Lavender park brings economic, social development in NW China’s Xinjiang

Photo shows the lavender flower sea in the national modern agricultural industrial park in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Chang Sha)

A national modern agricultural industrial park in northwest China is working to build itself into a popular destination, with stunning natural scenery and people living and working in contentment.

Covering a total area of 60,000 mu (about 4,000 hectares), the park in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, boasts the world’s largest single-planting area of lavender, a world-leading fully automatic essential oil continuous distillation production line, and a starry sky RV campsite.

It has developed various business formats such as agriculture and forestry planting, deep processing of agricultural products, and leisure tourism in accordance with local conditions, achieving a deep integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries.

The park also provides abundant jobs to people in the surrounding countryside, with the number of working opportunities exceeding 200,000 per year. Last year, it received a total of about 300,000 tourist visits and generated a combined output value of 330 million yuan (about $45.48 million), turning a place that was previously deserted into an oasis of prosperity.

Intern Xing Yawen contributed to this story.

Photo shows the only tree left before the national modern agricultural industrial park was built, in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Chang Sha)

Photo shows the lavender flower sea in the national modern agricultural industrial park in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Chang Sha)

Photo shows the lavender flower sea in the national modern agricultural industrial park in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Chang Sha)

Tourists take photos of the lavender flower sea in the national modern agricultural industrial park in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Chang Sha)

Tourists take photos of the lavender flower sea in the national modern agricultural industrial park in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Chang Sha)

Workers process dried lavender flowers at a lavender essential oil processing workshop in the national modern agricultural industrial park in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Rong)

Photo shows essential oil products produced in the national modern agricultural industrial park in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Rong)

Photo shows food products produced in the national modern agricultural industrial park in Yining county, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Rong)