Back on track

After graduation, Abdula put his business plan into action. Supported by the local government's entrepreneurship policies, he set up Oubai E-commerce, which sells local specialties, including the grapes grown by his father.

In 2020, he started to expand the business via livestreams on social media platforms, and helped local farmers sell their fruits so they wouldn't need to worry about sales like his father once did.

Encouraged by Abdula, his father, Umur Rexit, joined Oubai's team of livestreamers. Umur, who enjoys wearing traditional Uygur costumes and introducing the Uygur culture during his livestreams, now has more than 300,000 followers on social media platforms.

Last year, the company generated sales of 5 million yuan ($700,000) while providing 25 jobs for local farmers. Abdula plans to get more farmers involved so they can also benefit from e-commerce in the future.

"My life is now back on the right track. I am sure it will get better as Xinjiang continues to develop at high speed. Returning home is the best decision I ever made," he said.

Contact the writer at cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn