📣 ✨ UNFORGETTABLE TRIP ：Apple orchards and cotton fields in Xinjiang.

Such a pity that such great apples are being sold for only 3 yuan per kilogram this year. It's the result of a whole year’s hard work by the farmers.

The joy of apple picking! A local friend took me to an orchard, where the branches were laden with Fuji apples, painting a picture of a bountiful harvest. However, the ground was also covered with fallen apples, some of which had already rotted because they hadn’t been picked in time.

I couldn’t help but wonder, as someone who loves Xinjiang so much, is there something I can do to promote its wonderful specialties? In Zepu County, Kashgar Prefecture, there are 5.97 million French sycamore trees. From Sycamore Parks to Sycamore Avenues, the whole area is filled with them, along with numerous orchards. I learned that a Fuji apple tree doesn’t bear fruit for the first 3–4 years, but once it starts, it can produce fruit for 20–30 years. We also passed by a cotton field, where machines had harvested most of the crop, leaving behind remnants.

Picking cotton by hand earns only 2 yuan per kilogram, and it’s mostly local women working in the fields. I couldn’t help but think that even if I picked cotton for an entire day, it wouldn’t cover the cost of a single breakfast. Here’s a piece of Xinjiang’s long-staple cotton for you!