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In 1963, writer Wang Meng, then 29, left Beijing for the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, in order to escape the political storm in the capital.
At that time, just before the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), he was already being criticized as a rightist due to his writings.
"It was the right choice. I benefited tremendously from my 16-year stay in the Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture. I am grateful to Xinjiang," he says.
Last month, his novel View of This Side, which is set in Xinjiang, won the Mao Dun Literature Prize, China's top award for literature. The award is given every four years.
The book was written during his stay there but was published in 2013.
The story of how the book came about begins in 1974. Then, Wang, who had not done any writing for 11 years, came across a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about how a person lives life fruitlessly, and he became very anxious.
Encouraged by his wife, Cui Ruifang, who had also traveled to Ili with him, Wang then decided to try and write a novel regardless of the surroundings he was in.
"I told myself that I can't wait anymore. I must write, even if there is no other reader but myself," he says.
The novel, set in Xinjiang, starts with a bizarre theft of grain.
The plot moves on as the mysterious theft is solved layer by layer, offering a unique view of the culture and customs of western China.
It provides an overall picture of modern life in the region and an authentic history of local ethnic groups.
When Wang finished the 705-page novel in 1978, the "cultural revolution" had ended and China was starting to reform and open up.
So Wang felt that the background of the novel was outdated and even a careful two-month revision did not help improve matters.
He felt the novel bore too many marks of the period and so decided to put it aside and move on to other writing.
His stay in Xinjiang also ended then and he returned to Beijing.
In March 2012, Wang's wife Cui died and his children found the manuscript when cleaning the house.
They then took it to Wang and told him that the novel made for great reading, a claim which he did not take seriously.
However, after reading the novel, Wang admitted thar it was good, although with a lot of historical color.
He was moved to tears while reading some parts of it, because "despite the political elements, the novel talks in unprecedented detail about every aspect of life of the 14 ethnic groups.
"It deals with the religious practices, dining, drinking, weddings and dancing of the Uygur, Kazak, Hui and other ethnic groups," he says.
He wrote in the postscript to the novel: "What can live long is not political labels, power symbols, historical climaxes and irresistible political forces. It is life, the people, love and trust. It is the details, the narration, the world."
"I am so lucky that I found the 1960s again, the middle part of my life, just like a steamed fish when you find the middle of the fish, which has the thickest flesh," he writes.
Besides the story, Wang also has comments at the end of each chapter.
During his 16-year stay in Xinjiang, Wang mastered the Uygur language. The novel was conceived in the Uygur language, which gives it a strong local flavor.
Azati Sulitan, chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Writers Association, says that "this is a work that represents all writing by either Han writers or other ethnic writers describing Xinjiang and its people with detail, accuracy, profundity and length."
