Xinjiang: Journey to the Desert

Xinjiang was amazing. The culture was so different from the rest of China, it was like a whole different country. Most of the people we ran into were Uygur (Wee-ger), who look much more Middle-Eastern, speak the Uygur language which is a Turkish-based language that is written in an Arabic script, and are Muslim. We flew out of Chengdu Sunday night and arrived in Urumqi, which is the most land-locked large city, around 9pm. We took a cab to our hostel, which was dorm style with 5 bunk beds to a room but nowhere near full. I purchased a map from the guy at the front desk and we set off for the night market in the center of the city. The night market was alot like the one we went to in Xi'an, very lively and delicious. There was grilled everything, lots of dried and fresh fruit, nan, and noodles. Most people there didn't speak Chinese as their first language either, and although we felt more like tourists than in Chengdu, we definitely felt less haggled too, which was nice for a change. We slept well that night and got up early the next morning to go meet up with Heather and Rodney Gale, Barbara's (the UW PhD student here working on livestock in Yangjuan) aunt and uncle who we met one time and are in Xinjiang on a 5-year project with the Canadian government also working on livestock and veterinary medicine. We met them at their house and on the way back to the city decided to stop at the train station to see when we could get tickets out. It turned out the fast train leaving that evening was sold out but we could get tickets on the slow train leaving that afternoon at 1:30pm. We had just enough time to go back and get our stuff from their house before getting on the train, but we were ready to be on to the next part of our journey. Although Urumqi was interesting, there isn't alot to do there and compared to the rest of Xinjiang it is alot like any other Chinese city. Before leaving this grad student of Heather and Rodney's who was helping us buy the tickets took us to lunch of a Uygur staple, polo and lamb kabobs. Polo is like fried rice with carrots and lamb and is very heavy and rich. So the four of us embarked on our 30-hour train journey to Kashgar on the other side of the Taklimakan Desert. The train was long, hot, and dusty. The Chinese people on the train kept closing the windows because of the dust and we kept re-opening them because we just needed the air flow. It was a constant battle. But it was really interesting to see the desert stretching out for miles and miles, it really gave you an idea of how remote you were. We arrived in Kashgar the next evening at about 8pm and found our way to the "foreigner hotel" that used to be where the British Consulate was. Our building was under construction and the 4 of us shared a 3 person room, but it was fine and inexpensive, as well as convenient since it was the place to organize tours outside of the city. We also had big windows that opened to a wonderful view of the city. You can see the brown, brick construction of the old city behind our hotel. Everything here looked different. That night we went to get dinner at the Kashgar night market. As we walked the streets, you could see the difference in the cities and culture right away. The Uygur culture was so vibrant here, there were practically no Han people and even less tourists. Everyone wore head scarves or hats and these beautiful sparkly outfits with long sleeves. We wore long pants and t-shirts and felt comfortable not covering our head when we walked around (since we were so obviously foreign). The night market was so much more fun than the one in Urumqi as well, since it was really active for the local people, not tourists. The merchants all had these carts of food and then would set out benches around their stand where you could sit and eat. Everything was served with real glass plates and cups that you would return when you were finished. The array of food was amazing as well. Aside from nan, grilled meet, and assorted varieties of dried fruit and fresh melon, there were also cold noodles, fried fish, a hand-made vanilla ice cream, pomegranate juice, and a variety of yogurt based ice drinks sweetened with honey or plain. There were also a variety of shops along all the streets selling spices, Muslim hats of all shapes and sizes, as well as fur hats. Laura and I felt compelled to buy sheep hats which I think will be perfect for winter and still smell like sheep a little.
