people!
             of Xin Jiang and worked on their farms. Eventually, after the Chinese relations with foreign countries improved, he was able to come out of hiding and find work at government factories and farms. It was then that he met my mother.
             The history of Xin Jiang is a turbulent one. It's story stretches from before the time of the silk-road to modern day. It has all the makings of a fairy-tale or a Hollywood movie, with despotic rulers, war, exotic locations, heroes, and redemption. The point in time I want to focus on is from Xin Jiang in the 1940's to Xin Jiang today. In the past 40 years it has undergone tremendous change and advancements in agriculture and industry. I want to explore how these changes happened and what the results are. I also want to talk about the personal experiences of the people who lived in Xin Jiang and witnessed these changes and what they think of what has happened.
             For centuries China was ruled by emperors and the power kept transferring, dynasty-to-dynasty, undisturbed. This was to end in the 1900's, however. Since the 1840's, profound economic and social changes had taken place in China. Most notable of these changes was the development of a new middle class of merchants and industrial entrepreneurs. As this middle class grew, they wanted a government more in tune with their needs and who protected their interests. (Chen) Soon, the dynasties were overthrown, and China went through a series of different leaders before the Communist government was instated and it became The People's Republic of China.
             Another facet of the Xin Jiang story is that Xin Jiang was comprised mostly of ethnic minorities when it became assimilated into the Communist government. The Urguys, Tadjiks, Kazakhs, Huis, and others lived in the region, and all spoke different languages. When people from inland China started migrating to Xin Jiang, they faced language and cultural...