It involved, as amply documented on this platform, a six-week RV roadtrip through Xinjiang during which I posted so relentlessly that I suspect several of you muted me somewhere around day six, and are only reading this now because someone told you the ordeal was finally over 😅

More seriously, I did what unfortunately all too few writers do these days when writing about a topic: I genuinely went deep.

Not only did I travel almost everywhere in Xinjiang and spoke with hundreds of people in the process, but I also spent a further 10 days afterwards in Urumqi - the province's capital - to engage with the local intelligentsia (journalists, university professors, public servants both junior and senior, XPCC/Bingtuan executives, businessmen, etc.) to get as accurate a read on the place as I could.

Meanwhile, when back in Urumqi after our roadtrip, I placed my 2 daughters in a holiday camp with local Uyghur kids - learning as a result something no discussion with an adult could ever tell me: what life is actually like for Uyghur kids in today's China.

On top of all this, I read widely and voraciously. The academic historians - Brophy, Gladney, Rudelson. The UN reports. But also books like Li Juan's wonderful Winter Pasture, a Chinese writer's account of living through a winter with Kazakh nomads in the Altay region.

The end result is an 8,000-word article that, I hope you'll agree, does something no article on Xinjiang has done in a very long time: treats the place and its people with the depth they deserve.

Maybe uncharacteristic for me, I don't shy away from the uncomfortable parts - on either side. I write about the omnipresent police checkpoints and the institutional paranoia as candidly as I write about the breathtaking shallowness and lies of the Western discourse on the topic.

If you're looking for propaganda - whether pro or anti-China - you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for honesty and nuance, however, I think you'll like it.

Zhu Rongji, Engineer of China’s Economic Overhaul, Dies at 97

The former premier steered China toward Western market principles and championed its entry into the World Trade Organization

• Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who steered China toward Western market principles and championed its entry into the WTO, has died at age 97.
• As vice premier and premier, Zhu tamed 27% inflation, slashed the currency’s value by one-third and laid off tens of millions of people.
• Zhu fused international market principles with domestic realities to create a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.

Through a small restaurant, the film captures a powerful truth: In times of war, ordinary people may feel powerless, but small moments of warmth: A shared meal, a friendship, a child's smile, keep hope alive and remind us of the value of peace.
Released today, the film has already attracted more than 5 million viewers. A story rooted in conflict, yet reminding us all to cherish peace. Worth a watch. 🎬 (Photos: IC Photo)