An aerial view of a junction on the 522-kilometer-long highway that cuts through the Taklimakan Desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [HU HUHU/XINHUA] Hard work has made Tazhong, the 'center of the desert', green and vibrant As the sun slowly descends and the Taklimakan Desert begins to cool, things start heating up in Tazhong, a small settlement in the far-western wilderness. Wisps of smoke are seen curling from chimneys, and restaurants heave with weary travelers and hungry workers. At 337,000 square kilometers, the Taklimakan, deep in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is China's largest desert - known across the country as the sea of death. In the Uygur tongue, its name means go in and you won't come out. Trading posts once dotted the inhospitable land, offering refuge to caravans and adventurers on the ancient Silk Road. But Tazhong, whose name means center of the desert, did not bear witness to those ancient travelers. It was not formally established until 2015, after rising out of the dust when the world's longest desert highway opened to traffic in 1995. The 522-km-long highway brought residents and life to the Taklimakan. Later, oil workers came to exploit deposits hidden under the dunes. In a small restaurant, Li Jiansheng fries vegetables grown 300 km away. He left his hometown in Sichuan province to start a new life in Tazhong more than two decades ago. When he started work as a waiter in the restaurant, Tazhong was a dusty, barren land with no greenery. Over 20 years, he has seen saxaul and rose willow grow and flourish. He has turned his tiny home into a two-story house and now owns the restaurant. wristbands canadacustom silicone bracelets canadarubber bracelets canadasilicone bracelets canadasilicone wristbands canadacustom wristbands canadacanadian wristbandswristbands canada
BEIJING - People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should jointly work for the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and advance the process toward the peaceful reunification of China, a spokesperson said Wednesday.The one-China principle is the political foundation of cross-Straits relations, said Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference.He stressed that realizing China's complete reunification is the shared aspiration of all Chinese people and is in the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation.Many policies and propositions raised in a Message to Taiwan Compatriots, which was issued 40 years ago, have become a reality, Ma said.The statement was issued by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the first day of 1979, proclaiming major policies and principles of the peaceful reunification of China.The meeting between leaders from across the Taiwan Strait in 2015 was a landmark that consolidated and deepened the political foundation of cross-Strait relations, Ma said.He called on people on both sides of the Strait to uphold the 1992 Consensus and oppose Taiwan independence under current situation.
