China's western-most frontier only became part of the country
in the mid-eighteenth century. Now an autonomous region
within China, Xinjiang (which means 'New Dominion') is home
to the native Uighur population and a growing Han Chinese
population. The Uighurs speak a Turkic language which is
very close to Uzbek, and their desert lands have long been
a honey pot for adventurous tribes who have settled and
fought over the region's oases. Famous for its two main
branches of the Silk Road and the archaeological sites that
litter these routes, Xinjiang is too often overlooked by
the outside world.
