Mandarin skills open doors for people in Kashgar

Abulikem Pida was having a debate in Mandarin with several other villagers on which is better - working at home or in bigger cities. It was to improve his language ability.

Abulikem, 40, who lives in Innakash, a poor village in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, realized the importance of language in his business and wanted to improve his Mandarin skills.

Abulikem worked in a restaurant in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, for a year and a half and could practice on the job.