Many of those who visit Xinjiang will visit Yaxin. In Chinese， Yaxin is a convenient abbreviation for Asia’s geographic center， which was first located in 1992 by a group of local scientists. The center might mean a lot to the scientists， but it was a land of desolation and nothingness except a small hamlet before the center was designated. About thirty kilometers out of Urumqi， the capital city of Xinjiang， Yaxin now offers an array of tourism attractions.

The national highway 216 runs southwest parallel to the Urumqi River. The landscape along the highway is poetic. Roadside bushes are finely manicured. Corn fields stretch toward horizon， now and then interwoven with a wheat field. Fields of sunflowers are the most attractive spectacle. In the distance are the Gobi and dunes， all in soft colors.

We soon come to a place called Western Mountain Ranch. An eye-catching signboard declares proudly its significance: the geographical center of Asia. From here we can see the giant gate to the center nine kilometers away. We pass a beacon tower built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Then we come to a village， relocated from the geographical center. Today， the brick houses look new and young without a hint of the small hamlet’s previous desolation and solitude in the center of nowhere.

The landmark point is now surrounded by a giant zone of tourism attractions. A broad avenue is flanked by national flags and emblems of 49 Asian countries and statues that stand for these countries. Japan is signified by a statue of sumo wrestlers， Iran by a statue of a hunting eagle， and Iraq by the column of Code of Hammurabi.

At the end of the avenue is the Peace Square. Erected in 1998， a giant tower stands there to mark the heart of the continental Asia. The landmark presents three enforced concrete columns rising slantingly upward and topped by a steel hemisphere that measures 2.5 meters in diameter and serves as a symbol of Asia. A bronze cone suspends from the hemisphere and， with its pointed end， points at the geographical center of Asia on a miniature map of the continent on the ground. The landmark towers against the Tianshan Mountains in the distance， presenting a spectacle of serenity and majesty.

There is a black marble monument in two layers. The circular monument consists of 49 marbles for 49 Asian countries. Each 1-cubic-meter marble on the ground layer serves as a pedestal for another marble sitting on it in a precarious way. The top marble has a map and brief introduction to an Asian country it represents.

The theme park has a lot of fun to offer. In order to build itself into the country’s gateway to the west， Urumqi has put huge amounts of funds into the development of the center in the hope that it will attract tourists. Now under construction are an airport where small planes can take off and display acrobatic stunts， a racetrack for horse races， a shopping corridor， a museum， an ecological park， an international peace bell， a peace wall， an arena where ethnic people can stage ethnic sporting competitions， and an exhibition park where the thirty-six ancient kingdoms in Xinjiang can be displayed， etc.

For some people， a big attraction at the center is not these brand-new modern structures， but the four stone lions created by a local shepherd named Wu Tingde. He loved the idea of the continent’s center as soon as the central point was marked with a small wooden peg by scientists. He guarded the landmark as his treasure. Years later he spent 7，000 yuan buying and transporting four huge rocks from a mountain quarry to the site. The shepherd spent the next three years carving lions. He carved from the memory of man-made lions in a lion dancing he had watched in his youth. Before he could complete the carving， he was diagnosed with a terminal cancer and lost the race against time. Although he was by no means a professional sculptor and he never saw real lions in his lifetime， the four stone lions looked like lions. Today， Wu Tingde’s tomb is near the landmark and a bronze statue of the shepherd stands nearby to witness the amazing changes that are taking place rapidly around the center of the great continent.#8194;□