Mountain Lab

OBOR could see an extension of China’s Xinjiang strategy.

- MATHEW T. GEORGE/Urumqi, Hami & Beijing

A Hami melon is so much like Xinjiang. A white filigree runs over its yellow rind. So much like a map, or like the pattern on a bottle of Old Monk rum. And, under the melon’s intriguing skin lies pale yellow bliss. The melon is a gift of the desert. So is Xinjiang, the province that hides much under its skin.

A string of high-altitude oases, this province lies at the heart of China’s One Belt One Road initiative. Look out of the window before the aircraft descends into Urumqi, and see a land painted in varying shades of grey. The retiring sun smears gold on the snow capped crags of the Tian Shan range. And, then, Urumqi. A flash of green. A blaze on the horizon.

Urumqi is more than a city on the ancient Silk Route. It is a conversation between cultures, between time. Uyghur Muslims make up close to 46 per cent of the province, but there are many more ethnicities in the mosaic. Just as Perth is the world’s most remote city, Urumqi is the city farthest from the sea. And, it is the ‘heart’ of Asia. Twenty-five kilometres from Urumqi, stands an 18m tower to mark the geographical centre of the continent. Of course, such a marker does not go uncontested. The Russians say the heart of Asia lies in Kyzyl, in the Tyva Republic.

However, Urumqi’s remoteness does not put it too far from Beijing. Everything, from architecture to infrastructure and agriculture, has a Beijing touch. For example, here, the sunset is at around 9pm, Beijing Time. Beijing goes to work at around 8am, and, to compensate, Urumqi clocks in at 10am.