Silk Road 4: Kashgar, Xinjiang, China

By Ali Karim
This post is part of a series called Silk Road China May 2016
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Like Turpan, Kashgar is one of the few oases in this part of China where the Silk Road Caravans stopped along their journeys. Kashgar especially, became a big trading center where Tajiks, Khirgiz, Khazaks, Uzbecs and other Europeans and Persians traded in this oasis stop on their way to and from China

Info Kashgar was a BIG Trading Hub.

Kashgar is a very old city, with a large (60-70%) Uyghur Muslim population (rest being Han imports). The main mosque is Id Kah mosque, which is in the center of the old part of the city. More on the mosque later.

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silk-road-4-image02Local street market; note that men and women were selling in different areas

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Restaurant

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People watching

Dried dates and fruits, eggs etc,

silk-road-4-image06Local Uyghur street markets, & old town scenes

The old area of the city is where all the excitement was for us. The Chinese govt took some part of the old town, and “modernized” it by building in better facilities (electric, water, sanitation etc) and then renovated the exteriors to make it look like an old city (“new old city”). Nicely done. However, it did not have the character of the true “old old city”.

We spent time walking the new old city, and went to and old traditional tea house (where only old men sit down, drink light black tea (with leaves) and dunk hard rolls of bread into the tea and eat that, and discuss all kinds of daily events, solve world problems, with old friends; of course Dilshad was the only woman there, but was welcomed by the regulars.

Info Only Men Sit Down and Drink Black Tea at Traditional Tea Houses in Old City

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silk-road-4-image08Friendly local patrons of the tea house

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silk-road-4-image10Traditional Tea House and patrons

The night market was interesting; only gets set up in the evening with multiple food stalls; making all kinds of local dishes. Please excuse the many pics, as it was very interesting.

silk-road-4-image11Outdoor Cooking

silk-road-4-image12Local Transportation

silk-road-4-image13Fresh Noodle Making

silk-road-4-image14More Outdoor Stalls Getting Set Up

silk-road-4-image15Sleepy Babies

silk-road-4-image24Night Market in Full Swing

silk-road-4-image16Fresh Noodles

silk-road-4-image17More Fresh Noodles

silk-road-4-image18Polo(Pilau) and carrot pickles

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silk-road-4-image20Fish Anyone?

silk-road-4-image21Chicken and Lamb Kebab

silk-road-4-image22Fresh Watermelon After meal

Had dinner at a traditional Uyghur restaurant; which had curtain-separated rooms for families/women. I found a potato dish (my favorite) that I ordered, but it was so hot, I had a hard time eating it 🙁

silk-road-4-image23Hot potato dish

Next to us, was seated a nice Uyghur family, so I went over and salaam’d them, and then shook hands with the father and then the mother. I was told by Ablimit, our guide, that there are several things forbidden in the Uyghur culture:

Important Information
  • One is to NOT shake excess water from the hands after washing hands (don’t spread your dirty water everywhere)
  • Another is never to shake the hand of a woman you don’t know; instead you simply put your right hand across your chest and bow slightly
  • Never blow your nose inside a Uyghur house
  • Always take your shoes off at the door, when entering a Uyghur home

You live and learn 🙂

Silk Road 5 next

This entry was posted in Asia, China, Silk Road China May 2016

5 thoughts on “Silk Road 4: Kashgar, Xinjiang, China

  • Pingback: Silk Road 3; Touring around Turpan, Xinjiang, China - Ali Karim Travelog

  • Lillie August 8, 2017 at 1:09 pm Reply

    My brother suggested I might like this web site. He was totally right. This blog post truly made my day. You can not believe how so much time I had spent for this information! Thank you!

    • Ali Karim August 10, 2017 at 11:12 am Reply

      Lillie, most welcome. So glad you enjoyed my Travelog post for Xinjiang

  • Nathan Pye February 22, 2017 at 11:48 pm Reply

    This is a topic that is close to my heart… Many thanks!

    Where are your contact details though?

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