When Anna was planning her first visit to Xinjiang in 2015, her friends were perplexed. They couldn't understand why I'd visit a place that back then was considered one of China's most dangerous areas. One of her friends pulled out of the trip and started ghosting her on WeChat, said the 35-year-old Chinese national, who did not want to reveal her real name. She said her parents forbade her from going anywhere near Xinjiang and did not want to engage further. Anna went anyway, and returned this June. But it had changed, she says. Xinjiang was as beautiful as I remember it, but there are far too many tourists now, especially at the major attractions. For years, Xinjiang had bristled under Beijing's rule, sometimes erupting into violence, which kept many domestic Chinese tourists away. Then it became infamous for some of the worst allegations of Chinese authoritarianism, from the detention of more than a million Uyghur Muslims in so-called re-education camps, to claims of crimes against humanity, by the United Nations. China denies the allegations, but the region is largely cut off to international media and observers, while Uyghurs in exile continue to recount stories of terrified or disappeared relatives. In recent years Xinjiang has emerged as a tourist destination – within China and, increasingly, outside of the country. Beijing has pumped in billions of dollars to develop infrastructure, help produce TV dramas set in its unusual landscapes, and has occasionally welcomed foreign media on carefully orchestrated tours. It has been repackaging the controversial region into a tourist haven, touting not just its beauty but also the very local ethnic experiences that rights groups say it is trying to erase. Stretched across China's north-west, Xinjiang borders eight countries and is located along the historic Silk Road, which fueled trade between the East and West for centuries.