Kashgar's Main Square:
Like the rest of Xinjiang, Kashgar is populated by
ethnic moslem Turkic peoples, speaking a number of dialects.
Left: The Id Kah mosque is the center of Kashgar; its open
inner courtyard is filled with worshipers on many days.
Local Detail.
Right: While the adjacent streets are lined with
urban businesses like this dentist's shop and others.
Kashgar's Main Square:
Left: In 1985, there were few vehicles as traditional women
waited outside the mosque with their heads covered in the traditional
brown shawl.
Right: Beside the square: you can't imagine someone actually
wearing these "traditional" patterns, until you see the shoppers!
Close-up.
Kashgar's Main Square:
The trade language is (turkic) Uyghur -- written in
arabic script -- but may dialects are heard.
Left: A barber plies his regular trade in front of a cafe across
from the Id Kah square.
Right: Inside the cafe, local Uyghurs mingle with ethnic Gringos
and Guai-los over noodle soup.
Close-up.
Main Street:
In addition to ethnic Uyghurs -- the majority group in Xinjiang -- the
province is home to large groups of Kirghiz, Uzbeks, Tadjiks -- Turkic
peoples all -- and Mongul Kazakhs.
Left: On the main boulevard, a group from the countryside
feast on the plentiful melons.
Right: A Kirghiz man sells the fresh figs (yum!) he has
brought to town.
Shops and Stalls of Kashgar:
As the only provincial center for hundreds of miles, Kashgar
is an open market of produce and services.
Left: Melons of various kinds, and fresh fruit and grapes are common
where the desert soil is irrigated with plentiful glacial runoff.
Right: Horse-shoeing done while you wait.
Blacksmiths (1990):
Yes, cottage industry in China! The ethnic minority
"autonomous regions" are exempt from many rules -- from religious
practice, to economic entrepeneurship, to family size.
Left: This blacksmith -- one of a row of similar shops --
turns out farm implements.
Right: ...by hand.
Close-up.
Wood-Turners (1985):
Left: In 1985, these craftsmen created wool-cards and other
tools on wood lathes powered by hand-drawn bows.
Close-up;
Right: The finished cards. By 1990, they were using
electric lathes which only worked while the electric system held up.
Bakers:
And everywhere the bakers: of flat-bread, and Uyghur
bread with soft thick edges; some with onions or thyme!
Left: Hot Uyghur bread fresh from the small clay ovens.
Right: The dough sticks to the walls of the oven until it's done
to perfection. You don't get bread like this in "downtown" China!
Bakers:
Left: Young boys perform the process from kneading the dough to
baking these fat little bagle-shaped breads (1985).
Close-up;
Right: This cafe specializes in little mutton pasties. It is
a popular hangout, as well.
Close-up;
Detail.
Those Uyghur caps are all made right here in Kashgar.
