The old photo of Dihua (now Urumqi), Xinjiang in 1910, taken by Morrison

An old photo of Dihua (now Urumqi), Xinjiang in 1910, taken by George Ernest Morrison

On February 24, 1910, Morrison marched all the way to Dihua, Xinjiang (today’s Urumqi) and took these photos

Urumqi, formerly known as Dihua, is the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is located in the middle of Xinjiang, the center of Eurasia, the northern foot of the middle Tianshan Mountains, the southern edge of the Junggar Basin, and adjacent to Central Asian countries; The Capital of Asia” The title of

In the early Western Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty set up Wuji Xiaowei to camp in Jinman (Jimsar), near Urumqi, to maintain the safety of the northern Silk Road; In the Tang Dynasty, Tingzhou was set up at the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain; In the 20th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1755), the Qing garrison in Xinjiang began large-scale development. In the 28th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1763), the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty was expanded to build a city, which was renamed Dihua; In 1884, Dihua became the capital of Xinjiang Province, and has since become the political center of Xinjiang; In 1954, Dihua was renamed“ Urumqi”, In Mongolian, it means“ Beautiful pastures&rdquo

The following photos were taken at that time