Hotan jade festival opens in Xinjiang with riverside jade hunts

Since its launch in 2004, the festival has accompanied Hotan's cultural tourism growth, marked by improving infrastructure, rising service quality, and expanding brand influence.

Official figures show that the Hotan prefecture received 16.59 million domestic visits in the first half of 2026, generating 11 billion yuan ($1.62 billion) in tourism expenditure, increasing by 11.01 percent and 11.71 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Xu Xiaolong contributed to this story.