The next morning we headed off for the "Sunday market" area of town, which is like a farmer's market and whole-sale market in one. Kashgar is located on the old silk road and has developed from a trading village were people from all the surrounding countries would gather together to buy and sell there wares. This tradition still continues today and you can see things that have come from all over eastern Europe on sale. On Sunday is the biggest day and tens of thousands of people will come from all around the silk road to buy and sell there wares. This was just the weekday, but still the range of things was amazing. There were Oriental rugs, carved wooden trunks and furniture, lots of wrought iron things, kitchen utensils, clothes, drapes, more wool, scarves of every shape and kind, and the famed Uygur knives. I bought a few scarves and helped Ben pick out some Uygur knives for Matt, who had sent us on a quest for them since he couldn't come himself. Then we wandered our way through the old town back to the Mosque, which is the largest in China. We decided to cover our heads to go in here and took off our shoes to walk inside the building itself. Although it was not that big, it was a beautiful building set in lovely grounds with trees and a pond. I particularly liked that some of the praying areas were outside. I think if I were to pray, I would like to pray outside too. Then we met up with two friends I have from rugby, Eoin and Megan. They both work in Chengdu for this plastics manufacturing company and just happened to be traveling in Xinjiang for this holiday as well. After 15 minutes of walking around we were told that we had to leave the Mosque because it was time for prayer. As we were leaving we saw a group of people carrying in what looked like a casket, so it may have been a funeral, though I am not sure. From there we made our way to the People's park which (of course) had a giant statue of Mao and then to a large tomb on the outskirts of town. The tomb was a complex of a few buildings with beautiful tile work with a cemetery behind. On the way out of the tomb we stopped at a tea house on the side of a man-made pond to rest in the heat of the afternoon. We sat on these wooden bed frames with a small table in the center and drank Green tea laced with rose petals and nutmeg, a Xinjiang specialty. That afternoon we went back to the hotel and made plans for the 6 of us to go to Tashkurgan and Karakul Lake the next day. Excited for our travels the next day, we went out to get dinner at a local Uygur restaurant. We ordered a personal favorite, Da Pan Ji (literally translated big chicken plate), fish, and Doner kabab. We were told by Eoin that Doner kabab, in Europe anyway, is something that sounds very similar to a gyro. This, however, was not that. It was large hunks of lamb that were roasted on this weird cast-iron sculpture thing. It was very hot in Kashgar and we decided the perfect thing would be to find a place where we could sit outside on the street with some cold beers. Most of the restaurants here are Muslim, so do not serve alcohol, but we managed to find a sweet yogurt place that also served Xinjiang brand beer and sat down. Several minutes after sitting down on the benches surrounding the little cart, the owner guy turned on this 80's techno music and one of the Uygur men frequenting the place started dancing. So of course, Eoin, Megan, Ben and I decided to join him. When the techno tape ran out, they switched to Uygur music and taught us how to dance Uygur-style, which is an arm-waving, belly-dancing type of dance with lots of walking around in circles. Before long we of course gathered a crowd and other guys started joining in the dancing. It was not too hard to learn and so fun! After an hour or two the owner guy decided he wanted to close and so we walked home after many goodbyes to our new Uygur friends.
We left early the next morning towards the Pakistani border to the Tajik town of Tashkurgan. The Tajik, Uygur, Kazak, and Kyrgiz people who reside in this area were all formerly nomadic herdsmen who lived in yurts. Today, this practice has developed into living in the summer in a yurt out in the pasture with the animals and in the winter returning to the city where you have a regular stone house. So still, white yurts of the herders dotted the landscape as we drove into Tashkurgan. The people here spoke Tajik and some Uygur, but no Chinese. Luckily, we had a guide who helped us communicate. In Tashkurgan we toured the ruins of an old stone fortress and went to a Tajik family's house. The stone fortress was cool and fun to play on. Laura and I both found cool rocks. The Tajik family house, however, was a little more like "look at this quaint little Tajik family" and felt a little exploitive. I asked our guide if the family "felt Chinese" at all since they didn't even speak Chinese, but still had the customary picture of Mao on the wall. His response seemed equally dictated, "of course." Then we drove back to Karakul Lake, which was absolutely stunning. It is high up in the mountains (3600m) and you pull off the road to an area where there are about 7 yurts and a bunch of horses and camels situated on the side of lake. We decided not to ride the camels and just to walk around the lake. We made it half way and I talked Ben, Eoin, and Megan into climbing the mountain on the side of the lake. It was a pretty steep climb, especially at altitude, but we all made it and the view was worth it!
We stayed in a yurt that night and they served us dinner and breakfast. It was cold at the lake and we slept curled in piles of think warm blankets on the floor. In the morning we had delicious milk tea and bagels, yes bagels. We decided we wanted to walk all the way around the lake that morning, since I had cut our last walk short with the mountain climb, but as we were leaving a guy asked me if I wanted to buy some hats. I was wearing my sheep hat, so I said I already had one, but Laura said she wanted to buy some more for presents for her sisters so we went to look at his. We sat down in his house and he pulls out this hat that is made from cat. His was too expensive, but Laura thought is was hilarious so he sent his little brother to go get some more we could look at. She ended up buying two lovely cat hats, one that apparently looks like a cat she had when she was a little girl. It's a little creepy, but they are pretty and soft. But I had to at least take a picture wearing one. We walked some more around the lake and then Eoin, Ben, and I decided to go for a swim. Everyone thought we were nuts because the water was really cold, but it felt good. The guy at the hotel had agreed that if we stayed in for 5 minutes we could have a free meal. We didn't get a free meal, but it was worth it anyways. Then we drove back to Kashgar. We got dinner at the little "Western" restaurant buy our hotel that wasn't that good but you could sit outside in this vine-covered veranda which was really pleasant. We got Chinese food, which was actually a welcome break from the Uygur which is good, but does not offer alot of variety. They also serve beer there, which was another plus. The next day was Ben's birthday as well, so we had to celebrate. The next morning Laura, Ben and I caught a sleeper bus back to Urumqi. Carly decided to fly, as did Eoin and Megan. The sleeper bus was not that bad. It was only 22 or so hours, so shorter than the train but you had to stay in your little bed and could not walk around. The beds were rather small as well, just big enough for me so if you are bigger than me I would not recommend it. But we made it back safely, got to the airport and flew back to Chengdu. Xinjiang was really one of the most interesting, amazing places I have been so far and really made me want to travel more. As soon as we got off the airplane I also noticed the difference in the manner of the Chinese people, yelling and staring and slightly brash. But none the less, I am happy to be home.