Kashgar

AKA Kashi

This is China?

Visiting Kashgar was a bit like meeting up with a childhood friend’s little sister. You remember her, and you’re comfortable with her as part of a family you loved, but you didn’t really know her all that well. I lived previously in the Middle East, (my childhood friend) and I remember well the mosques, the Arabic script, the crescent moons and the way that Islam integrated into daily life. The As-salam ‘Aalykums exchanged between strangers and friends… The Inshallahs entreating God’s will…
Kashgar is the little sister of my childhood friend. I felt comfortable in the Muslim milieu – the mosques and Koranic inscriptions, the veiled women and bearded men, the lamb carcasses and flat bread, the groups of men gathered together over tea and conversation. But the Uygurs of Kashgar are not the Arabs of the Gulf and therein lay the excitement. The cultural symbols were familiar, yet it was all just enough unknown to enchant me.

Second floor mosque – notice the worshipers’ shoes on the railing

The first thing you need to know about Kashgar is that there is no other place like it in Asia. Literally! Kashgar is the sole remaining city built of mud and earth in all of Central Asia. The old quarter is so unique and special that the movie “The Kite Runner” was filmed there. But the city is also one of the most endangered, (okay, maybe not as endangered as Afghan cities), as the forward march of PRC “modernization” breaches Kashgar’s walls. The old quarter has been deemed dangerous and inconvenient and homes are being razed, alleys widened, reticent residents moved to the charmless, gray apartment blocks that already pockmark the East of China. There are many articles about the changes, for the sake of brevity I will share links and if you are interested, read more here, here and here. As a history enthusiast, I am heartbroken.

Empty lot – all that remains of a block of old Kashgar homes and businesses

We spent our two days in Kashgar like we did the first day in Urumqi – wandering around, slipping down alleys, stopping to admire shops and wares, and eating every available lamb-centric foodstuff available. The lamb kebabs at Linyi’s now defunct Xinjiang restaurant had nothing on the real thing. I simply cannot praise enough the finger-lickin’ goodness of the Kashgar kebabs.

Back in the streets behind the Id Kah Mosque is where all the action is. There are several streets and lots of alleys criss-crossing them packed with shops, restaurants and workshops, not to mention all the vendors who set up on the sidewalks. Here you will find fruit, bread, kebabs, spices, antiques, souvenirs, copper pots, carpets and more. On one street alone you will see men on the sidewalk hammering away on copper pot pieces while next door a man labors over handmade wool duvets. Further up the street a small wood workshop overflows with candlesticks and rolling pins and toy spinning tops. People walk back and forth, buying fresh figs from large brown baskets, dodging carts loaded with building material and refuse. The old quarter, which is actually split in two by Jiefang Lu – a wide and proper Chinese boulevard, is full of movement and life.

A few street photos:

Street scene

Carpets for sale

Wood workshop

Copper pot shop

Spice shop

Minaret topper craftsman

I’ll have to cover food and people in other posts, as this is getting long and it is time for lunch. The food photos will make me too hungry. In addition, I will be randomly posting Xinjiang and other travel photos as the inspiration strikes me. I have one more side trip to post about, as well, our day drive into the Pamir Mountains.

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Tagged as: China, Kashgar, Travel, Xinjiang