Interrupted while playing in a roadside puddle near Kashgar’s Old Town, this Uighur girl shows a spontaneous and enthusiastic sign for peace.
Mother and Child
A Uighur woman and her baby at home in the Old Town of Kashgar.
Sleeping In
A child sleeps on the roof of a home in Turpan in 2004. Summer months are very hot in this oasis city and it is common for people to take advantage of the cooler night air by sleeping outside on their rooftops.
Much has changed in this city since 2000. Personal cars and taxis speed down roads once filled with the colors and bells of Uighur donkey carts (laws now forbid the use of donkey carts in town during most hours of the day). New construction permeates the city and tourist sites have acquired a strange, Disney-like quality. This peaceful scene was photographed from an air-conditioned hotel room window looming several stories above.
Charbagh Greeting
A Uighur man at an animal market in the small town of Charbagh on the southern silk route.
A Uighur musician plays the Rawap on the street near the Hotan Bazaar on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert.
Kashgar Strings
Scaled-down versions of traditional Uighur musical instruments hang inside the window of a music shop in Kashgar.
Emin Mosque
Light pierces through openings in the domed galleries surrounding the central prayer hall at Emin Mosque in Turpan. This Uighur mosque was built in the late 18th century in commemoration of Turpan general Emin Khoja. The architectural style of the mosque is influenced by Persian and Central Asian architecture. The mosque is home to Emin Minaret, China's tallest minaret at 44 meters.
Two men sit at the side entrance to the tree-filled courtyard at Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar. Id Kah is China’s largest mosque.
A la "cart"
Donkeys eating at the Kashgar Animal Market.
Donkey Market
A view of the donkey market in the Uighur community of Charbagh. When I arrived under the shade of the poplar trees, two women graciously offered me a spot to sit down on their blanket while taking in the view.
Horse Test
A Uighur man tests out a horse on a shady lane at the animal market in the small town of Charbagh on the southern silk route.
Bactrian Camels
Bactrian camels under the shade of poplar trees at the Upal Bazaar. Upal is a small town to the southwest of Kashgar on the road toward Pakistan.
Uighur men strip the bark off of poplar lumber in the Hotan Bazaar.
Uighur girls play near a local water source in Kashgar’s Old Town after school. Many of the homes in the Old Town lack adequate plumbing. Residents come to this communal area to fetch water and do laundry.
Waiting for Change
During my first trip to Kashgar I bought a bagel-like bread called girde nan from two handsome young men along a quiet lane. I photographed the bakers as I waited for their younger brother to fetch change for my purchase.
On my next visit in 2004, I brought this photograph to give to them. Unfortunately, their bread stand was vacant. An American man, who lives in Kashgar and speaks fluent Uighur, offered to help me search for the bakers. First we went back to the original location of the bakery, where the landlord told us that the older brother had moved back to his hometown outside of Kashgar. She thought that the younger brother still lived in town and told us to inquire at a nearby mosque, where we began what at first seemed to be a wild goose chase: first to the mosque, then to the Kenyi Bazaar, then the post office. We showed a photo around and eventually a woman recognized him. She pointed us around a corner and down a residential lane to a bread stand crowded with several old women. There he was, tucked inside a dark little room with cool white light filtering in from high above. He was perched on the top of an earth and brick oven platform. My heart was pounding as I handed him the photos! He recognized me and the photo, and his wonderful eyes were just the same. He nodded, set the photos down beside him as he worked, and smiled.
Hot Girde Nan
Girde nan is pulled out of a tandoor-style oven in Kashgar.
Portrait with Cabbage
A Uighur farmer sits in a truck full of cabbage at the Upal Bazaar. Upal is a small town southwest of Kashgar.
A Uighur food stall serves tea to customers while preparing the kitchen for the lunch crowd in Kashgar's Animal Market.
Shopping at Dusk
People purchase fresh fruit and produce on the streets of Kashgar.
Man at Tea House
A man inside a traditional Uighur tea house in the heart of Kashgar’s Old Town.
Kebabs
A man fans mutton kebabs at a night market across from Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar.
Laughing with Vegetables
A Uighur woman and her daughter burst into laughter after giving me permission to photograph them at their vegetable stand in the Old Town in Kashgar.
