Photo: Screenshot of Douyin

Hashtag challenge #charmofthexinjiangpeople has gone viral on Chinese short video app Douyin, which is operated by TikTok owner ByteDance, featuring beautiful Xinjiang people in gorgeous ethnic costumes, and, of course, their brightest smiles.

There have been 48 short videos uploaded under the hashtag, gathering some 4 million views. The challenge calls on participants, mostly young and bright youngsters, to slowly put on their colorful ethnic costumes, as well as the signature hats, with distinctive Xinjiang music in the background. 

In the videos, they place their right hand on the chest in front of the camera, a respectful gesture typical in the region, extending a warm greeting to the viewers.

According to the captions below the videos, the participants are from local ethnic minority groups, including Kazaks and Uyghurs.

Many would also express their love for China in the caption, together with heart and red national flag emojis. 

"Proud to be Chinese and much love for Chinese culture," wrote a 23-year-old Xinjiang girl from the Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture under her post under the challenge posted on Sunday. 

Another participant, Yisige, a middle school student from Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, showed off a big smile together with his classmates, as they pray for good luck for the upcoming high school admission exam, and his post received 76,000 likes as of press time.

"You guys are all handsome young fellas. We love you! Hope you grow up strong to contribute to the motherland," one of the viewers said under the Yisige post, which also attracted over 600 likes. 

Similar hashtag challenges like "you don't get Xinjiang's charm till I show you" have also gone viral on Douyin, with some 300 posts, drawing over 52 million views. 

The smiles and the pride they take as a Chinese while in the colorful ethnic costumes shows Xinjiang is a place filled with joy and happiness, just like any other part of the country, observers noted.