Xinjiang... Wulumuqi

Two fellow Olmsted Scholars also studying in China and I planned a trip together to go travel to the Xinjiang Uygher Autonomous Region of China, or simply Xinjiang province (Uygher is pronounced "we-ger"). The three of us set out on our 10-day trip from Friday, March 27th, until Monday, April 6th. So that puts me at one month behind in my blogging! Hopefully I can make that up soon...

We flew from Shanghai into Wulumuqi, the capital of Xinjiang province in western China. Wulumuqi is about 2,000 miles west of Shanghai, a relatively long five-hour flight for us. Xinjiang is depicted in red below...

A little background on the Xinjiang province

Xinjiang province is bordered by Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Tibet, so Xinjiang definitely has a central Asian feel to it, and not a traditional Chinese feel.

China, as most people know, has the world's largest population with 1.3 billion people... 93% of the population is ethnically Han. Xinjiang province, with a land mass accounting for 15% of China's size, has a population of 19 million (only 1.5% of China's population)... a population less than Shanghai's!

Xinjiang province is 45% Uygher, 40% Han, and 7% Kazakh, 4% Hui, 1% Kyrgyz and 3% other ethnic minority groups. The Han population in Xinjiang has grown from 6% in 1949 to 40% today due to a controversial government policy of moving Han Chinese into the province to make it more Chinese.

The Uygher language is a Turkic language, descending from Turkish and related to the Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Tajik languages. The language and people came to this region along the Silk Road from Turkey and settled in these areas. The Uygher language is written using Arabic script, while the Uygher people look completely different from Han Chinese. So traveling in Xinjiang is really like being in a different country.

Speaking of it being like a different country, it was until China conquered the area in the mid-1700s. There are still strong separatist feelings in the area, with two attempts of independence in 1933 and again in 1943 to form the country of East Turkestan. Separatist demonstrations, including terrorist bombings, are not uncommon in the region today. The targets of their attacks have generally been Chinese police stations.


The Travel Plan

Xinjiang is basically seen along the Northern Silk Road or the Southern Silk Road. The Silk Road entered the region in Kashgar and then split into two routes to get around the desert, and reunitied in the city of Wulumuqi. Our plan was to fly into Wulumuqi, then fly to Kashgar and travel the Southern Silk Road back to Wulumuqi.

Wulumuqi

Wulumuqi is the Chinese pronounciation of the city's real name, Urumqi. When thinking of traveling to Xinjiang, Wulumuqi is a HUGE disappointment. It has a population of 2 million, 75% Han Chinese, only 13% Uygher and the rest "other." The city was a bit of a disappointment because we wanted to see Central Asian culture and this was simply another Chinese city...

The train station is typical of buildings here, with writing both in Chinese and Arabic script.


The one exception to the Wulumuqi disappointment was the Grand Bazaar (Chinese: da baza). Here's an overview pic...
A picture of the mosque at the bazaar...

Fresh squeezed pomegranate juice... better not wear white around this stuff
KFC in English, Chinese, and Uygher...

And now for the best part of this place... the dinner theater.

Inside the theater...

The dinner buffet was huge, and good! This goat meat was surprisingly great!

The dancing show was fantastic... an hour and half show. The guys were good...

The ladies were...

uh, uh, wow! What can you say about belly dancing with a snake?

Why would the Chinese government ever want to destroy this culture?

And to think that they are Chinese? Yes, they are.

Then the embarrassing part, with pictures to prove it. At the conclusion of the show the dancers came down into the crowd to get partners to dance with on stage. Enrique was the first of us to go...

I couldn't get away with just taking pictures. Soon my other friend Ryan grabbed my camera and away I went...

All in the name of cultural immersion...

Like I said, you can simply pass through Wulumuqi and not miss much. However, after a five-hour flight to get there, spending a night to eat at this dinner theater is definitely worth the layover. The next morning we flew out to Kashgar.