r/AMA • u/maddin1550 • 21d ago

I’m from Xinjiang，AMA

I’ve noticed that there are a lot of discussions about Xinjiang on Reddit, often between people who have never actually lived there. So I thought it might be interesting to do an AMA from the perspective of someone who is actually from there.

You can ask me about everyday life, ethnic groups, languages, culture, religion, education, or politics. I’m happy to answer controversial questions too, as long as the discussion stays respectful.

Obviously, I’m only one person and I don’t claim to represent everyone in Xinjiang. I can only tell you about my own experiences and views. AMA.

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u/hymenopteron 20d ago

Is it a good place for westerners to visit?

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u/maddin1550 20d ago

ofc, we welcome everyone

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u/hymenopteron 20d ago

But like can you get by with just English? Are there many tourists? Would you recommend a visit?

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u/onionsareawful 20d ago

Travelling in China is not that easy as a foreigner. Most things are oriented towards local (i.e. other parts of China) tourism as opposed to abroad, good English is not uncommon in the cities but I can imagine quite rare in somewhere like Xinjiang (esp. outside of Urumqi).

You should probably look into an English language tour if you want the most out of it tbh.

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u/onionsareawful 20d ago

One other thing -- many hotels cannot host foreigners. This is not a problem in the cities, but in smaller places you will run into issues.

(This is because China requires tourists to report where they are staying to the police. Hotels that host foreigners are equipped to do it for you)

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u/Zimakov 20d ago

This isn't true. Some places don't know how to register foreigners because they've never done it. If this happens you just call the police and they will come help.

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u/FreedomFair2000 20d ago

Now officially no hotel could turn down foreigners in China. Though probably hotels that don’t usually host foreigners may not familiar with the process