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Called “the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in central Asia” by American architect and historian George Michell， the old city of Kashgar is a vital cultural intersection on the historic Silk Road in the remote west of China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Michell made this observation in his 2008 book Kashgar： Oasis City on China’s Old Silk Road. Before him， German-Swiss film director Marc Forster made similar remarks concerning his decision to film Kite Runner （2007） in Kashgar instead of Afghanistan， where the story was set.
Sand-colored houses， women dressed in various kinds of hijab， and men in robes and skullcaps—all of this makes Kashgar stand out compared with many other places in China. More than 95 percent of Kashgar’s residents are of nonHan ethnicity， whereas people of other ethnicities comprise less than half of the population in the regional capital of Urumqi. Thus it is said that without traveling to Kashgar， you cannot say you have really been to Xinjiang.
Much of the architecture in the old city remains as it was 2，000 years ago when Uygur people settled in Kashgar. More than 126，800 people call the 4.25-square-km area home.
Long old life
Skyscrapers and old houses see each other over just one street in Kashgar. A ferris wheel of an amusement park opposite to the old city demarcates an apparent boundary， but the screams of parkgoers riding rollercoasters drift into the old town from time to time.
Kashgar’s old city can be divided into two parts—one， packed with workshops， vendors， cafes and restaurants， has been tidily renovated. New developments with Uygur characteristics have emerged since 2009， and bazaars have been reorganized according to types of wares： hats， food and musical instruments， to name but a few categories.
The residential buildings are as they were， built in higher locations and normally two or three stories tall and built of mud and wood， with beautifully carved ceilings. The original support structures have remained unchanged for centuries， and many houses have been passed down through seven or eight generations.
Each house has a courtyard， some big and some small. Similarly， all the yards feature trees and flowers favored by Muslims， such as mulberry， fig， pomegranate， almond， grape and roses. The yards are heavily shaded， providing a tranquil environment for relaxation. Larger yards feature pergolas for grape vines. To walk through the narrow lanes of the old city is to walk into living history. Craftswomen stitch traditional four-cornered doppa caps. Girls with cropped hair wearing bright frocks and mismatched plastic sandals giggle and shove one another， then sing and dance for their audience. The real pleasure here is to wander and watch.
Amago Rajim， a 58-year-old woman， has been living in a two-story house for 40 years. She can see skyscrapers and the amusement park from her living room. “The view is spectacular from the window and we can get plenty of sunshine，” said Rajim. “The neighbors are all long-time friends and we know each other pretty well. Living here is very happy.”
Every weekend， their four children and seven grandchildren visit the home inherited from her in-laws. “We also have an apartment in modern building in Kashgar and we go there to spend winter as the winter here is very cold，” said Rajim， who revealed that people need to burn coal themselves to keep warm. “Both my husband and I have tracheitis so we cannot stay here in winter.”
Thirteen-year-old Akada has been here for eight years. “The neighbors are very friendly and we have known each other for a long time， so it feels very good and safe，” said Akada， who lives with his parents and grandparents in a two-story home. “I want to live here forever.”
There are still some time-honored shops hidden in the narrow lanes. Atop the residential area is a famous earthenware shop owned by the Zunon family for six generations.
Tursun Zunon， 48， started to learn pottery when he was only 10 years old. In those days， it was practically the only type of daily-use container around and more than 30 households in the old city made a living making it by hand. A craftsman could provide for a family of 12 children.
“It was not easy in those days as all the materials had to be collected from different places and carried here by horses or camels， which normally took quite a few days，” said Zunon. “But now with the fast delivery service， it is no problem at all.”
The family suffered in the mid-1980s when plastic and iron replaced earthenware. Only four households， including Zunon’s， still produced pottery until a tourism surge in the 1990s transformed earthenware from a daily necessity to a souvenir.
