- This trip took place in May of 2010, so this is a story very much "from the archives". Where facts have been forgotten it is very likely they have been substituted with pure imagination. The order of the sightseeing in some parts is also not as per the actual itinerary, but no opportunities to detail the full experience (as memory allowed) were harmed in the writing of this story.
- While I am using a 'Blog' site to publish these travel stories they are by no means written in blog post-format (i.e. short and punchy). The site was set up as a means to let our family and friends know about our time living in China, so for most part I go into a bit of detail where I can - and for anyone who's ever read one of my darts reports you'll know I find the pen mightier than the white-out. If you find it too long to read, then I recommend the Golden Book series of kid's stories.
- I am prone in some posts to defer to the potty-mouth form of the written word. If you are easily offended please refer my previous point on alternate reading options.
Two donkeys. One more excited than the other. Kashgar Sunday market.
Imagine, if you will, a rectangle concrete pit, 1.5m wide by 3m long by 1.5m deep. In the bottom of this pit is around half a meter deep of human (and likely animal) excrement, rubbish, and possibly an animal carcass or two thrown in for good measure. A pleasant smell by no means. Width-ways across the top of this pit are eight planks 15cm wide and spaced 30cm apart - old, weathered planks which creak and flex when you finally build up the courage to shuffle yourself along them into the middle (as you are required to do). Welcome to the concept of a public toilet, Southern Xinjiang-style. In our previous travels around China we'd seen a few dodgy latrines (including our Tengger Desert experience I wrote about in a previous post) but this one was EXTRA special. It's one of those times where you really want to know your 'neighbors' (meaning the guys squatting on the boards either side of yours) because you end up baring more than your soul to them. The need to maintain balance and pray for the planks not to break at the same time are number one and two priority respectively - even for a man of little religious faith like me. Human dignity flashes before you, as does the pit toilet scene from Slumdog Millionaire. And while we came across this lavatorial "throw-together" in far south-west Xinjiang about 30km from the Tajikistan border, we would have a whole new set of toilet encounters as we explored the Northern parts of China's western-most province - an area that offered up a vast array of cultural experiences and memorable moments for good and not-so-good reasons.
South by South-West
Our plan was a few months in the making. We had organised a private tour with Amy's parents to Xinjiang, China's western-most province (or in this case an Autonomous Region), through one of Beijing's local expat tour companies which would give us the ability (or so we thought) to have a say in the itinerary along the way. Our schedule was to take us the most south-western and north-western parts of Xinjiang, which is something that most local companies don't offer in their group tours in a single trip because of the distances between them (unless the group tour was a week or longer). Yunnan had actually been our first choice for our big trip with Amy's folks, but with most of the province in the grip of a big drought at that time we decided to change plans and head west instead.
I personally found Xinjiang is like no other place in China. Even though many other provinces are struggling to deal with the consequences of the Central Government's drive towards economic progress, over in the west the tensions were more visible and were more often than not ready to boil over at any time. In Xinjiang, more than in any other province of China, the gap between the culture of the ruling Han nationality and the larger of the local ethnic 'minority' population (the Muslim Uyghurs) seemed to us a huge, insurmountable challenge. As we would find out, it's more than just a case of sweet and sour pork eaters on one side, and non-pork eaters on the other (although that in itself creates issues that do impact people's career choices, as we would discover). And with little desire to compromise on either side of the divide the solutions are not coming any time soon. It does make for one very interesting melting pot. From an economic perspective all this action is happening on some of China's biggest oil and petrochemical reserves, which accounts for a large proportion of the local economy.
Kashgar ('Kashi')
Our first stop on the Xinjiang Tour (aside from a transfer at Urumqi) was one of China's western-most cities and one that kind of epitomised the clash between the traditional ways of the locals and the drive for progress of the Chinese Govt. Kashgar was my first real experience in a place primarily of Muslim residents and it was an amazing visual and cultural overload. After the flight over it was getting on late so we checked into our hotel and had a good night's sleep in preparation for what was a busy few days of sightseeing. Our first port of call on the Sunday morning were the renowned live animal markets. The developing nature of the region was really shown in the drive out of town as we passed a whole line of people with only one or two pieces of livestock to sell heading the same way. Once we got there and dodged the ubiquitous car-park seller of cheap trinkets we got to see the locals in action doing wheeling and dealing on all manner of animals. This wasn't without the 'try before you buy' option either, with a test track available for the buyers to try out their prospective purchase of a donkey/horse/camel before parting with their cash or equivalent in mutton. With the animals being slaughtered just next to where they were cooking it up there is no doubt that the kitchen of Gus' Cafe in Canberra looks hygienic in comparison, but if you could get over the sight of the blood pooling at your feet the lamb mince buns were a cracker (a bit like piroshki, for those familiar with Russia's answer to samosas).
The road to the markets. Not the traffic hazards I'm used to.
Market staff holders making fresh lamb pastries.
