Xinjiang education efforts expanding

URUMQI: Roxianguli, an 8th grader from Urumqi No 66 Middle School, began to bargain in fluent Mandarin to get a higher price for the grapes in her father's field last year.

"My family earned more than other families in my village because I can speak Mandarin fluently," the little girl said with a smile.

She is among the 15,000 ethnic minority students from underdeveloped areas such as Kashgar in Xinjiang who receive free education in the region's developed cities.