Xinjiang trip eye-opener for Japan's first tour group

After traveling some 4,100 kilometers, Osaka resident Youshi Yamazoe finally got a taste of the saying "One eyewitness weighs more than 10 hearsays".

As a member of the first tour group from Japan to visit China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region after the COVID-19 pandemic, Yamazoe was excited and astonished by how Xinjiang, once affected by ethnic separatists, religious extremists and violent terrorists, has made great strides in development, becoming a hub of economic growth and cultural diversity.

"It is completely unimaginable that so many brutal and bloody terrorist attacks had happened on this peaceful and tranquil land before," Yamazoe said after visiting an anti-terrorism exhibition in Urumqi on Tuesday.