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"It used to take me hours just to find Xinjiang on the map, but now I can find "my second home" with my eyes closed," says an American expert.
Dennis L Cannon is a representative of Boeing Co working at the Urumqi International Airport. He has lived and worked in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, for four years.
Several weeks ago, Dennis received the "Tianshan Award", from the regional people's government, an award given to foreign people working in the region.
Dennis says that this special 'home' is so deeply-rooted in his mind, that every time he goes back to the United States on business, he feels like a tourist, and he misses his friends back in Xinjiang very much.
At such moments, he says, he knows that "it's time to go home."
Jane Trice, an American teaching at Xinjiang University, shares the same deep love for Xinjiang.
She says that she wishes everyone could have the experience of living in Xinjiang -- a truly unique place in China.
Enchanted by the unique landscapes, the colorful cultures, the foods and the music, Jane has lived in Xinjiang for seven years.
Covering 1.66 million square kilometers, or one-sixth of China' s total land area, Xinjiang is the largest of China's provinces and autonomous regions. Due to its special geographical location, Xinjiang has historically been a cultural crossroads where ancient Indian, Arabic, Greek and Roman cultures intermingled and influenced each other. Thus, as early as 2,000 years ago, Xinjiang played an important role in commercial and cultural exchanges between China and other countries.
At present, Xinjiang still holds an important position in China 's economic development. The region is one of the major cotton and grain production bases of China.
The diversified cultures, the history, the enchanting natural scenery and the modern economy all make Xinjiang an attractive tourist destination.
According to the region's tourism bureau, a total of 273,000 overseas tourists visited the region in 2001, a 44.5 percent increase from the 1996 figure.
Aaron, a professor from New Zealand working at a university in Shihezi City, has his own ideas about travel in Xinjiang.
According to him, Xinjiang should become a major tourism center where tourists could learn horse-riding, shearing, milking, and participate in the autumn harvest.
He said he has invited his friends from other countries to " come and explore this miraculous land."
Italian engineer Emanno Placeniltto, a supervisor for an expressway project under construction in Xinjiang, said that as a child, he dreamed of coming to Xinjiang, inspired by Marco Polo's legendary travels in China. His dream has come true.
The engineer is convinced that an expressway linking the diverse cultures of Xinjiang, Kazakhstan and even all of Europe will be built in the near future.
(eastday.com November 13, 2002)
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