SEARCHES of “Where to go in Xinjiang in April?” have increased 275 percent in the last 24 hours, according to Chinese tourism platform mafengwo.com on Thursday. Other Xinjiang-related keywords are getting increasing attention on the tourism platform. Searches for “Xinjiang travel guide” rose 74 percent, and searches about self-guided tours to the Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture also doubled. Topics about “travel searches in Xinjiang have nearly tripled” became trends on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform. Enjoying the blossoming apricot flowers has become one of the selling points of Xinjiang’s spring tourism. As the hashtag “I support Xinjiang cotton” went viral on the Internet after a few foreign companies said they would stop using Xinjiang cotton, citing alleged “forced labor,” netizens showed their support to the tourism in the region. “I support not only Xinjiang’s cotton, but also its tourism industry,” reads a popular post from blogger “JaneLam” on Weibo. With the Tomb-Sweeping Day holiday and May Day holiday drawing near and domestic travel restrictions mostly lifted, tourists are eager to travel to different cities. (CGTN) | 