Not China's 'wild' west

Last August, as a Beijing teacher, I came to China's so-called wild west - Hotan, one of the few major cities in Xinjiang that is mainly inhabited by the Uygur minority, to teach in a local school. I've been staying there for one year teaching Uygur students English.

It was my first time on this wonderland. It was so strange a place for me when I newly arrived there. At the corner of every street, there are men wearing little embroidered hats and women wearing colorful atlas silk dresses with headscarves or gauzy pieces of cloth on hair. Everywhere, I heard a different language, of which I couldn't understand a single word. Along both sides of the road, there are overcrowded bazaars, selling jade, dry fruits and daily necessities. A 10-minute bicycle ride took me to the famous Taklimakan desert - so huge that it was like a frozen sea. Being an oasis in the desert, Hotan has a dry and dusty weather. It seldom rains or snows, but has sandstorms frequently.