Hi, everyone,
I visited Xinjiang recently. Before I went, I asked my followers what they would like me to see for them, and one of them wanted me to check whether there is the book of “1984” by George Orwell in Xinjiang’s bookstores and libraries.
I did as he suggested because I was curious too. I wanted to give him, as well as myself, the answer.
I had never been to Xinjiang. I know terrible terrorist attacks happened there in 2009 and the following several years. I heard it is in peace and harmony nowadays. But I don’t know what it is really like today and what it went through during the past years.
I went and was shocked. Things are like what I expected but still out of my imagination — it is peaceful, and harmonious, and everybody seems so nice, no matter Han people or Uyghur people or any ethnic …. It is just like every good place in China,
Until now, my colleagues in Xinjiang who experienced the terrorist attacks on July 5th in 2009 cannot forget the feeling of panic and fear at that time. I asked them what exactly happened in Xinjiang after that to change from “a land of fear” to “a land of harmony.” The answers they gave me were not simple. It seems hard to elaborate in simple sentences. But I got a deep impression: education works. People’s minds can be changed.
De-extremization is not easy, but Xinjiang seems succeeds. All ethnic groups should respect each other and co-exist in harmony, this is the mainstream value in Xinjiang now. Fifteen years ago, it was not. At that time, a Han resident could be hacked by a big knife just because he is a Han and a Kazakh could be hacked because he is a friend of a Han.
Xinjiang is now an attractive tourist destination, with 265 million visitors last year and 165 million in the first seven months of this year. The growing number of tourists reflects the atmosphere in Xinjiang, which is obviously not like what is described in “1984” by Orwell.
I know what some people imagined. So I wanted to check it by myself. I went to a Xinhua Bookstore near the famous Urumqi Bazzar in the southern part of the city where was the place the terrorist attacks happened 15 years ago.
I found two versions of 1984 and three Orwell’s collections on the shelves.
I was very surprised to find that there were several shelves of English books, including language tutoring books and English novels on the 4th floor together with other subjects’ tutorials.
These proved my impression. Xinjiang is a normal and open society.
When I visited a friend at Xinjiang University, I asked for permission to see whether there was 1984 in the library. No surprise, there is. In fact there were dozens of copies on different campuses of the university and at least one copy of them was borrowed on the day, the library record showed.
I reflected on what made me curious about Xinjiang’s true situation. I think it was because of Western media’s reports about Xinjiang. The reports about education camps, forced labor, and the depression of minorities, etc., gave people the imagination that Xinjiang is not normal, not open, not harmonious, and is dark and evil.
People trust their own eyes and with more people visiting Xinjiang, Xinjiang’s story will eventually be well-told to the world.
I shoot a video in the bookstore. I put it here.
I like Xinjiang. To me, it is still a myth. I would like to visit it again. ###
I know you're working with a journalistic straightjacket, but that is truly embarrassing.