"She held me tightly and patted my head, treating me like her little granddaughter. My heart melted as I felt the kindness she showed me," she said.

"I will never forget that hug or my experiences in Kashgar and Tashikurgan. The area is totally different to how I imagined it. The views and the people are both wonderful."

Zhou, from the culture and tourism bureau, said the county is making great efforts to become a "holistic tourism attraction", where everything is connected.

"In the future, we will emphasize snow-themed tourism and border tourism," he said, adding that a few problems will have to be solved before tourism can be fully developed.

"The county is still in a painstaking fight against poverty, and it will require more financial support from the central, regional and prefectural governments. Also, we need preferential policies to attract more investors," he said.

Tashikurgan aims to receive 2 million visits by the start of next year, when 3,500 local residents will be involved in the tourism sector, he added.