STORY: A vibrant city on ancient Silk Road -- Kashgar in the eyes of foreigners
SHOOTING TIME: Sept. 17, 2023
DATELINE: Nov. 1, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:04
LOCATION: KASHGAR, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the ancient city of Kashgar 
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): NEIL MUNRO, Motorcycle traveler from Britain
3. various of the ancient city of Kashgar
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ROBERT ZAGORSKI, Motorcycle traveler from Poland
5. various of the ancient city of Kashgar
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): HADIYA MSHAM ABULLA, Coffee shop owner from Tanzania

STORYLINE:

The ancient city of Kashgar, which has a permanent resident population of around 200,000 and is located in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has greeted over 7 million tourists so far this year.
   
Apart from domestic tourists, Kashgar is also becoming increasingly popular among foreigners.
   
Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, the ancient city has once again been propelled into the limelight as a gateway for opening up.
   
Neil Munro, a motorcycle traveler from Britain, walked into a restaurant with friends to savor the famous local barbecue and beer.

This is Munro's third visit to Kashgar. When he first traveled there, he was wowed by the unique culture and he soon began learning Chinese.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): NEIL MUNRO, Motorcycle traveler from Britain
"It was 17 years ago, I think, when I first came here. I remember it was much smaller for one thing. The old city was really old. You walk on the street, there was no shops, it was just like old buildings, all people's houses, but no sort of tourists, well less than now, certainly. Now this time it seems to be huge, a really big city. Now there are nice places. It's a much more comfortable place, a much easier place than it was back when I first came here."

The ancient city of Kashgar is one of the largest surviving earthen buildings in the world.
   
In 2010, a renovation project with an investment value exceeding 7 billion yuan (about 975 million U.S. dollars) was launched. Within seven years, the dilapidated houses were rebuilt but without changing their architectural characteristics and their traditional Uygur lifestyles.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ROBERT ZAGORSKI, Motorcycle traveler from Poland
"It was beautiful, interesting to see local culture, the ancient city. It was very nicely renewed. At night with the very nice light, it was creating a very interesting and romantic climate. We could feel very cozy."
   
Hadiya Msham Abulla, from Tanzania, runs a cafe in the ancient city of Kashgar with her husband Dilshat Tursun. The two met while studying at a university in east China's Fujian Province seven years ago.
   
Bullish on China's soaring coffee consumption potential and economic prospects in Kashgar, where Dilshat Tursun was born, the couple decided to settle and start their own business in Kashgar.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): HADIYA MSHAM ABULLA, Coffee shop owner from Tanzania
"For the next year and probably the end of this year, we will still have Tanzanian coffee beans coming in big amounts, because we are arranging for that right now to transport a big amount of coffee beans in our coffee shop from Tanzania."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kashgar, China.
(XHTV)