Stargazing event promotes dark sky tourism in Hami

This summer, Xinjiang is ablaze with tourism fervor, attracting visitors from across the country to explore its diverse landscapes and vibrant cultural heritage.

While the majority of visitors have gravitated toward Altay, Ili, or Kashgar, the three most sought-after destinations in Xinjiang, other cities and prefectures in the Uygur autonomous region have been striving to capture a larger portion of the flourishing market.

Among these locales, Hami in the eastern part of Xinjiang stands out as a destination that has opted for an innovative approach to enhance its reputation among tourists. In the past three years, the prefecture with an area of more than 137,000 square kilometers — slightly smaller than Shandong province — has used stargazing as a way to promote its rich tourism resources.

While the Perseids meteor shower peaked during the second weekend of August in the past three years, the government of Hami prefecture cooperated with China Image Group and the China StarVision Alliance, a platform for nearly 1,000 Chinese astronomy photographers and businesses related to dark sky tourism, to organize an annual festival, titled "Sweet Whispers to the Galaxy".