Assassination News
Here is some news on the assassination that we covered here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/world/asia/jume-tahir-murder-verdict-xinjiang.html?_r=0
Archive of entries posted by Galen and Lee
Faces of Kashgar – Ramadan Edition
Previously, we did a Faces of Kashgar that took a look at what Kashgaris looked like, to give readers a visual sense of what it felt like to be in Kashgar. Now, we’d like to go back to that, with some of the fantastic portraits Galen did at the Eid al Fitr celebrations
More riots in Yarkant
More Violence in Yarkant County: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/29/xinjiang-attack_n_6240380.html?utm We reported on earlier violence in the same place here.
Assassination in Kashgar
The morning after Eid al Fitr, we were preparing to leave Kashgar for the Karakurom Highway. As we tried to upload photos and send out emails, our internet slowed to a crawl and then stopped completely. This was not unusual. Though we were using VPNs to navigate around the Great Firewall of China, we were …
More Photos from the End of Ramadan
Here are some photos that we were not able to fit into the article on the End of Ramadan (and a few that we wanted to throw in again). Note that these photos are more of a mix, as far as who shot them. Galen and I each had cameras, as did our friend Josh, …
End of Ramadan
They will not allow us to dance tomorrow. For five years, we have not been allowed to dance to celebrate Eid al-Fitr.” – Uighur Tour Guide commenting on religious repression. Since riots in 2009 in Urumqi, the Chinese government has severely restricted religious expression. Though the government has not ended the sermon at the …
Id Kah Mosque
The Id Kah Mosque is the largest mosque in China, with a capacity to allow 20,000 worshipers in on its most important holy days. It is also one of the oldest mosques in China, having been built in 1442. Through its long history, it has seen much. Islam had already arrived in Kashgar and the …
Uighur Students are Disappeared into Chinese Prisons
Just an update on the situation I’ve been following with Ilham Tohti: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/world/asia/prosecution-of-uighur-students-underscores-perils-of-chinese-clampdown.html
Kashgar Urban Planning Museum
Kashgar’s Urban Planning Museum was tough to get into, but it was worth it. Hidden behind the staid language of historians and economists and a skyscraper-speckled diorama was a story of the death of Kashgar. China has a slew of these Urban Planning Museums. Normally, each museum has a section acknowledging that city’s inevitably glorious …
Ilham Tohti
Just a quick update on Ilham Tohti, the Uighur professor who I reported on here Here is a quick link to an article about Professor Tohti: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/21/chinese-court-rejects-ilham-tohti-appeal?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2d2f5dfd5d-Sinocism11_23_1411_23_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-2d2f5dfd5d-29623861&mc_cid=2d2f5dfd5d&mc_eid=f3a28cf511 There is nothing to update really. The Chinese government still considers him a separatist, and has not revoked its judgement on the economist’s actions. Unfortunate, but not unexpected.