Luke Johnston, a Ph.D candidate from the UK, studying at Shanghai Jiaotong University, has visited Xinjiang three times over the past six years.

He said his initial motivation for going to Xinjiang was not because of its snow-capped mountains and grasslands, "but because of curiosity around headlines in Western media."

In 2021, the vlogger bought a return plane ticket, with the aim of going to some tourist sites in just a few days. But, once he arrived there, he found that what he saw and experienced was beyond his expectations.

In Xinjiang, he saw lively music festivals, vibrant night markets, and bars bustling with energetic Gen Z and tourists from around the world.

The Grand Bazaar in Urumqi was incredibly vibrant: food delivery workers at dawn, retired elderly people enjoying their time in the afternoons, street performers at night -- streets still brightly lit at four or five in the morning. In Kashgar, there are folk performances, content creators and live streamers everywhere. He even casually chatted with a police officer on the street, asking him in Uyghur how to celebrate the Eid al-Adha. 

He marveled that Xinjiang is so open, completely different from how it is portrayed in Western propaganda.