By Guangming Daily Research Team

　　Foreword

　　Photo taken on Oct. 9, 2021 shows the golden autumn scenery of the Eastern Tianshan Mountains in Barkol County, Hami City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Guangming Picture)

　　A fresh breeze brushes the vast pasture, taking the aromas of milk, tea and wine to places far away, together with the scent of soil, neighing of horses, and the songs of shepherds.

　　The grassland is a place of paramount beauty tourists yearn for, and a beautiful home where multiple ethnic groups live and work together.

　　So, what potential and vitality does a place like this hold? And what are the stories that it can tell? Unless through in-depth communication with the locals, one may never unveil the mystery of these magnificent grasslands.

　　To this end, Guangming Daily sent research teams to five Chinese regions famous for vast pastures: Xinjiang, Qinghai, Ti bet, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu.

　　From today on, the teams' findings will be compiled into the On the Wild Pasture series, and present to our readers the most authentic stories from the grasslands.

　　Herds of cattle and sheep are seen on the Barkol grasslands in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sept 12, 2021. (Photo/Guangming Picture)

　　Lo and behold, this is Xinjiang in autumn:

　　In the endless golden yellow of Kurustai grassland, sheep are fat and cattle are strong; in the Grape Valley at the foot of the Huoyan Mountain, crystal “pearls” and purple “agates” get crowded on the vines; in the wilderness of Atushi grassland, ripe figs sway in the wind, and the wind kisses the boundless verdant waves; and in Kashgar, branches of pomegranate trees in small village yards are bent by heavy fruits ...

　　In July, Communist Party of China General Secretary Xi Jinping paid a visit to Xinjiang, where he told teachers and students, villagers, and community residents that “We (people of different ethnic groups) should be like pomegranate seeds”. Before he even finished this line, from the crowd of hundreds burst out the loud reply of “Bonding Together”.

　　The smiling faces of the crowd attest to this vivid analogy. Yes, the peace, stability and vitality that people see in today’s Xinjiang derive from the strength of ethnic unity.

　　In Xinjiang, the Guangming Daily Research Team witnessed first-hand the profound changes driven by the CPC’s governance strategy in the new era.