Nine years ago, I had a chance to ride along the northern rim of the Tarim basin, cut cross the Tianshan Mountains, and pass through the southern rim of the Turban basin in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

As the new century began, the region was enjoying an economic boom, with burgeoning border trade, bumper grain harvests, and steady improvement in the local people's standard of living. Urumqi was fast becoming the sophisticated metropolis it is today.

Across Xinjiang, per capita income in rural areas and disposable income of the urban residents more than doubled between 2000 and 2008. Over the years, more refrigerators and color TV sets have entered local people's homes. The number of private automobiles from mini buses, trucks to sedan cars has more than doubled since 2000 to surpass 900,000 early this year.