Leaving Urumqi, along the Lianhuo Expressway, continue to the northwest for more than 150 kilometers, we came to the "Gobi Pearl" known as the New City of Nongken, Shihezi City.
When shihezi is mentioned, it is impossible not to mention the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which was once the headquarters of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and later the headquarters of the corps was moved to Urumqi.
As early as 2,000 years ago in the early Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu tribes rose up and constantly attacked the Han Territory, and the Han Wudi Emperor Liu Che decided to "pass through the western region to break the right arm of the Xiongnu" in order to eliminate hidden dangers. To this end, he sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions twice to strengthen ties with the Western Regions and jointly deal with the Xiongnu. In 103 BC, the Han Dynasty stationed troops in Tuntian in the western regions of Luntai and Qu ploughs, and placed emissaries under the command of lieutenants. At this time, there was an internal strife on the Xiongnu side, and the Japanese king Xianxian, who was in charge of the Western Regions, led more than 10,000 people to surrender to the Han Dynasty, and the Xiongnu's ruling power in the Western Regions also collapsed, so in 60 BC, the Western Han Dynasty established the Western Regions Capital Protectorate, and Shihezi was under its jurisdiction.
During the Western Han Dynasty, with the establishment of the Western Regions Capital Protectorate and the opening of the Silk Road, the social and economic development of the Western Regions was greatly promoted. The crops flax, broad beans, pomegranates, garlic, grapes, alfalfa, etc. in the western region have been introduced to the interior one after another, and the Dawan horse, Wusun horse, and various furs, which are known as "Tianma", have also been continuously introduced to the Central Plains. At the same time, silk from the interior also spread to the West through the Western Regions.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Western Regions Capital Protection was also set up. In the third year of the Tang Dynasty (658 AD), after the rebellion of Ashina Helu was put down, ShiHezi was subordinate to the Anxi Capital Protectorate, and after the establishment of the Beiting Capital Protectorate, it was transferred to its jurisdiction. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the Hexi Corridor was blocked until the rebellion of Dzungar Khan was quelled in the 22nd year of the Qianlong Dynasty (1757 AD).
In October 1954, the central authorities ordered most of the Second and Sixth Armies of the People's Liberation Army stationed in Xinjiang, most of the Fifth Army, and all of the Twenty-second Corps to collectively transfer jobs on the spot and form the "Production and Construction Corps of the Xinjiang Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army." The corps thus began to be regularized, and the construction of state-run agricultural and pastoral regimental farms was transformed from the army to enterprise-oriented production, and the total population of the corps at that time was 175,500.
After more than 60 years of hard work by several generations of corpsmen, Shihezi, located in the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and the southern part of the Junggar Basin, with an area of 460 square kilometers, has developed from a vast Gobi Desert into a new agricultural reclamation city with a population of 659,000, a GDP of 53.789 billion, and complete urban functions. At the same time, as of 2020, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has also developed to 14 divisions (cities) under its jurisdiction, with a GDP of 290.514 billion yuan.
Here, I am very grateful to the laborers of all ethnic groups who have worked for the motherland and built a beautiful Xinjiang.