After this we were off to check out some of the great architecture pieces of the area including the Tomb of the Fragrant Princess (Apak Hoja Mazzar) and parts of the city, including a stop over at the Kashgar Sunday markets which is the biggest market in the Central Asia region. Being on the silk road route Kashgar had for hundreds of years been the meeting place of traders from the east and those from the west and there was no shortage of this changing as our tour guide told us of the huge market that China was building with the various '...stans' over the western border.
Tomb of the Fragrant Princess (Apak Hoja Mazzar)
The bread from the region. Note the patterns pressed into the base using the tool below.
A shop in the city centre selling the bread-pressing tool. Notice all the different designs.
The next day was to be a big one, with a planned 5hr minivan drive south-southwest from Kashgar along the Karakoram Highway. This now famous section of road joins Kashgar in China with Pakistan and travels over the Karakoram Range at the western end of the Himalayas (both ranges separated by rivers). The Karakoram Range has the highest concentration of mountains over 8,000m anywhere on the planet, so it was not surprising that even the drive up half way was long, at times slow, and required increasing consumption of water and sugar candy as we made our way up to 3,600 meters to a little reserve and tourist spot next to Lake Karakul in the shadow of Mt Muztagh Ata. At this stage we were only approximately 30km from Tajikistan and 80km from Afghanistan, yet any concerns for our safety were not the result of the neighbours to the south. For it was here that we met the 'PIT TOILET OF DOOM'. I won't go into the details, except to refer you to the intro paragraph to this post and all the unwelcome visions that it brings.
The road ahead on our trip up the Karakoram Highway.
Already completely awestruck by the location and the idea that some of the most unstable yet amazing places were only a few hours drive away it was only later that I discovered Amy's work colleague James had, in his youth (and in more stable times), done the full length of the highway from Kashgar to Abbottabad in Pakistan . He regaled the stories of the locals along the way, which just reinforced my initials thoughts that this was one of my favourite places in China that we would visit in our 3 years there (and still ranks as Numero Uno). And was I jealous much of the journey he had been able to take? Hell yes. And after seeing a story on ABC about this only a few weeks back (it's now Sept 2013) I only hope that one day there is enough stability in the region for me to be able to do the full stretch. Glad it was not that particular trip though, as I started to feel the effects of the high altitude halfway back to Kashgar and copped a massive headache for my troubles.
Lake Karakuri (at 3,600m) with Muztagh Ata in the background (at 7,546m high)
Our last day in Kashgar was spending a bit of time wandering through the old city and checking out the Id Kah Mosque. As we were wandering we came across a little musical instrument shop that sold a whole range of instruments with bone shards inlaid into the wood. When it came to negotiating the price I was told by the shop attendant that I had to wait for the shop owner to return as he'd just ducked up the road for his middle of the day prayers. He must have found them calming because he was happy to negotiate to a price I was happy with (which is unlikely to reflect how much less it is actually worth :-). We finished the day and our time in Kashgar with a dinner at a local family's place where the pork was obviously scarce but the lamb kebabs were plentiful and we really got into the local bread and yogurt. The bread, seemingly made without yeast, looks similar to what a very deep dish pizza base would look like except that the base was thin and dotted with holes using a special tool that is the right arm of any local baker. This section of the town was at this time starting to be demolished by the Chinese Govt in the name of progress. There were huge protests being run by the locals who wanted to stay in their traditional houses, but with the Chinese Govt sighting fire risk issues as a reason for the demolition (something that we felt was valid upon our tour) it was not looking good for the stayers. A year later when we were back in Beijing we heard that progress had won out at the end of the day, and the old city was gone and the land ready to be refilled with new apartments.
Worshippers milling around the front steps of the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, after coming out of prayer.
The Kashgar Sunday markets. All those middle eastern designs, but mostly made in China methinks.
Kashgar Old City. Definitely not firetruck friendly, but still sad to see it gone.
This demolition of the old city was but one of the flash points between the ethnic Uyghurs and the Han Chinese in Kashgar, but it certainly wasn't the only issue seething beneath the surface. In addition to the continued fight for independence among certain groups we discovered through our tour guide that there were basic barriers to progress for the locals that looked unlikely to ever be resolved. Our tour guide in Kashgar (Abdul) was from his own description 'a relaxed Muslim'. We discovered over subsequent mornings that this meant he preferred the free buffet breakfast our hotel offered him (a usual deal for tour guides in China) in lieu of morning prayer. In discussions with him about the excellent level of English he displayed it it came to light that he had actually learnt his English when attending university in the provincial capital Urumqi, where he was 'roomied up' with an American student for 4 years. Abdul had graduated with a double degree, but when he applied for and got offered jobs it was with big Chinese companies in the East. It seems though that while the Chinese are keen to get the minorities better integrated it does not yet extend to changing any of the usual Chinese traditions or catering for the ones of the minorities. Pork is still the main dish at Chinese company work lunches, alcohol is the oil that lubricates the machine of business deals, and any thought of giving their fellow countrymen time off during the day to do prayers was not on the table.
So Kashgar was done, and it was time to head back north. Plenty still awaited us, including one surprise that I'd have been happier leaving there.
Next post:
Xinjiang Part II - Kazakh interludes, long car rides and the week-long diarrhea smackdown from hell (the last two which do not travel well together).
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