NPR

For Some Chinese Uighurs, Modeling Is A Path To Success

China's Muslim-minority Uighurs often face persecution and suspicion. But their popularity has grown in recent years as models. "Not to brag, but we are very good-looking," says one Uighur model.
Parwena Dulkun is a Uighur model who divides her time between Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, and Beijing. Uighurs share traits from both Asian and European ancestors, a look that is in demand among modeling agencies throughout China.

Speaking to a foreign journalist is usually a stressful endeavor for a Uighur in China. Uighurs belong to a Muslim ethnic minority and speak a language closer to Turkish than Chinese. These differences from China's dominant ethnicity, the Han, have been at the root of a tense and sometimes violent relationship between Uighurs and China's government.

But there's

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