Xinjiang,a pleasant surprise to foreigners
( 2005-09-30 )

Like many foreigners who have been toXinjiang, American student Pam Ariand is astonished at the great changes taking place in Uygur Autonomous Region in southwest China.

"Hamburgers were never seen here several years ago, but now youcan easily find outlets of Kentucky fried chicken, pizza and many other western foods in Xinjiang," Ariand said in fluent Chinese.

In addition, the improved transportation network has greatly improved thepeople's dailylives in Xinjiang, which accounts for nearly one sixth of China's land, said Ariand, who majors in the Tajiki language and ancient central Asian history and culture at Xinjiang University.

The American girl recalled some inconvenience she had encountered during her first trip to this northwesternmost inland region of China eight years ago.

"In 1997, it took me three days to go to the southern city of Kashi by bus from the regional capital Urumqi. But now it only requires a one-day ride thanks to the improved road network," saidAriand.

"You can also go there by train or plane," she said, adding that most of her American friends had asked "Are there transportation services or electricity?"

According to the regional government, Xinjiang has invested 23.4 billion yuan (2.8 billion US dollars) in road construction over the past four years or so, bringing the road length to 86,824kilometers by the end of 2004, almost ten times that of 1955 when the autonomous region was founded.

Railway construction and the opening of regular flights also have helped improve local transportation services and facilitate exchanges between this landlocked region and the world, said an official of the Xinjiang Development and Reform Committee.

Brian Swords, a native of Canada who now teaches English at Xinjiang Agriculture University, said he was "astonished" by the rapid economic and social development here.

"I had imagined I would see more horse-drawn carriages in Xinjiang, but I came here to see cars, buses and other modernized vehicles running on the roads of the region," Swords said about his impression of Xinjiang during his first trip here in 2000.

The number of motor vehicles reached 500,700 in Xinjiang by 2004, statistics from the committee show.