What a momentous day it was for AirAsia & AirAsia X yesterday. We are humbled to have been jointly awarded the prestigious Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Airline of the Year Award for 2009 this year at the CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence presentation ceremony, held at the Great Wall Sheraton in Beijing, China.

We can only thank each and everyone of you out there who has supported us through the years, and grow together with us every moment of the way. We only look forward to continue doing our best, ensuring that all of you will have more great stories to share with us, and about us.

“From 2 planes to 80 and from 200,000 to over 75 million passengers in just a short 7 years marks unprecedented growth by any airline globally, let alone a low fare airline like AirAsia. We are deeply flattered to accept this award and this shall further bolster our pledge ? to provide superior services coupled with our low fares plus diverse service options to our guests. This is our promise,” he concluded.

The CAPA Airline of the Year 2009 award is deemed the uppermost level of recognition given to airlines for excellent achievements in the aviation industry and outstanding strategic contribution over the course of the past year.

Our Group CEO, Tony Fernandes was awarded the CAPA Legend Award (Aviation Hall of Fame) for 2009 for shaping the way the aviation industry has evolved, along with Dato’ Seri Bashir Ahmad (Managing Director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad), Ray Webster (founding CEO of EasyJet), Dr Cheong Choong Kong (former Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Airlines) and Maurice Flanagan (founding Vice Chairman, Emirates Airline) who were previous winners of this award.

Many more things that you can look forward to from us, such as new routes, greater network, & groundbreaking lie-flat bed seats next year! :)

Achieving this might not have been easy, but this is proof that if one dares to dream the impossible, believe the unbelievable & never take no for an answer... all things are possible.

Let's continue to make more dreams come true :)

Author Note: Like many others, recent events in Xinjiang have troubled me. If you are reading this, you may be considering a trip out to the Chinese Wild West. I hope that you do not let the current troubles deter you too greatly in the future. The Uyghur people were incredibly kind and hospitable to me, and if they do not have the opportunity again soon to welcome travelers as they have for hundreds of years, that would be a tragedy.

Xinjiang has been described as the middle of the Silk Road, the middle of nowhere and the place where China is not China anymore. These descriptions were incredibly intriguing to me, and when I had ten days off Xinjiang was at the top of my list.

Given that the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is the largest province-level area in China, it would have been impossible to see the entire place, so I made the tactical decision to limit my travels to two main destinations, Kashgar and Turpan, as well as their surrounding areas.

While I certainly wish that I could have seen more, I am glad that I did not rush anything.

Colorful Kashgar

An alleyway in Kashgar's Old Town

With its iconic old town, lively markets, and huge mosque this is certainly a very different place from cities in eastern China like Beijing and Shanghai. While many eastern cities in are full of pollution and millions of people, all seemingly in a hurry, Kashgar has a very relaxed feel and the air smells of baked bread and goat manure, which was oddly cathartic after spending the last several months inhaling the byproducts of textile and electronics manufacturing.

My first destination was Id Kah Mosque, located on the edge of Kashgar's Old Town. While most of the town was very dry and low on greenery, the mosque grounds had an entire different feel. Large trees were planted in rows and grape vines ran everywhere, making it feel like a physical as well as spiritual oasis. The staff were very accommodating and helpful. I had read reports that men would be turned away for wearing t-shirts and shorts, but I had no problem entering in my informal attire. My girlfriend did not wear a headscarf but did wear a long skirt to cover her knees. I'm not certain if we were the exception or the rule, but there were certainly other tourists on the mosque grounds dressed in a similar fashion.

Next up, we went to explore the old town. The main street was full of vendors selling kebabs and dried fruit. With a little effort we were able to escape the hustle and bustle of the main street to a narrower, calmer, part of the old town and enjoy a serene walk through a “real” part of town. Lucky for us, we happened to be there just before the large and controversial development/demolition process began in the Spring of 2009. I don't know what it looks like now.

Kashgar's famous Sunday Market & Livestock Market

Piles of colorful silks at Kashgar's Sunday Market

The next day was a very special day in Kashgar: Sunday. Kashgar's Sunday Market is possibly the largest weekly bazaar in all of Asia and an experience like no other. We woke up early and rushed over. The market is full of anything that you could ever imagine, as well as several things that you could not. If you are looking for silk, kitchenware, ceremonial knives, vintage clothing or just lunch, the Kashgar Sunday Market is for you. Walking through the market, people call out to you in English, Mandarin and Uyghur, and all speak the universal language of shrewd bargaining.

When we first arrived, the market seemed lively but we were a tad underwhelmed after reading so much about it. However, it really started to pick up and by midday it was as boisterous as the guidbooks claimed it would be.

