Xinjiang trip: Kashgar

Kashgar is just about the furthest thing you can get from China while still being in China. I think 99% of the people I met, talked to, or even saw on the street were not Han Chinese, but mostly Uyghur, Kazakh, Uzbek, or any number of other nationalities. We brought a map with us when we took a cab anywhere; Even though Kevin and I are both fluent and comfortable in Chinese, our cabbies usually were not. Our hotel staff spoke better English than Chinese-- which says a lot, seeing as how they are technically Chinese nationals!

When I taught English in Xinjiang back in 2002, it was only a few months after September 11, 2011, and our US relations with Afghanistan were obviously very volatile. We weren't allowed to visit then, and I didn't realize until this trip just how much we'd missed out. 

It is about 200 miles away from where Afghanistan borders China, and while it's always a good idea to be a careful traveler, I didn't feel like I was bringing my family into a warzone-- because I was not. 200 miles is a long time, and a national border means a lot. Consider the difference between Juarez and El Paso. I would be careful if I went to El Paso, but I wouldn't even think about taking my family on a trip to Juarez. And it's only a few feet away. But it's a different country. And China is still China.

At one point, while talking to our hotel staff in the lobby, I looked out the window. I gasped a little and asked, "What's going on?" There was a group of about 8 PLA soldiers in full riot gear-- helmets, shields, most with clubs, and two with automatic machine guns.

The hotel manager looked around, confused. "What do you mean? Nothing's going on--- Oh, that."

Her colleague nodded. "Kashgar is very.... safe," he said.

China is still China. We don't have the military patrolling the streets in Shenyang where we live. Even when there were recently large, mostly-sort-of-peaceful protests outside the Japanese consulate, the soldiers sent to keep guard didn't have machine guns, just riot gear. But in Kashgar, they have them every day.

There's a reason many people in Xinjiang feel oppressed, and there's also a reason I felt safe.

Anyway, here is what we did:

Here is the old city. I imagine camel caravans on the Silk Road encountered a sight not much different than this, even hundreds of years ago. 

The old city reminds me of Taos, NM. This could have easily been a picture of the Taos Pueblo.

We stopped and let our girls play with some Uyghur children playing outside their homes in the old city. This little guy liked our stroller, so we gave him a little ride in it. I'm not sure where Penny had run off to.

Another perspective of the old city. Sheep still graze on the meadows around the area.

We walked with this man for about 15 minutes, him chatting in Uyghur and us trying to make sense and respond in Chinese. He was so friendly and open-- something I love about most of the Uyghur people we met.
He had four sons and a daughter, and he told us proudly that his daughter was very beautiful. It seems like Uyghur women are ALL very beautiful, with dark eyelashes and beautiful eyes.

Kevin especially liked these oven-baked buns, filled with sheep meat. They were very tasty! And I love how we don't blend in AT ALL. 

We visited a livestock market where tons of sheep and cattle were being bought and sold. I was impressed to see many sons helping their dads at the market. One little guy must have been 7 or 8, and he was straddling a sheep and shearing it with hand shears. You don't see that sort of stuff very often with Chinese parents. Usually, a Chinese child (up through high school) has their parents and grandparents doing things FOR them, and hardly ever do you see a child given responsibilities.

Cattle for sale

CAMELS (!!!) for sale! I was so excited to see them! And they're so fluffy and nice looking. Other camels I've seen have been all clumpy and nasty looking. There were probably 7 or 8 camels here, and they were beautiful!

I think these are yaks.

Here's a cute little Uyghur girl! Well, she has the hat, at least.

One Uyghur man said that Penny looked like a little Uyghur girl, with her dark eyelashes and yellow hair. And it's true!
Penny's lip is all purple in this picture, not only because she'd just drunk half my black current juice (tangy and delicious!), but also because she sucks her lip so far into the bottle that it stays red permanently. She's a silly little girl.

So... Kashgar was awesome.