During the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05) period, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will invest a huge amount of money to build nine large tourism areas according to the latest Beijing Review.

The Xinjiang Tourism Administration announced that during the 10th Five-Year Plan period, Xinjiang will select nine key sightseeing sites that possess scenic landscape, long history and rich ethnic features.

The projects include: the Kashgar Uygur Folk Garden; the Altai Chimuna Lake Ring Road, the Thousand-Buddha Grottoes in Kuche; ecological tourism in nature reserves; the Ili Grassland Resort and Sightseeing Area; the Guozigou-Chilimu Lake environmental protection project; the Turpan Relics Park; the Tianchi Lake-Boketa-Dabanchen Road; and the Tashkurgan Glacier Park.

Xinjiang also will improve facilities in the Tianshan Mountain Area, Bagrch Kol Lake Area, Southern Mountain Scenic Area, and the Baitou Mountain Scenic Area.

Xinjiang, with its splendid mountains and unique folk cultures, lies along the central portion of the famous Silk Road. Its mysterious natural and man-made landscapes will attract tourists from around the world. Last year, the number of overseas tourists reached 260,000, and tourism revenue was more than US$95 million. Meanwhile, more than 7.5 million domestic visitors made trips to Xinjiang, spending 6.3 billion yuan.

As the tourism plan is implemented over the next five years, tourists will enjoy more convenient transportation facilities, making their trips to Xinjiang more pleasant, more comfortable and safer.

(People's Daily 07/03/2001)