A comedy depicting rural life in a county in the south of the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region has proved popular in Beijing.

Online promotion of Romance of Apricot together with a cinema screening in Beijing last week attracted 1.7 million online views, said Gao Xinchun, Party chief of Yengisar county.

Romance of Apricot was first shown in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang and made its Beijing debut last Thursday. More than 500 tickets were sold within four hours, Gao said.

The movie, shot in Yengisar county, tells of college graduates from the area helping locals grow and sell apricots and develop traditional pottery. The county produces 250,000 metric tons of the fruit annually, making it one of the country’s major apricot production areas.

"I hope to present a real and modern Xinjiang, a vibrantly developing Xinjiang, to the audience through the film," said director Yan Qingxiu.

The movie, currently showing in Beijing, will later be screened nationwide, Gao said.