WaPo photogallery on China's "Wide West"...

on the front page of the Washington Post and the related article "Natives Feel Left Out Of China's New West."

Ah, a news report redolent with names like Xinjiang, Uighurs, Urumqi, Kashgar, the Tajiks and their yurts...ah, the lure of the Silk Route...

From the article:

More than twice the size of Texas, Xinjiang has long occupied the fringes of Chinese domain, its inhospitable deserts once navigated by traders crossing the Silk Road from Europe to Asia.