TIANSHANNET

The 9th traditional games of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region opened Saturday in the city of Yining.

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region saw more than 105 million tourists in the first eight months of this year, up 40.93 percent year-on-year, according to regional statistics.

The first high-end intelligent six-row cotton picker, produced by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Xinjiang Co in the Urumqi Economic and Technological Development Zone (Toutunhe district), officially came off the assembly line on Sept 9.

"My one-year-old daughter was once scared by one of my paintings portraying an eagle," a 40-year-old entrepreneur from Xinjiang said.

The ongoing Sixth China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has been highlighting the achievements made in the region's targeted poverty alleviation work.

One of Xinjiang's most attractive travel destinations, Wucaitan, or "Colorful Beach", is receiving 40 million yuan ($5.85 million) in investment this year from the government for infrastructure renovations and service upgrades, in the hope of attracting more tourists from home and abroad.

Over 270.94 billion yuan (39.66 billion U.S. dollars) worth of contracts were signed during the sixth China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Kanas, one of China's most attractive tourism destinations, will see a boom in tourism-related business, as the local government is encouraging and incubating more hotels, restaurants and shopping centers by investing nearly 4 billion yuan ($58.55 million) toward infrastructure renovation.

Mother-of-eight Ahmantai Erjanhan has been making black soap, a natural product made from plants and animal oil, for almost 50 years, but it was only in June - at age 70 - she decided to use her traditional skills to start a business.

Under the scorching sun, a crane loads containers of car parts, small commodities, and clothing onto a train.

A total of 125 volunteer teachers from Northeast China's Jilin province left their hometowns on Aug 20 for Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to support local education.

Long road trips between scenic spots in the vast Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region may have put many people off in the past, but the region has been attracting a record number of visitors who don't mind the drive now that roads have been significantly improved, local tourism officials said.

At a cafe in Kashgar's renovated old town, a German family of four sat in the morning sunshine debating which type of grape was the tastiest or most succulent.

Orange International, a company founded 6 months ago, has made a mark in Kazakhstan by opening the country's first television shopping channel.