Urumqi was the last stop on the Silk Road tour. It included a few places in a larger area beyond the city, but within its borders, there were the new, modern buildings, the grid of roads, the shopping malls. A truly awesome place where once there was a desert. The modernization is the phenomenon of the new China. Almost everywhere modern cities are rising. Along the way from one city to another, you’ll see apartments (many of them empty) going up. Farmers have left their fields to join in the great migration to the city … and work in manufacturing and technology. There is so much more money now in the new China. Children are leaving their parents and the old homestead, gravitating to offices and factories. These photos depict some of the developments and the changes.
(Click on the thumbnails images to see the full photo.)
