The Women of Xinjiang

Believe you me, these are the women of Xinjiang Autonomous Region in China. Located in Central Asia, the ethnic minorities comprise half of Xinjiang's population. The other half being Han Chinese. Although they don't look Chinese, they are Chinese citizens and most of them speak flawless Mandarin. I remembered asking one Uygur woman if she speaks Putonghua (Mandarin) and she proudly told me, "Hui, wo shi Zhongguo ren ma."

The majority of the ethnic groups are Uygurs, followed by Kazakhs, Hui then the Kirzigs, Mongolians and Tajiks. There are nine million Uygurs in Xinjiang. Islam is a dominant religion amongst the ethnic minorities. Xinjiang is where the Silk Route traversed.