Abstract: Based on the classification system of the general sunvey standards of tourism resources in China, a modifiedclassification plan of 78 basic types in 3 grades is put forward in this paper. Then the types and the characterisTtics of the tourism resources in Xinjiang are analyzed. Totally 100 tourism sights and sceneries which can represent the elite of the tourism resources in Xinjiang are enumerated, and their names, locations and basic types aredescribed. The guiding ideology, development objective and macro distribution of the tourism economy in Xin-jiang are discussed. The tourism areas in Xinjiang are divided into 4 regions, i.e. the"area of Asian Centre", north Xinjiang, south Xinjiang, and east Xinjiang, and 10 sub regions, and 19 major development areas are determined. It is suggested that the Silk Road and the routes around Tarim Basin, and Junggar Basin and in thecentral'Tianshan Mountains be the main tourism routes, and some special tourism routes are also considered forthe special purposes, such as scientific inv estigation, mountaineering, archaeology, hunting, automobile rally, desert exploration and investigation of historic sites. Finally, some measures for protecting the environment along the tourism routes are put forward aiming at the environmental problems occurring in the local tourism.

Key words: Xinjiang, tourism resources, resources exploitation