In Xinjiang, especially in the southern regions, the national minority women like to wear patterned silk dresses of an arresting distinctiveness. Some have a design like swirling rosy clouds, others are patterned in contrasting black and white, while yet others are splashes of crimson and green. The Uygur people call this kind of patterned silk "variegated cuckoo's wing," which also means that, like the cuckoo, it heralds the arrival of spring. Created by Xinjiang's Uygur nationality, this romantic flowing silk is known as Atlas or "tiedyed" 'silk. Ancient techniques of tie-dyeing are used in the manufacture of Atlas silk. Dyeing is carried out on the warp threads which have been bound in such a way so as to produce the desired pattern. The actual binding is a long, tedious, painstaking process as the overall composition, the pattern design and color matching must all be taken into consideration by the skillful binder. Binding is followed by the dyeing, warping and weaving stages. In the dyeing procedure, as the threads take up the liquid dye, it runs over the bound outline of the design, forming a natural halo of color, like the random and irregular effect onegets with a dry brush, providing the rich variation that is so characteristic of eries silk designs. Atlas silk is produced in two different regions and consequently today there are two separate types. The tie-dyeing methods employed in the counties of Hotan and Lop aim to produce a strongly contrasting effect with a bold and flowing design which stands out from the background. The color combinations most commonly used are a black ground with a white design, or vice versa, or chequered designs in red and yellow, black and white, or blue and white. A