After what seemed an interminable 20+-hour bus ride, we finally made it to Kasghar. It was well worth the trip.
Immediately stepping off the bus and into the Kashgar afternoon sun you feel like you’ve not only crossed mountains and desert but a border into an entirely different country.
Kashgar is an old city dating back almost 2000 years and life in the Uyghur section of town seems largely unchanged.
Bazaars bustle with activity; donkey carts run along busy streets and the Idkah Mosque, the heart of the old city, serves as a gathering place for young and old alike where you can get your picture taken on a camel or horse for only a few RMB.
The streets around the mosque and the neighboring old city are truly a throwback in time. Traders, bakers and artisans attend to their business and craft in front of mud-brick walls and storefronts.
Shops burst with knives, jewelry, silks, carpets, vegetables, legs of lamb, hats, pots and pans, kettles and boots. Shopkeepers are open for negotiations and are proud to show you their handcrafted wares.
The only reminders that you are still in China are the occasional red flag and, of course, the 59-foot steel-reinforced statue of Chairman Mao in the city center.
Encircling the older part of the city are more modern and less aesthetically appealing structures, which serve as homes to banks, shopping centers and hotels, and sit in stark contrast to the tradition found within the old city walls.
by FFrame
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