Tourism to Xinjiang booms as China gives the region a makeover

When Anna was planning her first visit to Xinjiang in 2015, her friends were stunned.

“They couldn’t understand why I would visit a place that was considered one of the most dangerous areas in China at the time.”

The 35-year-old Chinese national, who did not want to reveal his real name, said one of his friends pulled out of the trip and started “shadowing” him on WeChat.

“He said his family had forbidden him from going anywhere near Xinjiang and he didn’t want to be engaged any longer.”

Anna went anyway and returned this June. But it has changed, he says.

“Xinjiang was as beautiful as I remembered, but there are too many tourists now, especially at major tourist attractions.”

Xinjiang has been tense for years under Beijing’s rule, sometimes with violence, keeping many domestic Chinese tourists away. He later became famous for some of the worst allegations of Chinese authoritarianism, from the detention of more than a million Uyghur Muslims in so-called “re-education camps” to allegations of crimes against humanity by the United Nations.

China denies the allegations, but with the region largely closed to international media and observers, exiled Uyghurs continue to tell stories of terrified or missing relatives.

But in recent years, Xinjiang has emerged as a tourism destination within China and increasingly outside the country. Beijing has pumped billions of dollars into improving infrastructure, helping produce TV series set in unfamiliar landscapes and occasionally hosting foreign media on carefully planned tours.

It repackages the disputed region as a tourist haven, highlighting not only its beauty but also the local “ethnic” experiences that rights groups say they are trying to erase.

Xinjiang, which spans northwestern China, has borders with eight countries. Some of the towns on the Silk Road, which has nourished trade between East and West for centuries, are full of history. It is also home to remote, rugged mountains, majestic canyons, lush meadows and pristine lakes.

“The views went miles beyond my expectations,” says Singaporean Sun Shengyao, who visited in May 2024, describing it as “New Zealand, Switzerland and Mongolia all rolled into one.”

Unlike most of China, where there is a Han majority, Xinjiang is populated mostly by Turkic-speaking Muslims, with Uyghurs being the largest ethnic group. Tensions rose throughout the 1990s and 2000s as allegations of Uighur marginalization by Han Chinese spurred separatist sentiment and deadly attacks that intensified Beijing’s crackdown.

However, the Chinese Communist Party has begun to tighten control like never before, sparking allegations of forced assimilation of Uyghurs into Han Chinese culture under Xi Jinping. During a visit in September, he praised the region’s “world-shattering” development and called for the “Sinicization of religion,” that is, the transformation of beliefs to reflect Chinese culture and society.

Meanwhile, investments are pouring into the region. Approximately 200 international hotels, including major names such as Hilton and Marriott, are currently operating or planning to open in Xinjiang.

In 2024, the region welcomed nearly 300 million visitors, more than double the figure in 2018, according to Chinese officials. Xinjiang’s tourism revenue increased by nearly 40% during this period, reaching 360 billion yuan ($51 billion; £39 billion). Approximately 130 million tourists visited the region in the first half of this year, generating approximately 143 billion yuan in revenue.

While foreign tourism is growing, the majority of it is domestic visitors.

Beijing now has an ambitious target: more than 400 million visitors a year and 1 trillion yuan in tourism revenue by 2030.

Some people are still afraid to go. Mr. Sun says it took him some time to gather his friends for a trip in May 2024 because many of them viewed Xinjiang as unsafe. The 23-year-old himself had a bout of nervousness, but those jitters disappeared as the trip continued.

They started in the bustling streets of the regional capital Urumqi. They then spent eight days driving through mountains and lush steppes with a Chinese driver, astonishing Mr. Sun.

It is common for drivers and tour guides in Xinjiang to be Han Chinese, who now make up about 40% of the region’s population. Mr. Sun’s group did not interact extensively with local Uyghurs, but he said the few people they were able to chat with were “very welcoming.”

Since his return, Mr. Sun has become something of an advocate for Xinjiang, which he says has been “misunderstood” as dangerous and tense. “If I could inspire just one person to learn more about the state, I would help reduce some of the stigma.”

To him, the striking landscapes he enjoyed as a tourist seem a far cry from the disturbing allegations that brought Xinjiang to global headlines. All he saw was evidence of high surveillance of Xinjiang, where police checkpoints and security cameras are widely visible and foreigners are required to stay in designated hotels.

But Mr Sun was less than impressed: “There is a heavy police presence, but that doesn’t mean it’s a big problem.”

