From wattle huts to new homes — A ten-year story of Daliyabuyi

Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Parezat Abdu) news: On May 17, 2026, a drone flew over the Taklimakan Desert. Along the dunes, poplars stood tall and rose willows clustered, while haloxylon forests held the shifting sand in check, inch by inch. At the edge of the haloxylon forests lies the Daliyabuyi New Village.

Aerial photo shows an overlooking view of Daliyabuyi New Village in Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zheng Haotian)

In Daliyabuyi New Village, gray two-story houses and earthen-brown single-story compounds line paved roads that reach every doorstep. Streetlights, running water, network signal towers — urban conveniences that were once a distant fantasy in the deep desert.

According to Yutian County records, more than 300 years ago, two prominent families from the county followed the banks of the Keriya River deep into the heart of the Taklimakan Desert, settled there, and formed a village. For a long time, this place was cut off from the outside world.

In 2016, Yutian County placed the full relocation of Daliyabuyi Township on the agenda, setting the direction and goals for the move.

On September 27, 2019, the last batch of 114 households left the desert heartland where their ancestors had lived for generations and relocated to Daliyabuyi New Village, 91 kilometers from the county seat. With that, Daliyabuyi Township — once known as the last desert tribe — completed its full relocation, marking a historic transformation.

In Daliyabuyi New Village, the story unfolds of a journey from wattle-and-daub huts to a new home.

Patamkhan Wubuliaishan's shop sits in the most prominent spot in the new village.

Shelves are packed with drinks, instant noodles, fruits and vegetables, hardware, and daily necessities. Having just seen off a group of self-driving tourists, she turned around to greet villagers walking in.

A decade ago, this would have been unthinkable. Back then, Patamkhan lived in the old village, where households were tens or even hundreds of kilometers apart. Generations of villagers made a living from herding, living in huts made of rose willow or reeds daubed with thin mud — known as "bazi houses." They drank bitter, salty water and lit their nights with kerosene lamps. It was not until 2002, when a national rural electrification program brought a solar photovoltaic power station to Daliyabuyi Township, that the area got connected to electricity.

Aerial photo shows the desert highway leading to Daliyabuyi New Village. (Photo by Zheng Haotian)

"In the past, there was just one small shop at the edge of the village. If you needed something, that was the only place to go," Patamkhan said with a smile. "Now, I run my shop right at my doorstep, and customers come to me. Delivery trucks show up every couple of days — I don't even have to leave the village to restock."

Patamkhan's husband, Metikrem Abduhalik, is a capable man. He grows 100 mu (one mu equals 0.06 hectares) of Cistanche deserticola on his own land and has contracted another 200 mu from fellow villagers. From those 300 mu, he earns 35,000 yuan a year. On top of that, he buys Cistanche from other households in the village, processes it, and sells it — adding another 30,000 to 40,000 yuan annually. The family also raises sheep. Last year, they bought a JAC automobile for 160,000 yuan (about 23,539 U.S. dollars).

Patamkhan's small shop brings in around 3,000 yuan (about 410 U.S. dollars) a month for her family.

Organized by the township, she also traveled to Beijing and Tianjin for study tours. "Only after seeing the outside world did I realize that life could be lived this way."

Outside Patamkhan's shop, there stood Metusun Metudi, one of the first villagers to relocate here in 2018. He was beaming with joy over his eldest daughter's upcoming move to Karamay for middle school.

Metusun recalled that when he first moved here, his biggest headache was not knowing what to do in the new village. "My sheep and my cistanche fields were still back in the old village," he said. "How was I supposed to make a living after moving out?"

At the same time, village officials were also making plans — to revive the farming and herding industries that villagers knew best in the new settlement. "We decided to set up a livestock cooperative, with large-scale herders taking care of the sheep on behalf of others. We also planted large tracts of cistanche in the new village, and we started developing tourism," said Guo Wei, deputy head of Daliyabuyi Township.

"I now grow 350 mu of cistanche, which brings me an annual income of 100,000 yuan (about 14,000 U.S. dollars)," said Metusun. He dries the cistanche he harvests each year by himself and sells it to local buyers in the village. He also raises 110 sheep, and last year he earned 30,000 yuan (about 4,300 U.S. dollars) from selling the animals alone.

Photo taken on May 17, 2026 shows the owner makes Kumaiqi — a traditional local bread — for tourists at Daheyan Fast Food Restaurant in the Daliyabuyi New Village, Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Guo Wei explained the village's development strategy as follows: The old village has been preserved as it was before the relocation — with populus euphratica and rose willow, houses made of reeds and branches, flocks of sheep scattered among the populus euphratica forest, and the Kumaiqi bread baked by the village elders. These are the assets the old village relies on to develop tourism. In the new village, more than 12,000 mu of haloxylon and cistanche, along with 38,000 sheep, have helped villagers build stable lives and achieve prosperity. With this industrial foundation, the per capita net income of villagers reached 31,095 yuan (about 4,300 US dollars) in 2025.

The model of "new village for living, old village for tourism" has allowed residents of Daliyabuyi Village to sell their local specialties without ever leaving the village. The village has invested 5 million yuan (about 700,000 U.S. dollars) in building a restaurant and homestays, as well as setting up a camel caravan and a folk performance troupe. Many villagers who have returned to the village now work as waiters or self-driving tour guides, and more than 400 villagers are involved in the tourism industry. In 2025, the village received 90,000 tourist visits.

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