Expat Eyes | Xinjiang's surprises begin on the tongue

If I were to write a letter to Xinjiang, I would start with a bowl of yogurt.

During my time in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, I drank the local yogurt almost every day. It was richer, creamier, and more flavorful than any yogurt I've ever had anywhere else in the world. I told my companions, "I could happily live on nothing but the local yogurt and fruit here, maybe with one or two pieces of naan a day." That's not an exaggeration. In Xinjiang, food is a language in itself. It tells me that the people here know how to blend sunshine and wind into their daily lives.

Marian visits a workshop of Xinjiang Nakixwan handmade carpets in Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

I remember a visit to a rice paddy field. I learned that the field was just one kilometer away from the edge of the Taklimakan Desert. I was truly stunned — desert and paddy field, drought and irrigation, such extreme contrasts coexisting in harmony. I was wearing my sunglasses at the time, but when I took them off, I was sure my face answered all the questions: This is Xinjiang.

Later, during a conversation with friends, I couldn't help but bring up yogurt again. I said, "I could happily live on nothing but the yogurt and fruit here." A friend picked up on that and joked, "I could swim in the yogurt. I actually tried, but people chased me away — it was a big bowl!" Everyone laughed, but I knew he was expressing a genuine, heartfelt love for it.

Marian experiences carpet-making at a workshop of Xinjiang Nakixwan handmade carpets in Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

I was once asked if there was any specific moment that made me want to scream, "Oh my god, this is Xinjiang!" The first thing that came to my mind was still the yogurt. But a friend summed it up even better. He mentioned three things: nature, dancing, and spicy food. He said, "Every time I find myself in a place like this, I just go 'Woo!' The second thing is dancing — before I came, I didn't know that everyone here dances. And the last thing is spicy food — that's a different kind of screaming." I completely agreed with him. Even though I can't handle spicy food very well myself, that doesn't stop me from loving everything here.

I want to say something special about Xinjiang's yogurt. Someone once asked me, "Other places have yogurt too. What's different about Xinjiang's?" I answered without hesitation, "Xinjiang's yogurt is just too delicious!" That rich, pure flavor comes from the grasslands and sunshine here — it's something that other places truly cannot replicate.

And then there were the uncles and aunties dancing Xinjiang dances in the park, and the barbecue skewers at the night market that were longer than my arm — every scene told me that Xinjiang is not a place you visit just once. A friend shared that when he joined a group of dancing aunties and uncles, his first expression was surprise, and then it turned into "How great!" At that moment, I thought to myself: this is the magic of Xinjiang. It makes you want to join in, to become a part of it.

Toward the end of our time together, we were asked to come up with an unofficial slogan to promote Xinjiang. I thought for a moment and said, "Unforgettable Xinjiang." I felt I could have come up with something better, but in that moment, those two words were my truest feeling. Other friends gave even better answers: "You can't come only once" and "Xinjiang is like a treasure chest." Yes, Xinjiang is like a treasure chest — you never know what surprises you'll find the next time you open it.

If you ask me what I most want to take home from Xinjiang, I would say: a jar of local honey, a handmade carpet — even though the price of 16,000 yuan (about 2,357 U.S. dollars) gave me some pause, I know it's worth it, because it's handmade, a truly lovely, lovely thing. I also bought some preserved fruits — I love the food here. But most importantly, I'm taking home a mind full of the thought: "I have to come back."

Xinjiang, you made me realize for the first time that "surprise" can be a verb.

Marian Rosenberg is a content creator from the U.S.

Producer: Xing Peiyu

Supervisor: Liu Yang

Reviewers: Cheng Li and Wang Xiabing

Editors: Gulnigar Amat and Jia Shaoqi