Not every tourist is convinced that what they see is the “real” Xinjiang.

Thenmoli Silvadorie from Singapore, who visited with her friends for 10 days in May, says: “I was very curious about the Uyghur culture and wanted to see how different things could be there. But we were quite disappointed.”

She and her friends were wearing hijabs, and she says Uyghur food vendors approached them and told them they were “jealous that we could wear our hijabs freely… but they couldn’t have very deep conversations.” They were also not allowed to visit most of the local mosques, he adds.

Still, the appeal of foreign visitors is strong. China is a hugely popular destination and Xinjiang has emerged as a “pristine”, less commercialized option.

A growing number of foreigners are “approaching Xinjiang with an open mind and a genuine desire to see and evaluate the truth with their own eyes,” China’s state newspaper Global Times wrote in May.

The party was also quick to promote Xinjiang-related content by foreign influencers in line with the state’s narrative. Among them is German vlogger Ken Abroad, who said he saw “more mosques” in one of his videos [in Xinjiang] More than in the United States or any other country in Europe”.

But others have a different opinion. Writer Josh Summers, who lived in Xinjiang in the 2010s, told the BBC that Kashgar’s Old Town was “completely demolished, redesigned and rebuilt in a way that does not reflect Uyghur culture in any way.”

According to a 2024 report by Human Rights Watch, the names of hundreds of villages in Xinjiang (related to the religion, history or culture of the Uyghurs) were changed between 2009 and 2023. The group also accused authorities of closing, demolishing and repurposing mosques in Xinjiang and across China to hinder the practice of Islam.

Gross violations of rights have also been documented by other international organizations, including the UN. BBC reports from 2021 and 2022 found evidence supporting the existence of detention camps and allegations of sexual abuse and forced sterilization.

But Beijing denies all of this. The party is reshaping the image of the region, once seen as a troubled area, to attract more domestic tourists within the country. And it seems to be working.

The second time Anna went, she was with her mother, who wanted to visit after watching a drama series set in the mountainous northern province of Altai. The Wonderland series was funded by the government and promoted in state media.

Altay has many fans on the Chinese Internet. A comment on RedNote reads: “Who knew that I would enter God’s secret garden in Altai? At Ka Nasi Lake, I finally understood what it means to be in paradise. This is a place where the romance of mountains, rivers, lakes and seas is woven in a single frame.”

Another says: “At dawn, from the guest house, I watch the cattle graze in the fields. The golden birch forests sparkle in the sunlight and even the air seems tinged with sweetness; such pristine beauty, the Altai I always longed for.”

Travel agencies describe the area as “exotic” and “mysterious”. One such agency, The Wandering Lens, says it offers “a magical combination of nature and culture that you cannot experience anywhere else in China.” Prices of these tours vary. A 10-day trip could set you back between $1,500 and $2,500 (£1,100-1,900), excluding flights.

A typical itinerary for the north includes visiting Kanas National Park, which includes trips to mountain lakes and the popular five-coloured beach, and a Uyghur village where you can ride in cars and spend time with a Uyghur family.

Things get more adventurous in the south, where trips often include desert excursions, various lake cruises, and a visit to the 2,000-year-old Silk Road city of Kashgar.

Visitors are sharing itineraries online, complete with color-coded route maps and highlights of Uyghur delicacies such as spicy hot pot, “big plate chicken,” grilled lamb skewers and wine made from horse milk. Some even talk about “hours-long demonstrations that recreate the splendor of the Silk Road.”

If you search for Xinjiang on social media platforms RedNote and Weibo, you’ll get posts raving about its beauty and iconic architecture, as you’d expect. There is no mention of arguments that contradict this pastoral call.

This time of year, China’s social media is flooded with photos of Xinjiang’s poplar forests bathed in autumn’s amber glow.

Irade Kashgari, an American of Uyghur origin who left the region in 1998, says the Communist Party “is selling its own Uyghur culture by presenting the Uyghur people as tourist attractions.”

“They’re telling the world that we’re nothing but colorful people who dance and look good on social media.”

Ms Kashgary, a Uyghur activist who has seen her hometown grow in popularity across the Pacific, is urging tourists to “be aware of the serious problems” in Xinjiang.

“It’s not my place to tell people not to visit, but they need to understand that what they experience there is a whitewashed version of it. [Xinjiang]” he says.

“Meanwhile, people like me will never be able to go back because of our activism. It’s too dangerous… but why can’t I go anyway? This is my homeland.”