Journalists to set off on "new pilgrimage to the west"

More than 70 Chinese journalists from evening newspapers will embark next week on a "new pilgrimageto the west" along the original route trekked by a Chinese monk over 1,300 years ago, for the purpose of publicizing western China.

Monk Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) went on a pilgrimage for Buddhist scriptures, along the ancient Silk Road, to India in 627 A.D. and returned to Chang'an (present day Xi'an, capital of northwest Shaanxi Province), then the capital of the Tang Dynasty, 18 years later.

Based on the story of Xuanzang's pilgrimage, Wu Cheng'en, a writer of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) wrote the famous novel "Pilgrimage to the West", dubbed as one of the four Chinese classics.

Xie Peng, deputy head of the China Evening News Working Staff Association, organizer of the "pilgrimage", said China's western regions boast rich natural and cultural resources, many of which remain unknown to both domestic and overseas people.

The "pilgrimage" was designed to let more people have a better understanding of the western region through their reports on economic, social and cultural progresses and changes in the western region, Xie said.

The journey would also be made to commemorate the spirit of monk Xuanzang in overcoming difficulties to achieve his objectives,Xie said.

The journalists will begin the first phase of their journey at Xi'an on May 20 and expect to arrive in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, on June 5.

On the way they will travel through major cities and historicalsites in Gansu Province such as Tianshui, Lanzhou, Wuwei, Zhangye,Jiayu Pass on the Great Wall and Dunhuang, and some places like Turpan and Gaochang in Xinjiang, finishing the journey by car.

The journalists are now planning the second phase of the "pilgrimage" for next year, when they expect to leave for India from Urumqi on May 5 and return to China 20 days later, according Xie.