Kashgar's Livestock Market

Just when we thought we'd seen enough, we decided to head a little way out of town to the weekly livestock market where people were trading goats for chickens, a far cry from the cash and credit cards of Western malls. Looking around, I noticed rather quickly that I was the only Caucasian around and that my girlfriend was the only Han Chinese present.

As we wandered around, absorbing the scene, we suddenly heard a loud noise coming from behind. We turned and had to quickly jump out of the way to avoid the commotion. We had gotten in the way of someone who was test driving a donkey and cart. "Culture shock" would be a bit of an understatement. My Southern Ontario hometown felt like it was in another galaxy. This was easily the farthest away from home I had ever felt (a sentiment expressed once before on this site completely independently).

At this point it was time for an early night. We had a trip arranged to head out of town to Karakul Lake the next day.

As a quick aside, we had decided to hire a driver to reach both Karakul Lake and the Taklamakan Desert from one of the many traveler locales in Kashgar. We had paid what we considered to be a fair amount for two separate tours. For reasons that do not still do not make clear sense to us, we avoided the very popular John's Cafe in Kashgar and went with a lesser-known dealer. He led us to believe that our tours would include all the essentials. As you'll see later, we were misled.

Khartoum Highway, yurts, yaks, camels and Karakul Lake

Views out the car window along the Khartoum Highway

I find myself at a bit of a loss for words in describing the drive along the Khartoum Highway. I had seen pictures in guidebooks and online but had the feeling that they were exaggerated either by expensive cameras, Photoshop or vantage points unavailable to amateurs. My skepticism was mistaken.

The picture above was all taken with my old, point-and-shoot camera, has not been digitally altered and was taken from a moving vehicle. I have dozens more just like it taken at different points along the four-hour drive. It really is that beautiful.

Upon arriving we were shown the lake and our accommodation for the evening, a Kyrgyz yurt. The yurt was made of concrete and the stove in the center burned ox manure. I wish I were making that last part up.

Afterward settling in, we went on a three-hour camel ride around the lake. The handlers were insistent on which camel I took and after he tried to walk into the lake for the third time, I realized why. They eventually had to tie my camel to my girlfriend's in order to slow mine down and keep him from going too fast. I named my camel "Surly McTwoHumps.”

The views of the lake, surrounding mountains, and grazing yaks was dramatic and felt surreal. However, the wooden saddle and Surly's rebellious nature ended up being a bad combination and I was left in an incredibly painful state that I can only describe as “camel crotch”. I'll leave the details out. This is a family-friendly website, after all.

As I went to lie down in my yurt to deal with Surly's lasting gift, we were confronted by the owners of the yurts. They demanded a total of 300 RMB extra for admission, accommodation and camel rides. We quickly called the man who owned the travel agency, and he told us that those things were not included in the price of a tour, which only included a car and driver. Needless to say, we were upset with his dishonesty, but he told us that we could discuss it the next day before we departed to the desert.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed the stars and tranquility of the lake and had a surprisingly warm and comfortable night in the yurt with the manure stove working overtime. The next morning was very cold and there was a light dusting of snow (note: this was May) and the clothes I packed for the heat of the desert were not nearly enough.

We made our way back to Kashgar, still in awe of the scenery, which did not lose any of its luster the second time around. Upon our return we went to the travel agency to discuss the extra fees with the man who had sold the services to us. However, he was out of town on business, leaving us with one of his employees. The employee apologized for the miscommunication and told us that for the Taklamakan tour there would only be 70 RMB extra costs, which we ended up getting him to agree to cover. We were assured that there would be no extra costs otherwise.

Taklamakan Desert

En route to our desert retreat we made stops in the towns of Yenigsar and Yarkand. Bothare well worth a quick stopover. Yenigsar is known for its production of knives. We stopped a knife factory to watch them being made by hand and I picked up a souvenir for my father. Yarkand has an vibrant old town like Kashgar that has yet become a major tourist locale.

The drive took several hours and felt like an entirely different world to the one that we had woken to. Whereas we had seen ice capped mountains and been snowed on in the morning, we were now seeing an endless sea of sand dunes and were unable to escape the force of the sun's rays.

Eventually, we reached our destination on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert. Upon arrival we were told that we would have to pay an additional 30 RMB for our accommodation. The dishonesty had reached the point of comedy at this point. This was a harsh reminder of one of the most basic rules of traveling: Be clear of exactly what you are getting whenever you make a purchase.

It was also a gentle reminder of another rule: Don't let minor hassles ruin your trip. No matter how much we had to pay for it, seeing the stars shine and sun rise over the sand dunes was well worth it.

Sadly, we did not have an abundance of time left to enjoy the desert, as we had to hurry back to Kashgar to catch the bus to our next destination, Turpan. While it was small consolation, we booked our ticket through a different agency and had no problems whatsoever from then on.

