Then he had trudged from oasis to oasis round the Taklamakan Desert to Kashgar.

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Economic reforms are beginning to penetrate China's most remote outposts, cities such as Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan.

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From Kashgar it followed the valley of the Ghez into the mountains.

BBC: Following the Silk Road to the end of China

Perhaps even more important may prove the role of Kashgar, which was designated last year as the Special Economic Zone.

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This, they hope, will enable it to cash in on the boom now being enjoyed by Kashgar, 490km along the new line to the north-west.

ECONOMIST: Xinjiang

On Friday, about 3, 000 Muslims attended a weekly prayer themed at "peace and harmony" at Id Kah Mosque in the city of Kashgar, according to Xinhua news agency.

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Kashgar is rapidly becoming a Chinese city like many others.

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By 1999, China's rail system should be extended to Kashgar.

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Kashgar, they say, is to become a trading hub and manufacturing centre that will tap markets in South and Central Asia and even Europe with a web of new roads and railways.

ECONOMIST: Xinjiang