Situated on the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, Yutian County in Hetian Prefecture, Xinjiang, is renowned as the ‘Rose Town.’ Currently, the 70,000 mu of roses in Yutian County are welcoming the harvesting season, with roses blooming vigorously and their fragrance filling the air. Villagers are busy picking roses early in the morning.
Yutian County boasts a long history of desert rose cultivation. In the process of combating desertification, locals have cultivated drought-resistant and adaptable rose varieties. On November 28, 2024, at the final confluence point of the Taklimakan Desert ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ project, locals planted 100,000 rose bushes. After half a year, the survival rate of these rose bushes reached 90%, and they have shown both ecological and economic benefits, flourishing in the desert.
Yutian County has introduced deep-processing industries to extend the industrial chain, developing over 70 products in the food and skincare fields, gradually shifting from rough processing to deep processing. The local cultural and tourism department also leverages the rose industry, creating rose planting, picking experiences, photography, and painting-themed tours, providing better experiences for tourists and achieving a ‘agriculture + ecology + tourism’ integration.