The ancient wonders of Turpan

The bus from Kashgar to Turpan was a Chinese specialty: the long-distance sleeper bus. For those of you who have never had the pleasure, imagine 22 hours of the inside of a bus barely relieved by changes in the landscape outside. The bus did not have a toilet, it was very hot and apparently my fellow passengers had left their deodorant somewhere else.

Despite cramped quarters and foul odors, we arrived to Turpan in one piece and found a nice and affordable hotel. This certainly helped us catch up on the sleep that was missed while in a yurt or bus.

The next day we hired a driver to show us around the numerous sites in the area. We drove along the aptly named Flaming Mountains, which shone bright in the early morning sun. Our stops included the Bezeklik Caves, spectacular from the outside though rather empty on the inside. We also stopped to examine a traditional underground irrigation system called karez, which, while interesting to see and walk alongside was unfortunately surrounded by a tourist park best left forgotten.

Two other fascinating stops were the ruined cities of Gaochang and Jiaohe. Both cities had been important stations on the Silk Road but have been ruined for centuries. Since the buildings were made primarily of sand, the ruins have partially eroded, leaving them to appear melted in a Salvadore Daliesque manner. The ruins of Jiaohe (pictured below) were less ruined and more expensive. Both are worth a visit, but I was glad that we went to Gaochang first so I could only compare it to its better-maintained counterpart afterwards.

The highlight of the sights was definitely the old town of Tuyoq. This was farther afield than the others, but well worth the extra time and money it took to get there. Tuyoq is located in a small and fertile valley in the midst of the Flaming Mountains. The brown buildings, blue sky, green grass, and red mountains made for an overwhelming sensory experience that was very difficult for my camera to truly catch.

Tuyoq has a very well maintained historic old town. As we wandered around several locals tried to show us their traditional dwellings, for a price. The dusty rounds wind through the buildings all head towards the tomb of a man said to be the first Uighur Muslim. While this was off-limits, the imposing walled building was hard to take your eyes off of. We followed a breath-taking walk up the gorge to the Buddhist caves. While the caves were closed due to safety concerns, or “Unopen for Safe Problems” like the sign said, the view of the grape vines below was worth the hot trek.

Sadly, after the day was done it was time to rest up before leaving the next morning to get to the airport and return to the “normalcy” of Eastern China. As the plane took off I gazed back at the desert and desolate landscape once again, longing to return one day. Much remains to explore.

Blog by: Glen Russell (China Travel)

在宿舍埋头苦读准备期末考的当儿， 乘着离下一科考试时间还有一段喘气的距离， 闷闷的我按着按着电脑，一个不小心地“游”到了亚航的部落格网站。 一看， 成都部落格征稿游戏已经进入第三周了！！！ 再看航班出发时间， 竟是准确无误地落在我的假期中。。。 此时此刻乃是月圆人团圆的八月十五中秋节， 只身坐在案前的我不禁遥想成都的中秋节是否有着更浓厚的佳节气氛？
独在异乡为异客， 每逢佳节倍思亲就是我此时最佳的写照。 思绪飘到远在家乡、好久没有回去探望的父母。 如果我可以带他们一起到成都， 顺道游走重庆长江三峡， 这一个即将来临的假期， 肯定意义非凡！ 虽然我无法全程赞助他们的出游费用， 但至少我可以通过亚航 成都部落格征稿游戏所赠送的免费机票， 再加上我这个做足功课的“导游”， 肯定令他们留连忘返！
春、 夏、 秋、 冬， 无论在哪一个季节拜访成都都会带给我的父母不一样的惊喜。 要是可以在成都住上一年， 一并体验那里的风土人情就再好不过了。 不过现在亚航已经开启飞往成都的航线， 我们不用在那里长住， 一样可以选择日子到那里和成都民众一起庆祝节日！
看着照片里的彩灯高挂。 为正月十五庆元宵而举办的灯笼节有着浓浓的春节气息。 要是选择避年而来到成都， 不单可以体验当地热情庆祝农历新年的方式， 还可以尽情地玩乐呢！ 来到春季里花儿开始绽放的农历二月十五---成都花卉节， 看那装饰成熊猫模样的花花草草， 不是那么爱花草树木的我都会忍不住驻足观赏。

农历五月初五端午节， 除了吃粽子当然不能少了龙舟赛。 欢乐谷的龙舟赛是真正让人可以感受到参赛队伍们的激情与奔放。 有多少人知道龙舟赛始于伐舟出海寻找屈原的躯体呢？ 我相信成都的粽子肯定和马来西亚的不一样！若是我们选择入夏的七、 八月到成都， 可别以为夏日炎炎成都就没有什么庆典。 我们可以到成都国际熊猫节， 和万千游客一起与熊猫拥抱， 想象被熊猫围绕的感觉就让我感到特别的兴奋。

