Although it was still snowing in late February in northwestern China, an early spring breeze was slowly making its way across the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

As part of the ASEAN Elites China Tour 2019 sponsored by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China, 11 editors, journalists and producers from Indonesian and Malaysian news outlets,alongside China Report ASEAN journalists, set out on a tour of Xinjiang.

They traveled from the region's capital city Urumqi to Hotan and Kashgar, two ancient oasis cities in southern Xinjiang, and Atushi, capital of Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern Xinjiang. They visited local enterprises, families, mosques, markets, education and training centers and more places, where they interviewed government officials, housewives, imams, businessmen and trainees. With this visit, they absorbed the unique traditional cultures of different ethnic groups and witnessed the economic, social and cultural developments taking place there.