We were handed over to a new guide (Abdul) and driver at the top of the Torugart Pass. The landscape was noticeably drier as we descended along the slow dirt road, stopping four times for passport checks.
In the Chinese immigration and customs hall we were met by a huge billboard displaying uniformed border workers (clean, crisp, and saluting) that extolled the new ‘principles’ of the border service – Faster, Sincerer, Stricter – Efficiency, Sincerity, Strictness – Humanity, Professional, Safety. As the sign was in English I assume it was put up to reassure the tourists.
The drive from the pass to Kashgar is 160 km and took us 5 hours. The population of Kashgar is 350,000. The city is over 2000 years old and has always served as an important silk road crossroad – one route heads to the north and west through to Russia via Kyrgyzstan; one west through Uzbekistan and onto Persia and the Mediterranean; one south to India.
Kashgar lies in the western part of Xinjiang Province, the traditional homeland of the Uighur people whose total population is estimated as eight million. The Uighur population was once 90% of the Province; now it is 50% due to mass migration initiatives undertaken by the Chinese government. Xinjiang Province holds one sixth’s of China’s oil reserves.
We stayed at the Chini Bagh Hotel which is on the site of the former British Residency, famous through the era of the “Great Game” - a time when Russia and Great Britain jockeyed for influence in the region through a mixture of spying and diplomacy. The old residency building itself sits in a dismal courtyard, encased by ugly high-rises and constructions sites. Some effort has been made on the inside to restore its late Victorian glory but the results are more Chinese kitsch that British upper class.
The first night in Kashgar we witnessed a dust storm that darkened the sky and bent the trees to a dangerous angle. The next day everything was covered in dust and grit. However, it didn’t take us long to realise that Kashgar is always covered in dust and grit.
Kashgar functions in two time zones – Beijing (the official time) and Kashgar (the local time). Beijing time is two hours ahead of local time. Whenever we made any arrangements with Abdul to meet and go somewhere he would give us two times – one local, one Beijing – just to have all his bases covered and make sure we didn’t show up at the wrong time.
We had two days in Kashgar to explore the sites, including the Id Kah Mosque (built in 1442) with enough space for 20,000 worshipers and the Abakh Hoja Tomb, last resting place of the ‘Fragrant Concubine’. We wandered through the streets and alley ways of the Old Town with its Uighur shops and stalls displaying a variety of goods including dried lizards, musical instruments, plumbing fixtures, hats, spices, luscious mulberries, and tattered Marco Polo sheep horns. We even passed by a sordid looking shop that sold dried bear paws and other assorted wildlife parts. The narrow alley ways are lined with adobe houses, with the size and pattern of paving stones distinguishing the through ways from the dead ends. The old town wall sits 10 m high and over 500 years old. Uighurs are Muslims and we noticed that many of the women covered their faces – even when speeding along on their electric motorcycles.
The main attraction of Kashgar is the Sunday markets – the animal market and the general market. Until recently the two were in the same place but the Chinese government separated them a few years ago, moving the animals to the outskirts of town. We’d read a lot about the impact of recent Chinese policies that have led to the bull-dozing of much of the old city and changed the way the Uighur population lives. We saw massive sprawling construction projects everywhere as the Chinese government strives to modernize the city. We wanted to get to Kashgar before too much change was implemented but in many ways I think we were too late.
Never-the-less, the animal market was fabulous, if reduced in size. Donkeys, goats, fat-tailed sheep, mules, horses, cattle are brought to the market place every Sunday to be sold. There was only one beleaguered camel for sale that already looked like he’d made too many trips to the market. The camels and yaks spend their summers in the high pastures and aren’t brought to market till the fall so we missed out on seeing them. Later in the afternoon we went to the general market. Given is reputation as the biggest market in Central Asia is was a disappointment. Yes, it was big but no more bustling or crazier than many of the other markets we’d been to so far.
Early Monday morning we began to retrace our route back to the Torugart Pass and on to Kyrgyzstan.
Videos from the Kashgar Sunday Animal Market...
Photos from Kashgar...
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