Xinjiang, Aiya !
About this time last year, I was backpacking alone in Xinjiang. I returned inspired and intrigued, wanting more of the quick peek into inter-ethnic/racial relations, Uighur culture, blue skies and mountainous nature. It’s interesting to look back on my observations (day-by-day account documented here and here) in hindsight one year on days after the riots.
I really don’t like the deep-rooted distrust Han Chinese have of Uighurs. More than once, the skanky Han Chinese men had warned me of Uighurs who would “persistently follow me if I don’t want to take a day tour” or “hike up prices the moment I’m in their cars”.
A, also my first Uighur friend on the trip then took me to dinner with a few of his friends. Dapanji (literally, big-plated chicken; a traditional Xinjiang dish of chicken, vegetables and handmade noodles) and loads of beer later, I’ve learnt how to say gan bei in Uighur with passable accuracy - “Houshek!”
Four bottles of mineral water, these are the farewell gifts from my Uighur friends in Turpan. Two from A and two from ST, even after I told them I could get them myself later on. I miss Turpan already.
I’m glad Kashgar still has its old town intact, though I’m sure it is due for redevelopment in time to come.
Must propaganda be more strong-handed and blatant the further away provinces are from Beijing? Toward Kashgar I witness plenty of propaganda yet it is here in the Westernmost city that I see one of the largest Mao statues in China and propaganda messages recklessly handpainted on the lovely walls of old town.
Sichuan people are everywhere, in the far reaches and armpits deep in the heart of China and what naught. Here I met the owners of a small Sichuanese restaurant, a couple who has uprooted their family (kids and parents) and who has been here for 10+ years and going strong. Kashgar is and will be their home.
Lunch today is delicious mutton dumplings at Upal, an hour from Kashgar. One thing that I know I’ll miss about Xinjiang will be the tea. It’s fragrant and not diluted like the crap they serve at Chinese restaurants. The only unpleasant bit, the cashier tried overcharging me by RMB 0.20 just because I don’t look local, bah.
So many police checkpoints as I travel by bus in Xinjiang. I wonder if the heightened security not seen elsewhere in China is a result of “Uighur separatist elements” or the ever-tiresome Beijing Olympics fervor.
No motels, guesthouses would take me in Yarkand. Apparently only three hotels are licensed to receive foreigners, and they charge RMB 100-200+/ night. Nice one, Chinese government under the pretext of ensuring the safety/ comfort of your foreign guests. Talking to some Han Chinese at a hotel that couldn’t take me, they actually sincerely believe that this policy is what it is at face value. They told me of a brutal murder that had occurred just all of two weeks ago committed in a hotel by a Uighur and advised “it’s not safe for a Han Chinese girl to wander in Uighur districts past night fall”. While searching for non-sleazy bathhouses (a last option as suggested by the helpful Han Chinese), I stumbled upon a better solution: all-night internet access in the private booth of an internet cafe for RMB 20.
Strangely but maybe not strangely so, I find myself being taken care of by Han Chinese folks everywhere in Xinjiang. If in doubt or encountering a problem, trust a Han Chinese stranger to help. I think they find it their duty as a fellow Chinese to assist. This is the only thing that doesn’t put me off toward Han Chinese.
Usually, I just can’t help but dislike Han Chinese because of their blatant distrust of Uighurs. Racial harmony is such a farce in China! Unfortunately so, my heritage causes me to inherit this baggage - Uighurs are sometimes distrustful of me as a result as much as I am a clean slate, sympathetic of their cause and position in Chinese society.
Sadly like Yarkand, Hotan is swiftly losing its charm. Such is the sad reality bidding the depressing end to all the ancient Silk Road cities.
This may come across startling or extreme but let’s have a go at this. Given the Han Chinese fascination with everything Caucasian/ Western, I suppose it should not be too difficult for Uighurs with their exotic Eurasian looks to rule ’superior’ or to interact more with foreigners. Then does it make sense that there seems to be a systematic isolation of Uighurs by the Chinese government? Why else would the government revise written Uighur from Roman alphabetical form to its current Arabic script? Or to subject Uighurs to constant humiliating police checks almost like criminals in their own country? We don’t see this practiced elsewhere in China, does the common Uighur on the street know better?
I was at People’s Park waiting for V, my HK roommate in Kashgar that I’d bumped into again here in Urumqi. I see Uighur old folks dancing Uighur-style dances with Han Chinese old folks and Uighur families picniking/ strolling about in the park. Maybe Uighurs today are content to be Chinese, who are we to interfere?
The Uighur teacher sitting next to me on the flight back reminded me that it is the policy we should be wary of, and not the Han Chinese. Good point to ponder over, since it is innately communism at work. A new friend made just as I’ve least expected on the last day of my trip.
(Pardon the wonky format, seems like the blogging interface doesn’t like copy/pasting so much.)
