So, what has been the purpose of all of the recent posts on Xinjiang? Aside from the obvious merits of the places that I have profiled, I have also been trying to provide you, dear readers, with an understanding of what Xinjiang looks and feels like. Hardly anyone outside of China has even heard of … Continue reading
In my previous writing on Turpan, I alluded to the area being famous for its grapes… Well, they’ve had a lot of time to get it right. There is evidence of grapes being grown around Turpan since at least the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). And the high esteem in which grapes from Turpan are … Continue reading
Kashgar has a number of extraordinary markets – such as the Night Market or the Sunday Market – and probably the most extraordinary of these is its livestock market. The Kashgar Livestock Market has been meeting every Sunday on the outskirts of Kashgar for generations. And by generations, I mean at least since Marco Polo … Continue reading
We’ve touched on Kashgar already, but there is a lot to see in Kashgar. So, we find ourselves back here again to explore another market. This time, I will be taking you through the “Sunday Market”, which is more formally known as the Central Asia International Grand Bazaar… This is a gargantuan market – said … Continue reading
In the buildup to the post in which I intend to examine the conflict in Xinjiang, I have been focusing on many of the highlights of the region. In general, I think it helps one better understand events in the present if they are aware of the cultural depth and history of a society. When … Continue reading
Stretching more than 800 miles from Kashgar in China’s western Xinjiang region to Abbottabad in Pakistan, the Karakoram Highway is the world’s highest transnational roadway and a testament to modern China’s determination to shape and contain nature’s most daunting obstacles. Completed in 1979, the roadway’s official objective was to foster trade between Beijing and Karachi, … Continue reading
This scene report may be a thousand years too late, but this is the action in Jiaohe right now… Said to be the largest, oldest and best-preserved earthen city in the world, the remains of the ancient city of Jiaohe are incorporated into an island in the middle of the confluence of two rivers near … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 