My first encounter with Xinjiang was at a family-run ethnic restaurant in Dongguan where a student’s family took me for lunch more than 20 years ago. As you can see in this 2019 video “My Favorite Restaurant”, Bao Bing Yang Rou was my first restaurant. All my introductions to this region were before I visited Xinjiang.
challenging western stories
Over the years, I have seen many Western headlines about Xinjiang. Having lived in China for over 10 years, I found such reports hard to believe. In April 2021, I decided to take a trip to Xinjiang with my wife and a friend. Our goal was to counter the prevailing narrative by demonstrating that anyone is free to visit and record their experiences. These are the videos I made at that time.
Since then, I have created more than 30 videos about Xinjiang, exploring various aspects of the Western narrative about the region. On a five-month RV road trip in 2023, he covered more than 15,000 kilometers and visited more than 40 locations while posting videos. I can’t say if I’ve changed anything, but it’s clear that my content is subject to censorship on Western social media platforms. The Western mainstream media has little interest in my story, and the recent appropriation of $1.6 billion by the US Senate to smear China has reignited the same old debunked allegations.
The limits of popular content in Xinjiang
With China’s recent relaxation of visa policies, more bloggers are visiting Xinjiang. Unfortunately, many of them have time or budget constraints that force them to focus on the same three popular destinations: the Grand Bazaar, the ancient city of Kashgar, and the food market of Hotan. This is exactly the itinerary I followed on my first trip of 2021.
“Xinjiang Disney” myth
Western NGOs have coined the term “Xinjiang Disney” to falsely imply that tourists are restricted from exploring Xinjiang. Unintentionally, popular video creators reinforce this false narrative by repeatedly showcasing the same limited set of locations.
A call for responsible content creation
I don’t have a solution to this dilemma, but I condemn the exploitation of the Xinjiang struggle for clickbait by some bloggers. Although they may draw interest to the region, it can have a huge impact on the lives of the people we care about, so we ask all who visit Xinjiang to decide how to portray Xinjiang. I believe that visitors share the responsibility.
For my part, I will continue to work hard to fight disinformation. I recently created my website and new social media accounts (mediawithoutmeans.org) to collaborate with journalists around the world to tell untold stories. We are pleased to announce that we will be participating in an international forum organized by Centro Social Gómez Gaioso in Galicia, Spain next month. I was invited to give a presentation and Q&A on Xinjiang.
Together we can continue to create tomorrow’s Xinjiang.
The author is a commentator from Colombia.
The views do not necessarily represent those of China Daily.
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