China urbanization series: Western regions

More than a century ago, American settlers followed the call to go west.
And Chinese settlers have done it, too. They’ve gone west into sparsely populated areas – like Tibet and Xinjiang. By some counts, Han Chinese settlers now outnumber the natives in both places. The Chinese government sees this as an effort to tame China’s West and to integrate it into China’s booming economy. The World’s Mary Kay Magistad continues our series on China’s urbanization in the western Chinese city of Xining.

All photos: Mary Kay Magistad