Interviewing an agriculture expert at the rice paddies of the Xinjiang Tianye (Group) Co., Ltd. at Shihezi, Xinjiang on Friday, July 11, 2014. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my

Once upon a time in Xinjiang, there were black bears, sabertooth tigers and beautiful blue feathered peacocks.

Today, we explored the natural history of Xinjiang at the Shihezi University's History Museum. The museum has five floors and each floor has displays of different organisms. For example, the first floor has birds and beast. The second floor houses the creepy crawlies - beetles, spiders, ants and etc. The third floor is plants and the fourth floor is a display of the human history of Xinjiang, which spans hundreds of years right up to the early 20th century. There were portraits of the Chinese emperors who tried and conquered the region and furniture from 1920s and 1930s. The fifth floor tells the local history of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

To me, the most interesting display is that of a mummy found in the desert around Shihezi. The mummy is estimated to be approximately two thousand years old and an archaeologist at the university said it was probably once a rich farmer. The mummy, believed to be female, was found entombed in what looks like a tree trunk which the local academics guessed is probably some form of a coffin. To preserve the mummy and to prevent further damage being inflicted upon it, the experts sealed it in an airtight glass case so this thousand year old corpse could be viewed by the public.

A XPCC Love Story

The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, or the XPCC, was established in 1954 and since then, women and men had worked alongside each other to develop the agricultural industry in the region. Working with each other for more than 12 hours every day, it is inevitable that some would fall in love.

In 1952, a 22-year-old young man named Lu Zhen-ou  fell in love with a 16-year-old girl who was assigned to his regiment. Their story was atypical of the time. Unlike marriages of the XPCC at the time, which was assigned or arranged by authorities, Mr. Lu and his wife actually fell in love and courted each other before getting married.

He first saw her in a dancing troop and was enchanted by her. But, circumstances separated them into different areas of Xinjiang. After two long and arduous years, the girl Mr. Lu once fell in love with returned to him. They got married and had three kids and has been in Xinjiang ever since.