Urbanization drive
According to official data, there are 37 ethnic groups in Yining. The Uyghur group contains 49 percent of the population; Hui and Hazak holds about 7 and 5 percent, respectively.
Before the urbanization of the city, most minority groups were living as herdsmen and farmers. With the recent development of four big folk tourist districts, many farmers and herdsmen have left their Kazak and Mongolian yurts and old houses to move into newly built houses in tourist areas.
A report conducted by the local government estimated that the urbanization rate in Yining has reached 67 percent so far.
Abutuai Awailibieke is one of the residents in the Yingyeer village, a Kazak tourist district in Yining built a few years ago. He told the Global Times that he used to be a farmer but now runs an agritainment.
The decorations in his new house are in a traditional Kazak style. Moving into a new house, his small Kazak yurt is now a tourist attraction. Pointing at a trestle in the house, he said his family only builds it when there are tourists.
Abutuai said he is satisfied with his life, and he hopes more people can learn about Kazak culture by visiting his agritainment.
Ailibieke Juhongma, the secretary-general of the village said that they plan to move the entire village, a total of more than 2,000 people, to convert the area into a tourist attraction.
Kazanqi tourist district, the largest and oldest tourist district of the four, is modeled as a cultural and economic development project by the local government. Apart from the business center where tourists can buy local food and handicrafts, the homes and gardens of Uyghur residents are open to the public.
Families living in these houses are responsible for showing tourists old customs, such as how young girls groomed their eyebrows in the old days, though many no longer follow these customs.
Based on official statements, the Kazanqi model has provided an extra 800 job openings for the local community.
The hot topic continues of whether the commercialization of folk culture for the tourism industry is a way of preserving tradition or a strategy to capitalize on the olden days.
Source: Global Times
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