Kashgar

Kashgar is a conflicted city. The city is in China, but most of the population is ethnically Uigher and Muslim. I had a hard time talking to taxi drivers, because they didn't speak (or read) Mandarin. I often found that English was a more effective means of communication, at least for common tourist things like locations.

The conflict isn't just figurative; we arrived only a few weeks after a combination bombing/ mass stabbing rocked the city. However, we never felt unsafe and, for us, experiencing the differences betweeen Kashgar and the rest of China was part of the point.



We enjoyed wandering the streets, watching women go about their business with various degrees of head coverings. I was amazed at the style opportunities that head scarves afforded. Many women wore bright colors and lots of sparkles.

One of the biggest cultural differences for us was the strict observance of Ramadan. Whereas in other places in the region, we have felt comfortable eating and drinking in the streets during the day, in Kashgar, it was hard to find places to buy food, let alone eat it. We spent a lot of time dehydrated because we felt disrespectful drinking water in the street.

When the sun did set, the cuisine was worth the wait. It's no coincidence that my favorite restaurants in both Beijing and Yangshuo serve food from this area. One night, we got da pan ji (literally: big plate of chicken, or in our case, medium plate) and stuffed ourselves with homemade noodles, spicy potatoes, and chicken. It was one of the best things I've eaten. Ever.

The dehydration of walking the streets during the day was also worthwhile. Kashgar's architecture is a wild mix of ancient adobe structures, modern highrises, and constant construction as new buildings replace the old.

Throughout Xinjiang, change is imminent, whether that change is modernization or integration with the rest of China or both. I'm glad to be catching a glimpse of the way things used to be.