Kashgar Memories

There was something special in the air about Kashgar. Maybe it was the way the light hit the adobe houses or the way the market buzzed with life. Or maybe, it was because when you made your way through the old section of Kashgar, you felt like you had been transported to a different time. Whatever the reason, the city charmed me and my two intrepid travel companions.

Located at the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert (the second largest desert in the world) and under the shadows of the huge Karakoram Mountain range, Kashgar had served as an important city throughout history. Known as the “Crossroads of Asia”, Kashgar had been known for 2,000 years as one of the main gathering points for travelers and traders along the legendary Silk Road. The city had since become a huge melting pot of Uighurs, Han Chinese, Tajiks, Mongols, Uzbeks, Kazaks, Afghanis, and Parsees, just to name a few.


As the first stop of our whirlwind travel through
Xinjiang (previously known as Eastern Turkestan), Kashgar was our introduction Xinjiang. I vividly remember one of my first impressions of the city: how un-China like Kashgar was. First, there were the people. According to our first cab driver, modern day Kashgar had a population of about 30 percent Han Chinese (apparently, most of whom lived in the newer section of town).

The rest of Kashgar was made up by a large population of Uighurs, a group of tribal Turkic people who originated around Mongolia. With a reputation as one of the most enduring groups of Central Asian people, the Uighurs had ruled and been ruled by others throughout the centuries. Present day Uighurs had evolved into a beautiful group of people with dark Eurasian features, friendly personalities, and a colorful custom (reminiscent of their Turkish cousins).
During our time in Kashgar, we had many encounters with wonderful Uighur locals. Probably one of our most memorable experiences was when we were invited by a Uighur family to have a family breakfast with them. When we received the invitation, it was only our first afternoon in Xinjiang. We were delighted! When the day came, we were ushered into their house (in traditional Uighur style, the two-story house had a central courtyard and rooms that surrounded it). We were served tea, naan bread, and a heaping plate of beef polo (polo is a popular Xinjiang rice dish that was to become Yenny and my food obsession for the next two weeks). Though we communicated in broken Mandarin and had a few awkward moments of silence through the meal, I was touched and impressed that a family would embrace three complete strangers and invite us into such an intimate environment.

Another major difference between Kashgar and Beijing was the differences in the pace of life. Instead of the hustle and bustle one would find in Beijing, Kashgar was much more relaxed. You felt that when you saw young kids playing in the dusty alleys, and when you saw groups of men gathered to watch TV and drinking yoghurt together in the city’s main square, or when you saw stall owners lounging on a cot while haphazardly keeping an eye out on their business.

Besides its old town and Id Kah Mosque (one of the largest in Western China), what Kashgar was most popular for was its Sunday Bazaar. Although the market was open all week long, it gets most crowded on Sundays, when the crowd can swell up to 30,000 people.

While we were there, we were able to make the morning session of the Sunday bazaar. Although the hour was still too early for the crowds to gather (the market reaches its apex in the afternoon), we were still able to see stalls upon stalls that sold anything and everything from knives to raw fabric to nuts and dried fruits. We were also able to make it to the animal market where rows of sheep were tied up and where men hackled over a good price for a cow or a camel. The animal market was also the best place in town to get one’s helping of fresh meat. Freshly slaughtered sheep hung all along the edge of the market where local entrepreneurs set up food stalls that served mutton noodles, kebabs, “baked baozi”, and the like.

When the time came for us to leave, it was with a heavy heart.
Kashgar proved to be a wonderful Central Asian city, filled with
lovely people, good food, and the perfect introduction city to Xinjiang. At least for me, I will remember Kashgar as one of China’s most interesting and memorable cities!