那我们即将出发的冬天呢？ 虽然妈妈很怕冷， 但我一定保证让她做足保暖功夫， 让她可以尽情地玩。 我们一定不会这个每一年冬季都会在龙池举办的龙池冰雪节， 那银色的世界， 有如诗画的仙境， 绝对会让我的父母毕身难忘。除了可以看到开展的冰雪项目中的冰雕、雪雕、越野滑雪、自由滑雪、高坡雪橇、滑雪、马拉雪橇、冰雪摄影等，我还可以和爸妈一起玩打雪仗、堆雪人、雪地拔河、雪地赛跑、冰球射门等冰雪运动。 那种外寒内热的感觉可不是在赤道成长的我们所能体验的。

来临的周一是我这个学期最后的第二张试卷。 希望我可以如愿过关， 也希望考试结束后亚航可以捎来兴奋的消息。。。

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 'Chengdu Here I Come' Week 1 & 2. It has been very interesting to see how all of you are geared up about Chengdu :) Oh, and we especially love those Mandarin entries.

So, we've got one more week till we finally decide on the winner for each week. But before that, we are opening up the contest for a final week, with a different theme: Events in Chengdu!!

We've got entries about things to do, and the glorious food available in Chengdu, now... let's see how you can weave up a great blog entry with Events in Chengdu :)

It's really simple to participate, just follow these steps:

1. Check out the pictures below on events in Chengdu
2. Tell us ur dream vacation in Chengdu based on the pictures
3. Send us a blog entry here (simply register & submit ur entry)
4. Pray really hard we love ur entry above the rest... n wait for the announcement of winners! (which is next week)

Photos here, so impress us with your entries! :)

Dragon Boat Race (Image Source: Show China)

Lantern Festival (Image Source: China Daily)

Longchii Snow Festival (Image Source: expatinsechuan)

Chengdu Flower Fair (Image source: chengdujournal)

Chengdu International Panda Festiva (Image Source: Prlog)

And Chengdu is also a gateway for you to enter the modern Chongqing! (Image Source: panoramio.com)

We look forward to your entries :)

It was quite a sight, having a couple of pandas roaming around. A few people were quite terrified too. We didn't really know how and why there were here... but when things were more calm, we managed to sit them down and they unraveled their story.

This is TongTong. He was found frantically walking around our office. Our security officer tried to calm him down, and we got the story out of him.

According to TongTong, both himself and NiNi are from Chengdu, China. That's where the Panda Research Base is, and most of their friends are there. They don't remember much of what happened, but visions of being shoved into a large box, and a lot of darkness. We suspect they were kidnapped by hunters who wanted to sell them illegally.

Somehow, when they awoke and tried to break out of the box, they are already on ground. Not sure of where they are, they made the dash of their lives and realised they were in a big place with a lot of planes (we have explained to them they are at LCCT, Kuala Lumpur - beats me how they ended up here!).

Funny thing is, as they were wandering around, looking for help, they bumped into some buntings promoting our new route to Chengdu, China!

We gave them T-shirts too!

And now, after relating their story to us, all they really want to do is to go back to Chengdu, and wants our help to send them back to Chengdu. The fastest way for them to go back is to travel by flight, as only AirAsia flies direct to Chengdu, China from Malaysia; and our inaugural flight has been set to be on 23 November 2009!

After some talks & deliberation with the management, we have decided that we will send them back to Chengdu on our first flight out on 23 November 2009, with ONE condition. They both need to get at least 500 supporters to take pictures with them, and we'll send them back!

In other words, 500 pictures with supporters who says, "Yes, AirAsia, send them home to Chengdu!"

So, TongTong & NiNi has got a plan. They will be camping out at The Curve (Fashion Walk 3, in front of Metro Jaya), Damansara this weekend (25 - 27 September 2009). No, not to do shopping, but to get as many supporters as possible to take pictures with them so that they can return to their homeland.

Here are more details:
Venue: Fashion Walk 3 (in front of Metro Jaya), The Curve, Damansara
Date: Fri - Sun, 25 - 27 September 2009

Will you help TongTong & NiNi?

We will also throw in 2 x Return Flight Tickets to Chengdu for the best pictures with TongTong & NiNi. So, you can also accompany the both of them home on our inaugural flight to Chengdu, China!

So, get the word out & be at The Curve, Damansara this weekend to help TongTong & NiNi with their 'Send Me Back to Chengdu' Quest... they really, really need your help.

P/S: All the pix taken with TongTong & NiNi will be uploaded into AirAsia's Facebook Fan Page, and open for voting from 28 September onwards. The supporter with the most 'Likes' for the picture will win the return flight to Chengdu with TongTong & NiNi :)

Look out for more information on TongTong & NiNi's endeavours with us!

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