Zunon earns about 2，000 to 3，000 yuan （$326 to $489）， enough for basic living. Although they have electricity， Zunon still pedals his pottery wheel the old-fashioned way to keep the original flavor of this skill. He has three daughters and a son who he hopes will take over after him. Old town， new life
In the west of the residential area is a bazaar bustling with vendors. Renovations began in this part of town in 2009， after an earthquake killed nearly 70，000 people in Sichuan Province in May 2008. Xinjiang experiences frequent earthquakes， and the houses in Kashgar’s old city are dilapidated and extremely vulnerable to quakes and fire.
Renovations to 28 blocks in and around the old city encompass 65，000 households with 220，000 residents.
“If there were an earthquake in Kashgar like the one in Sichuan， you couldn’t imagine the consequences，” said Vice Mayor Yue Zhigang. “The streets are very narrow—we couldn’t conduct an evacuation or rescue. The basic infrastructure in the old city is outdated and the living and working conditions for the people are also comparatively poor.”
“Our new house is pretty much the same with the old one we lived before but much better equipped，” said Rehman Aili. “We have the electricity and gas. Plus， there is a separate room on the first floor which can be renovated into a shop. It is very convenient for doing business.”
Aizeik Armu has been living in the old city for 60 years. His granddaughter attends college in Wuhan， central China’s Hubei Province， and is always amazed by how much the old city changes between vacations. “She said Kashgar is turning into not only a beautiful city but a comfortable one to live in， and she plans to come back after graduation，” said Armu.
Modern elements settled down in the old city at the same time. Super 8 Hotel， the world’s largest budget hotel chain， has settled into Kantuman Bazaar.
The bazaar is named for a broad-headed Uygur pick-axe， and hosts iron and brass workshops employing skills handed down for hundreds of years. Artisans work iron and brass objects before their customers’ very eyes.
The facade of the three-story Super 8 Hotel in Kantuman Bazaar is no different from any other building. Chen Liping， the owner， came to Kashgar in a self-guided tour in 2011. Amazed by the unique and mysterious atmosphere of the city， she decided to stay.
“Many of the tourists staying in this hotel are DIY tourists and some would stay for more than 10 days， exploring the city bit by bit.”
Michell made this observation in his 2008 book Kashgar： Oasis City on China’s Old Silk Road. Before him， German-Swiss film director Marc Forster made similar remarks concerning his decision to film Kite Runner （2007） in Kashgar instead of Afghanistan， where the story was set.
Sand-colored houses， women dressed in various kinds of hijab， and men in robes and skullcaps—all of this makes Kashgar stand out compared with many other places in China. More than 95 percent of Kashgar’s residents are of nonHan ethnicity， whereas people of other ethnicities comprise less than half of the population in the regional capital of Urumqi. Thus it is said that without traveling to Kashgar， you cannot say you have really been to Xinjiang.
Much of the architecture in the old city remains as it was 2，000 years ago when Uygur people settled in Kashgar. More than 126，800 people call the 4.25-square-km area home.
Long old life
Skyscrapers and old houses see each other over just one street in Kashgar. A ferris wheel of an amusement park opposite to the old city demarcates an apparent boundary， but the screams of parkgoers riding rollercoasters drift into the old town from time to time.
Kashgar’s old city can be divided into two parts—one， packed with workshops， vendors， cafes and restaurants， has been tidily renovated. New developments with Uygur characteristics have emerged since 2009， and bazaars have been reorganized according to types of wares： hats， food and musical instruments， to name but a few categories.
The residential buildings are as they were， built in higher locations and normally two or three stories tall and built of mud and wood， with beautifully carved ceilings. The original support structures have remained unchanged for centuries， and many houses have been passed down through seven or eight generations.
Each house has a courtyard， some big and some small. Similarly， all the yards feature trees and flowers favored by Muslims， such as mulberry， fig， pomegranate， almond， grape and roses. The yards are heavily shaded， providing a tranquil environment for relaxation. Larger yards feature pergolas for grape vines. To walk through the narrow lanes of the old city is to walk into living history. Craftswomen stitch traditional four-cornered doppa caps. Girls with cropped hair wearing bright frocks and mismatched plastic sandals giggle and shove one another， then sing and dance for their audience. The real pleasure here is to wander and watch.
