Uyghur village official models for melon harvest (11)

Yueriguli, a 28-year-old Uyghur official in a village in northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, agreed to model for photos taken of the local melon harvest in order to help boost sales. Tangnuer Village, where she works, sits at the intersection of Taklamakan Desert and the Tarim Basin. With a fragile ecology plagued by strong winds, sandstorms and drought, local villagers rely heavily on the melon harvest.

After graduating from Xinjiang University in 2012, Yueriguli has been working with the Bachu county-level bureau on agricultural equipment management. She offered to work in Tangnuer Village in 2016, as her father used to work in the poorest village in Bachu County.

“The melons have been harvested. They have been hard to sell recently due to transportation issues. I hope that by modeling with the melons, I can help them to sell better,” the young woman said. (Photo/Courtesy of Photographer Zhang Yi)