city, the capital of Xinjiang autonomous region, from Yili prefecture. The journey took around 11 hours, but we made a couple of interesting stops along the way.

A nomad crouches at the gate of a tent in Xinjiang region, northwest  China, Sunday August 24, 2009. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]

The first was at the top of the mountains we needed to cross to get to the city. Climbing up there in our bus was a bumpy ride as the road is still not finished so there are many potholes. This meant holding on to something in the bus to ensure you didn��t fly out of your seat every couple of minutes.

Stopping at the top presented a pretty good illustration of the traditional, modern and natural China. The field where we chose to stretch our legs was playing host to a small group of nomads who had pitched a few of their large round wooden tents next to a field of cows. Dodging the cowpat and walking to the other side of the field presented an absolutely stunning view across the valley of steep mountain sides, pine trees and rolling grassland, not to mention crystal clear air. But in amidst the picture postcard view was a sign of China��s unrelenting economic growth. Here, as part of the ongoing road project, was the start of a massive bridge to connect the two sides of the valley. Two pairs of concrete pillars stood as tall as skyscrapers, like giant chopsticks jammed into the mountainside. About half way up both of them steel bars stuck out at various angles giving them the appearance of two giant birds nest. It truly was an ambitious project and one hopes the uniquely beautiful area is not disturbed too much from the development.