Amago Rajim， a 58-year-old woman， has been living in a two-story house for 40 years. She can see skyscrapers and the amusement park from her living room. “The view is spectacular from the window and we can get plenty of sunshine，” said Rajim. “The neighbors are all long-time friends and we know each other pretty well. Living here is very happy.”
Every weekend， their four children and seven grandchildren visit the home inherited from her in-laws. “We also have an apartment in modern building in Kashgar and we go there to spend winter as the winter here is very cold，” said Rajim， who revealed that people need to burn coal themselves to keep warm. “Both my husband and I have tracheitis so we cannot stay here in winter.”
Thirteen-year-old Akada has been here for eight years. “The neighbors are very friendly and we have known each other for a long time， so it feels very good and safe，” said Akada， who lives with his parents and grandparents in a two-story home. “I want to live here forever.”
There are still some time-honored shops hidden in the narrow lanes. Atop the residential area is a famous earthenware shop owned by the Zunon family for six generations.
Tursun Zunon， 48， started to learn pottery when he was only 10 years old. In those days， it was practically the only type of daily-use container around and more than 30 households in the old city made a living making it by hand. A craftsman could provide for a family of 12 children.
“It was not easy in those days as all the materials had to be collected from different places and carried here by horses or camels， which normally took quite a few days，” said Zunon. “But now with the fast delivery service， it is no problem at all.”
The family suffered in the mid-1980s when plastic and iron replaced earthenware. Only four households， including Zunon’s， still produced pottery until a tourism surge in the 1990s transformed earthenware from a daily necessity to a souvenir.
Zunon earns about 2，000 to 3，000 yuan （$326 to $489）， enough for basic living. Although they have electricity， Zunon still pedals his pottery wheel the old-fashioned way to keep the original flavor of this skill. He has three daughters and a son who he hopes will take over after him. Old town， new life
In the west of the residential area is a bazaar bustling with vendors. Renovations began in this part of town in 2009， after an earthquake killed nearly 70，000 people in Sichuan Province in May 2008. Xinjiang experiences frequent earthquakes， and the houses in Kashgar’s old city are dilapidated and extremely vulnerable to quakes and fire.
Renovations to 28 blocks in and around the old city encompass 65，000 households with 220，000 residents.
“If there were an earthquake in Kashgar like the one in Sichuan， you couldn’t imagine the consequences，” said Vice Mayor Yue Zhigang. “The streets are very narrow—we couldn’t conduct an evacuation or rescue. The basic infrastructure in the old city is outdated and the living and working conditions for the people are also comparatively poor.”
“Our new house is pretty much the same with the old one we lived before but much better equipped，” said Rehman Aili. “We have the electricity and gas. Plus， there is a separate room on the first floor which can be renovated into a shop. It is very convenient for doing business.”
Aizeik Armu has been living in the old city for 60 years. His granddaughter attends college in Wuhan， central China’s Hubei Province， and is always amazed by how much the old city changes between vacations. “She said Kashgar is turning into not only a beautiful city but a comfortable one to live in， and she plans to come back after graduation，” said Armu.
Modern elements settled down in the old city at the same time. Super 8 Hotel， the world’s largest budget hotel chain， has settled into Kantuman Bazaar.
The bazaar is named for a broad-headed Uygur pick-axe， and hosts iron and brass workshops employing skills handed down for hundreds of years. Artisans work iron and brass objects before their customers’ very eyes.
The facade of the three-story Super 8 Hotel in Kantuman Bazaar is no different from any other building. Chen Liping， the owner， came to Kashgar in a self-guided tour in 2011. Amazed by the unique and mysterious atmosphere of the city， she decided to stay.
“Many of the tourists staying in this hotel are DIY tourists and some would stay for more than 10 days， exploring the city bit by bit.”