Northwest China has been considered a backward region, with a large and diverse geography, populated with a number of Chinas minority nationalities. As a result it faces interesting challenges for education and modernization. In response, the Chinese government has committed large amounts of money and resources to fund the Western Region Development Program. As the Radio and Television Universities (RTVUs) are the premier provider of distance education within China and one of the largest in the world, how the RTVUs are endeavouring to engage in the development of the western regions is worthy...