On our way from Turpan to Kashgar, we passed through a county where violence recently broke out again, in mid October. Violence there has become so regular that it is not being widely reported, and I did not hear about it until now. At least 22 People are Reported Killed in Attack at a Market in …
Yesterday I did a post on our visit to the Afaq Khoja Mausoleum. A few months ago, the New York Times did a story on the same Mausoleum. Their story did not completely jive with what we saw, though, I would still recommend reading it there. The author of the Times story suggested that bus …
Continue reading ‘The Gray Lady at the Afaq Khoja Mausoleum’ »
In Chinese, it is called the Fragrant Concubine’s Tomb. In Uighur, it is called the Afaq Khoja Mausoleum. The difference says a lot about the problems in Xinjiang. Afaq Khoja was a political and religious leader based in Kashgar in the 1600’s. His teachings started a brand of Islam, and his family remained influential in …
Here are some photos Galen took while we were in a ferris wheel that oddly has been constructed above the old city of Kashgar, along with a small amusement park. Interestingly, the ferris wheel was largely empty. Apparently, only a few people use it each day, even though it is open from 12 pm to …
Like in Urumqi and Turpan, Kashgar is blanketed in the omnipresent sound of police sirens. This is not so much because of the prevalence of crime. Instead, it is because ethnic tension has been racheted up. The police want to have boots on the ground, to discourage any large-scale violence. But I have been …
I talked about the Dutars a couple of days ago. We got to see them ‘in action’ at this tourist friendly restaurant, the Uighur players sitting around a plate of some sort of traditionalish breaded noodles.
The Tomb of Yussof Khass Hajip was in a quiet, leafy part of town, south of the city center. The entrance to the tomb was lined with grape vines, with shaded arbors on either side of the main passageway. At the entrance, there was a hulking block of carved chalk looming, for some reason, behind …
Galen’s father is an amateur luthier, so Galen has a natural interest in stringed instruments and the people who make them. It was not surprising that, when Galen and I split off for ten minutes in the center of Kashgar’s old city, I found him trying out instruments in a Uighur luthier’s shop.
“During this time, I have witnessed many of the so-called great national events; but, in my heart, they left little impression…but there was one small matter which did mean something to me.” – Lu Xun, A Call to Arms, “A Small Matter” The mother was short, but she wore strappy, light blue wedges to …
The hilltop neighborhood stands like a mud lamp standing erect over Kashgar, looking out over the city. This hilltop neighborhood is the last remaining architecture preserved of this ancient city which Marco Polo once wandered through, seven centuries before. View from above Kashgar sits on a flat plane, punctuated by this small hill. The neighborhood …