About Josh

Welcome to Xinjiang! My name is Josh and I'm the guy behind most all of the articles and pictures you'll see on this site.  Since you're on this page and reading it's obvious you actually care to know more about who I am, so here's a quick summary.

I'm a 26 year old American who has spent the last 3 years of his life living in Xinjiang with his wife.  I graduated from university with a degree in music business but I have somehow found myself teaching English on the other side of the world.  It's crazy how life does that, you know?

When I first arrived here in China I couldn't speak a lick of Mandarin and probably wouldn't have been able to point out Xinjiang on a map.  Fast forward three years: my Chinese is conversational and my knowledge of Xinjiang is daily expanding.  Every chance we get my wife and I pack up our backpacks and hit another part of this province that we've never seen before.

I spend much of my free time now writing about Xinjiang, both here and on various other travel websites.  I recently finished working with DK Publishing in London, editing and contributing to the Xinjiang/Silk Road portion of their China: Eyewitness Travel Guide (2010 edition).  My personal library consists of a few Xinjiang history books in my attempt to better understand the area which I now call home. 

It all boils down to the fact that I have come to love this province and want desperately to help overcome the misunderstanding that both China and the world have of Xinjiang and it's people.  Most news that makes it out of China about this area is negative, so I want to use FarWestChina to present a side of western China that is (mostly) free from political comentary and focused on the lighter, more common side of surviving out here in the land of huge mountains and vast deserts.

Chances are you haven't heard much about Xinjiang, and if that's so I welcome you to read over my "Introduction to Xinjiang" page.

If you're interested in contacting me for with a question or information, please refer to my contact page.  Thanks for checking out the website and I hope you continue to enjoy!