Xinjiang

Ah yes, the Texas of China. And also the Wild Wild West of China. Home to a number of various Turkish and Muslim minorities (as well as a number of other minorities), and with a landscape more diverse than most countries, this largest province of China is also one of my favorites (along with Yunnan). Of course I am a bit biased, as my girlfriend is from Xinjiang, but I had actually traveled in Xinjiang long before I met her and was quite enthralled with this place even on that first trip. In 2008 I spent about half of the year in Xinjiang working on the feature film "The Warrior and The Wolf" in the Hami region, and on almost every one of my six or so trips between Xinjiang and Beijing that year I'd stop off in the Xinjiang provincial capital of Urumqi to stay with my girlfriend's family. So for now the vast majority of the pictures in here are of Urumqi, but eventually I'll get some pics up of the Hami area, as well as my trip many years ago to Turpan, Kashgar, and Yili.