It’s easy to run through an exhaustive list of all the big things that China has done.  To call out all of the sweeping expanses, the seemingly unending mountain ranges, and raging rivers that run for thousands of miles.

One thing China does really well is big.  There’s no doubt about that.  But over the course of my one year stay, I have come to realize that there’s more to it than that.

I try to notice all of the little things, the minor details that are not immediately obvious.  It must be the engineer, or the obsessive compulsive, in me.  With that in mind, I’ve compiled this photo essay that portrays some of the little details you may not notice but are beautiful nonetheless.

I’ve tried my best to go for a diversity of subjects as well as locations.  It would be easy to fill this essay with close-up pictures of urns and wall carvings from Beijing.  To be honest, some of these pictures are not my favorites.  I really did want to include a lot more pictures from Beijing.  But I think that no matter where you go in China, there is a certain beauty you can find in the little things.  And I wanted to maintain the theme I was going for.

With that in mind, I give you my first ever photo essay.  Enjoy!

Backdrop Buddhist carvings at Leshan, Sichuan.

Little red people stapled to a tree at Fuxi Temple, Tianshui.

My guess is these are "good luck" or "good fortune" prayer squares. They are tied to one of those giant urns at a small temple in Beihai (North Lake) Park, Beijing.

Columns supporting the roof of the High Mosque at the Aba Khoja Mausoleum, Kashgar, Xinjiang. With over 100 columns, each one is topped by a completely unique muqarna.

A large door at the Daxingshan Temple, Xi'an. I've never seen another door with a chain on it like this one.

A dragon (or is it emperor?) run at a temple near Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou. I found the blue accents particularly striking.

Usually the immediate impression you get upon seeing temple buildings is the sheer size. But sometimes you need to stop and appreciate the intricate woodwork that is going on under the eaves of the roofs. This one is from Heavenly Lake, Xinjiang.

The top of a wall inside the Yu gardens, Shanghai

Some kind of prayer charms at a temple (the name escapes me) in Lijiang, Yunnan. The lot of them made a beautiful noise when blowing in the wind.

I imagine that this dragon is breathing fire. Taken at another small temple at Beihai Park, Beijing.

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Frankly, there is not much in the way of tourist destinations in Kashgar. I think of the city as a jumping off point for other sites such as the Taklamakan Desert, Tashkurgan, Karakul Lake, and access to neighboring countries. Despite some difficulties I did manage to visit Karakul Lake but I didn’t have time for any of those other things. Fortunately, I did manage to find a few things to do to keep me occupied during my stay.

But really the reason to go to Kashgar is for the above sites and the culture.  Even though Chinese modernization is quickly steamrolling through the city, it is still completely saturated with Uyghur culture and their way of life.  It is so radically different from the rest of China that it’s like stepping into another world.

In my mind, that reason alone is good enough to make the journey to Kashgar.  And I suggest you do it quickly.  Eventually the Old City will be replaced with high-rise apartment buildings and shopping malls.  The fantastic character of this unique city will be gone forever.

Near the center of town you can find the 59 ft (18 meter) tall statue of Mao Zedong. I’ve heard somewhere there is a saying that the further you get from Beijing, the bigger the Mao statues are. I don’t know if that’s true but this one is pretty darn big. Unfortunately the location is not exactly the most grandiose place.

The statue sits in front of some banal government building facing a small square and a less-than-stellar park.  Being not so picturesque, I think visiting the giant Mao is more for novelty’s sake than anything else because it really is a huge statue. Go see it, take some pictures, and leave. There’s not much else to do in the immediate area.

The Id Kah Mosque is the largest mosque in China and is located inside the Old City. It was built around 1442 and can house up to 20,000 people at one time. The entrance is quite striking and rather large (as so many things are in China) though it didn’t exude the deep feelings of culture and history that I had originally associated with such an important site.  To be honest, I think the Great Mosque in Xi’an is way better. Other than a series of lackluster gardens, there’s not much to see inside the mosque itself. I suggest forgoing the 20 RMB entrance fee and sticking your head in for quick peek. That’s really all you’ll need.

Id Kah Mosque sits at the center of a large square surrounded by a plethora of shops and stalls selling all manner of trinkets and snacks. Couple that with the fact that the Old City is just a few blocks away in any direction makes for a pretty neat area to visit. There is a very big downside, however. While I was there I always saw a platoon of soldiers “guarding” the square. They literally stood there all day staring at the mosque. During prayer times there were three or four platoons, about 100 soldiers in all.

Given the riots that occurred back in July it doesn’t surprise me that there was a large military presence. But I find it offensive that the government thinks it’s necessary to station troops outside a place of worship. I’m not religious in any way, but I can easily see how someone would be disgruntled by soldiers standing outside his church/synagogue/mosque/what-have-you watching him like a hawk. The heavy-handed gesture of placing soldiers there really typifies my perception of government attitudes towards China’s minorities.

Kashgar’s Old City is really the biggest draw for the town itself. You could spend hours, if not days, wandering the streets of this quickly disappearing area. I wrote about this place way back in October, and I don’t think there’s a better way to sum up my feelings than what I’ve already written:

The Old City is a glimpse into the traditional Uyghur style of living that, unfortunately, is slowly being demolished to make way for high-rise apartments, plazas, and reproductions of Islamic architecture. If for whatever reason this is of interest to you, I implore you to make the journey to this town before the demolition is complete. It’s a tragedy that an area so full of history and culture is being swept away for the sake of industrialization and modernization. It’s so full of character and charm while the high-rise apartments I see being erected all over China are so completely lacking in it.