Four years after I first photographed these women, I returned to Kashgar with some prints. Their vegetable stand was closed for the day, but someone nearby recognized them and took me to their home around the corner in the Old Town. When they saw me and the photograph, both women burst into laughter.
Uighur Hospitality
Fruit, nuts, bread, candy and pastries are artfully arranged in a Uighur home to expectation of dinner guests.
Sidewalk Greetings
Two little girls greet me on a sidewalk in the Uighur Old Town in Kashgar. In addition to being low-maintenance and practical, a Uighur's believe girls hair will grow longer and thicker if it is kept short during early childhood.
Neighbors
Two neighbors relax in a doorway in Uighur Old Town in Kashgar.
Cool Smile
A Uighur boy pauses while eating a piece of ice on a little lane in Kashgar's Old Town.
Many of the children I have met in Kashgar love to practice English phrases. This little boy asked me in English, "What time is it?" To which I replied, "Beijing time or Xinjiang time?", though I knew I'd be asked for both.
All of China is officially on "Beijing time". However, in Kashgar the sun rises a full two hours after it does in Beijing. Most Uighurs choose to schedule their day according to the unofficial "Xinjiang time".
Old Town
A toddler plays with a bowl just outside of his family’s home on a quiet residential lane in Kashgar’s historic Old Town.
Eighty-five percent of this ancient part of Kashgar is slated for demolition by the Chinese government.
Threshold
Old Town, Kashgar
Eighty-five percent of this ancient residential area is currently set for demolition by the Chinese government.
A young Uighur girl watches a small kiosk in Kashgar’s historic Old Town. A majority of the structures in this part of the city are currently marked for demolition by the Chinese government.
Two girls play while their grandfather splits firewood in Kashgar’s historic Old Town residential area. Many of the homes in this area lack plumbing and electricity. Eighty-five percent of the structures in the Old Town are currently marked for demolition by the Chinese government.
Old and New
Two Uighur girls stand in front homes that are being demolished (right) to make way for new commercial shopping areas (left) in a residential area near Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar.
Rubble
Remnants of Uighur homes sit in the shadow of modern Chinese apartment buildings on the edge of the Uighur Old Town.
"New" Town
Uighurs sell grapes and dates in front of modern Chinese shops on the edge of the Han part of town in Kashgar.
The Uighurs
For centuries, the majority of traditional inhabitants in the vast region of Northwestern China have been Uighur (pron. ‘wee ger’), a Turkic muslim ethnic group whose language, religion and culture contrasts with that of the Han Chinese. In recent years, the Chinese government has launched a rapid campaign to develop its western regions. This campaign has led to a dramatic influx of China’s majority Han into Xinjiang Province. As demographics change and industry begins to boom, traditional inhabitants are faced with increasing marginalization and pressure to assimilate.
In the summer of 2009, racial and political tension in Xinjiang Province received international attention due to ethnic violence in the provincial capitol, Urumqi. Even with increasing media attention, most people in western countries are not familiar with the Uighur people. This unfamiliarity is compounded by the fact that Chinese media often portrays Muslim groups in Xinjiang as violent extremists, a label that plays into Western post-9/11 fear and prejudice.
I first traveled to Xinjiang in 2000, less than one year after the the Southern Xinjiang railway reached the city of Kashgar. At times it was often hard for me to believe that I was still traveling in China. Uighur culture was clearly dominant and intact in most Xinjiang towns and cities despite new construction of modern Chinese buildings and wide boulevards on the outskirts of cities throughout the province.
I returned to Xinjiang in 2004 to witness many changes and a shift in population and cultural influence. In Kashgar, ancient homes in parts of the Uighur Old Town were being demolished to make way for new commercial shopping areas near the Id Ka Mosque in the center of town. In 2009, the government announced that it will accelerate demolition of ancient Uighur residential areas in Kashgar. The government claims that this centuries-old part of the city is not earthquake-safe. Large apartment complexes are planned to replace what many argue should instead be preserved and designated a UNESCO world heritage site.
My main desire has been to get to know the Uighur people, and preserve through photographs the spirit of their culture and traditional life in the face of an uncertain future. I am hopeful that more people will come to appreciate and empathize with the humanity and dignity of the Uighurs.
Stacey Irvin
skype: 1+ 615.653.4728
cell: 1+ 615.491.4728
