The Taklimakan Desert in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has seen a bountiful harvest of dates. Plentiful sunlight and the pure, alkaline, sandy soil of the desert make it a perfect place to grow high-quality dates. The cultivation of dates in Xinjiang has a history of nearly 1,000 years.
In Cele County, more than 400 households of farmers have been busy sorting and packing the fruit. In Uygur, "Cele" means red date, so the county is also known as the "Red Date City."
