A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

"Let's not argue."

Guzalinur spoke, her voice not loud, but it made everyone stop, "Aihmaiti, go and thoroughly understand the terms and risks of the platform plan."

Reyina, come with me to Kumuxi Village. We won't rush the delivery; we'll just go take a look and chat.

Azgul, calculate the cost and profit of all our products, especially the value of the handcrafted parts, and make a chart.

She stood up: "We need to figure out first what can be changed and what absolutely cannot be changed. Only after we understand this will we know which way to go."

Chang Peng is also facing considerable trouble.

His "Cultural and Creative Industry College" model has caught the attention of the Education Department of the Autonomous Region, which plans to promote it throughout Xinjiang.

He became a traveling lecturer, and his first stop was three vocational colleges in southern Xinjiang.

But after just one lap, problems erupted.

The dean of Kashgar Vocational College said with a long face: "Teacher Chang, we have followed your course and the cultural and creative products made by the students are quite beautiful, but local companies take a look and say they are not practical and cannot be sold."

Our main products here are wood carvings and pottery, which are combined with tourist souvenirs. Your brand story feels a bit out of place here.

A teacher from Hotan Vocational College was even more direct: "We don't even have a decent cultural and creative company here."

A practical training project? It's a simulation. Who will the students sell their finished products to? They've lost all motivation!

The principal in Altay also complained, "Our grassland culture and nomadic crafts are fundamental; you insist on promoting digital cultural and creative industries, which is met with resistance from both teachers and students!"

Teacher Li, while conducting research, saw that some students had altered the Atlas pattern beyond recognition. She became furious at the symposium: "Innovation is not about doing things recklessly! You don't even understand the basic principles and you're just making changes blindly."

Chang Peng, you're turning our culture into a hodgepodge!

The two had their most intense argument yet.

That evening, however, Teacher Li knocked on Chang Peng's door, carrying several yellowed notebooks with worn edges.

"This is something I learned from a master craftsman when I went to the countryside in the 1980s, and I copied it stroke by stroke."

Li Guohua spread his notebook on the table. It was covered with neat hand-drawn patterns and dense annotations. "Some of the patterns are no longer recognized by anyone. And some of the nuances are even less known to young people."

Chang Peng looked at the notes and fell silent.

Teacher Li lowered her voice: "I spoke impulsively during the day, but I was in a hurry."

It's not that we can't change it, it's that we can't change it arbitrarily. Without roots, even the best innovation is just a floating duckweed.

That night, the two talked until late.

A few days later, at the project discussion meeting, Chang Peng pushed a stack of brand-new proposal materials onto the table and said bluntly, "The new proposal is out. It's called the 'Basic Module + Featured Module' Flexible System."

Teacher Li picked up her reading glasses, put them on, and carefully examined the contents.

The first few pages contain basic modules, which are implemented uniformly throughout Xinjiang, including intellectual property rights protection, brand infrastructure construction, and e-commerce operation basics—essential survival skills that he and his team have summarized through years of hard work.

Scroll down to the next section, which is called "Featured Modules".

The southern Xinjiang region focuses on combining traditional crafts such as wood carving, pottery, and metal forging with the emerging homestay tourism; while the northern Xinjiang region emphasizes grassland leather and felt products, deeply integrating them with ecotourism routes.

Each region can "order" its own services based on its own resources, instead of rigidly applying the same template.

Chang Peng added from the side: "We also set up a pairing assistance program."

Vocational schools in Urumqi are connecting with Hotan to help link them with business resources; arrangements have also been made in Dalian to establish a cross-regional digital laboratory, providing technical support and testing for cross-provincial sales channels.

Teacher Li's gaze lingered on the last page.

His new task was written there: based on his several large notebooks filled with dense notes, he would take the lead in compiling "Xinjiang Ethnic Pattern Application Specifications (Teaching Edition)" as the core teaching material for the special module.

"This time it's finally working, right?" Chang Peng's tone was both tentative and expectant.

Teacher Li took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Those notes are the culmination of his decades of visiting villages, collecting patterns, and recording their meanings; the pages are yellowed and the edges are worn.

He never imagined that these things would one day become teaching materials, let alone that he would be in charge of them.

"Teacher Chang, we're feeling our way across the river by touching the stones."

Chang Peng was stunned for a moment.

Teacher Li gently placed the plan back on the table and continued, "But this method is still better than the previous one-size-fits-all approach."

At least, artisans in southern Xinjiang don't have to force themselves to learn felt making, and herders in northern Xinjiang don't have to be forced to learn pottery.

"I'll take on the matter of the pattern teaching materials."

But I have one requirement: we need to find a few truly knowledgeable veteran artists to help with the editing.

Patterns are not just designs; they tell stories and represent rules, and we must not teach them incorrectly.

Chang Peng immediately nodded: "You don't need to worry about manpower or funding, I'll take care of that."

"Let's do it then. These things have been lying around for half their lives; it's time they saw the light of day."

When Guzalinur and Reyina arrived at Kumuxi Village, they didn't go directly to the person in charge, but instead visited several villagers' homes first.

Watching them rush to work while complaining about their tired eyes and sore hands, but their eyes lit up when they talked about what they could buy for their homes with this income.

Guzaili didn't criticize, but simply took out some of Grandma Aysham's early embroidered masterpieces and put them together with this batch of hastily made goods.

"Auntie, which of these two would you prefer to keep and pass on to your granddaughter?"

The villagers watched, and no one said a word.

Upon returning, Guzalinur made a risky decision: to suspend the order for Kumuxi Village and recall the problematic products.

At the same time, a tiered certification system for artisans was launched: artisans like Grandma Aisham were designated as "top-level artisans," with their processing fees increased by 30%. Each product comes with a unique QR code, which can be scanned to see who made it and how it was made.

In the short term, orders dropped, and some fellow villagers switched to other companies.

But Guzalinur discovered that the core customers who remained had a higher repurchase rate, leaving a message saying, "This is the kind of dedication we want."

On Chang Peng's side, feedback began to improve after the new plan was implemented.

A Bluetooth speaker featuring earthenware musical instruments, designed by students in Kashgar and incorporating local characteristics, was surprisingly popular during a trial sale in a tourist area.

Teacher Li's course, "Xinjiang Stories in Patterns," has become one of the most popular courses.