On March 6, a batch of Guangdong tourists arrived at the Urumqi Diwopu International Airport in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. As this year's first batch of tourists who participated in the "One Million Guangdong Visitors to Xinjiang" series organized by Guangdong Province, they would start enjoying an 8-day journey in Xinjiang.
(Photo provided to GDToday)
The local culture and tourism department held a ceremony at the airport to welcome the 36 tourists. They enjoyed the distinctive local singing and dancing performances and received flower hats, silk scarves, and gift bags.
(Photo provided to GDToday)
"I have always felt that Xinjiang is very mysterious. There are songs and dances, deserts, and snow-capped mountains," said Deng Wenwen, a tourist from Shenzhen, "I will record this trip and share it with my friends."
During the 8-day trip, tourists are going to visit famous attractions in the city of Urumqi, the Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of Yili, Tacheng Prefecture, Changji City, Turpan City, and so on.
The scenery in Xinjiang (Photo provided to GDToday)
China has been implementing the "pairing assistance" program in Xinjiang since 1997, channeling financial support to Xinjiang from other regions of the country. The pairing assistance programs have contributed to poverty alleviation and the improvement of people's livelihood in Xinjiang.
Since 2017, Guangdong has launched the "One Million Guangdong Visitors to Xinjiang" series, encouraging travel agencies to charter flights and special trains and other forms to organize group tours to Xinjiang.
According to Zhang Ruihua, director of the tourism promotion and foreign exchange division of the regional culture and tourism department, Xinjiang will launch more travel routes as well as tourism subsidies, tourism discount cards, and other preferential policies, inviting tourists from Guangdong and the whole country to visit Xinjiang.
Author: Holly
Editor: Nan, Monica, Jerry
