Tourism trumps terrorism in Xinjiang

Local Uygur women greet visitors with dancing and singing in Turpan, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Fun is fighting fear in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

It's winning.

Or, you could say, terror is losing.

Xinjiang's tourism, which crashed in 2014 because of terrorist attacks, has begun to recover this year, the regional tourism bureau says. It had fallen 40 percent between May 2013 and May 2014.

More than 7.2 million domestic travelers visited Xinjiang in the first three months of 2015, representing a 9 percent year-on-year increase. The region also attracted 256,300 foreign tourists during the period.

Visits to Xinjiang during this year's three-day May Day holiday increased more than 11 percent year-on-year, the bureau's figures show. Xinhua News Agency reports many Xinjiang destinations enjoyed a 30 percent annual increase during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival in early June. The Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture's government reported an 80 percent year-on-year surge during the Dragon Boat holiday.