Adil Memettur (middle) (XINHUA)

Adil Memettur, a young Uygur man from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has turned a traditional Uygur cake into a booming online business with plans for a brick-and-mortar store after recently receiving free office space from a micro-enterprise incubator program.

Adil, 23, started selling the popular Uygur snack qiegao, a dense nougat made from nuts, candied fruits, and malt syrup, online with the help from his two classmates, both of Han ethnicity, at the end of 2012. By doing this, Adil hopes to popularize his hometown's confection.