Tong Liya Comes in Peace with T Magazine China Lensed by Hailun Ma

Tong Liya Comes in Peace with T Magazine China Lensed by Hailun Ma AOC Fashion

T Magazine China [New York Times] February 2026 issue features actress Tong Liya, styled by Clara Jiang in clothes that honor her home and heritage in Xinjiang.

Photographer Hailun Ma [IG] captures Tong Liya’s style, which strikes AOC as regal and powerful, especially with her braids. This entire issue of T Magazine appears to have been shot and storied in the region.

On the Road with T Magazine China . . .

We focus on Tong Liya who was born in Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County. She is Xibe ethnic minority, one of more than 40 groups in the region. Her birth place in Northern Xinjiang is close to the border with Kazakhstan. 

Liya Tong’s hometown in the Ili Valley is widely considered one of the most beautiful parts of Xinjiang, especially in late spring and summer when the grasslands are in full bloom. It’s a stark, lush contrast to the desert landscapes of Kashgar and the south.

AOC is taking extra time with the geography of this region, because in our New Humanism channel the Silk Road is central to our storytelling.

Remembering Bibi Breslin’s FW 2025 story shot in Samarkand for Holiday Magazine, I queried Gemini 3 Pro — trying not to sound too uninformed — asking if Liya Tong’s hometown is located along the same Silk Road route as Samarkland.

My intuition said ‘yes’, both are on the northern route. The copy flowed from there, with an affirmative “Yes, Anne.”

. . . We Take the Silk Road’s Northern Route

In the ancient world, travelers and merchants following the path through Liya Tong's home Ili Valley region were on a trajectory that led directly into the heart of Central Asia, where Samarkand stood as one of the most vital hubs. On our journey, we traveled a key corridor that bypassed the formidable Taklamakan Desert by traveling north of the Tianshan Mountains.

I love tossing all these new places at friends and readers — especially when a massive door has opened to Anne of Carversville. In 2026, this is a very special honor, and I am grateful for the trust put in me as a narrator of our collective human stories.

In welcoming so many new friends to AOC in the last six months through their AOC door of New Humanism, my focus is stopping the rewriting of history in my own country. ~ Anne