Kashgar is known to host two very big markets every weekend: the bazaar and the animal market. Can you guess which one I went to?  Unfortunately I only had time for one over the weekend due to my overnight stay at Karakul Lake.  I’ve seen plenty of different bazaars all over the world.  Also at that point I was on a pretty tight budget so I wasn’t planning on buying any souvenirs so early in my trip. Therefore it was an easy decision to head to the animal market.

I’ve never actually been to anything like an animal market before and let me tell you I was not disappointed. There must have been thousands of animals for sale. Sheep, goats, cows, donkeys, horses, chickens, and all manner of fruits and vegetables. The animals seemed to go on forever. It is a really impressive sight. Though I must say that the smell isn’t pleasant at all.

I spent about an hour walking around viewing the animals and watching the mass of Uyghurs conducting business. For only the price of a bus ticket, visiting the animal market is a great way to kill a few hours.

The Aba Khoja Mausoleum is an easy bus ride about 5 kilometers outside of town.  Built in 1640, the tomb is supposedly one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in Xinjiang.  As you can see from the picture, it is very large and very beautiful.  It is covered in green and blue glazed tiles that glitter in the bright sun.  The building is a tomb so there’s not much to see inside aside from coffins.  But the outside was more than enough for me.

There are a number of small attractions in the area, including two decaying mosques, an orchard, and a graveyard.  General admittance to the mausoleum also allows you to visit the two mosques.  While they have fallen into disrepair, they are still nice for a quick visit.  You will be charged extra to visit the other sites (a common tactic to get your money in China).  I didn’t bother with those as it didn’t seem to be worth it.

So that wraps up my stay in Kashgar.  Coming up next is my trip into the mountains to visit Karakul Lake where I stayed in a yurt overnight with a Uyghur family.

Related posts:

1. Yet Another Lake in Xinjiang
2. Why I am Never Going Back to Kashgar
3. A Night on Karakul Lake in a Yurt

Let me start off by saying that Kashgar is a great place worth visiting.  It’s steeped in history and a major gateway to the Middle East as the last stop on the Silk Road before leaving China.  Uyghur culture is alive and well in this remote town, despite the encroachment of Han Chinese modernity.  Comparing Kashgar to Urumqi, Xinjiang’s largest city, is like night and day.  Kashgar is a well-preserved example of the Uyghur way of life, whereas Urumqi is a city that clearly reflects the fact that it is inhabited primarily by Han Chinese.

The Old City is a glimpse into the traditional Uyghur style of living that, unfortunately, is slowly being demolished to make way for high-rise apartments, plazas, and reproductions of Islamic architecture.  If for whatever reason this is of interest to you, I implore you to make the journey to this town before the demolition is complete.  It’s a tragedy that an area so full of history and culture is being swept away for the sake of industrialization and modernization.  It’s so full of character and charm while the high-rise apartments I see being erected all over China are so completely lacking in it.

There are a few factors involved in why I don’t ever want to go back to Kashgar.  Despite the things I do enjoy about it (which I will be detailing in a later post), here are the things I did not enjoy about it:

It’s a pain in the ass to get to

Despite the fact that Xi’an is a major travel hub with direct flights to pretty much anywhere in the country, Kashgar is not one of those places.  The logistics of getting there are just annoying.  For me, it was a three-hour flight from Xi’an to Urumqi, a three-hour layover, and a two-hour flight from Urumqi to Kashgar.  And believe me, the three-hour layover is the best you can do.  That’s eight hours.  Eight!  That’s only 45 minutes less than the time it takes to fly from London to Mumbai.  That’s bordering on absurd.

Don’t get me wrong.  I can put up with long travel times.  I’ve done plenty of that before.  But to spend that much time going to a small city for only a long weekend?  No thank you.  And anyway, a long weekend is almost too much time to spend in a place like Kashgar, there’s just not enough to do!

I tried to take a bus, but they wouldn’t let me in (or out, depending on how you look at it).

My main reason for heading all the way out to Kashgar was to see Karakul Lake, which is located about 124 miles (200 km) south of Kashgar at an altitude of 11, 811 feet (3600 m).  So I tried the cheapest method of getting there, which was paying 50 RMB for a bus ticket headed for Tashkurgan and getting off as near as possible to the lake.

All of the roads leading out of Kashgar have military checkpoints.  Everyone not driving needs to get out of their vehicles and walk through the checkpoint to have their identification checked and recorded.  Everyone on my bus (all Chinese and Uyghur) were allowed through except me.  I wasn’t allowed to go.

“You cannot go, you must go back,” they told me (in English no less).

I responded with: “Why can’t I go?”

Silence.  Eyes cast to the ground.

I tried a different tactic: “Weishenme wo bu keyi qu?” (Why am I not allowed to go?).

More silence.  An awkward pause or two.

“You must go back now,” was their eventual response.

“OK, fine, but my bag is on the bus, I need to get it.”

So they literally had a soldier, carrying a large gun, escort me the thirty feet to the bus so I could retrieve my backpack.  As if I would try to hop on the bus and escape into the countryside?  The absurdity of the situation was mind-boggling.

And to top it all off, when I got back to the bus station I had to argue with the guy who sold me the ticket to give me my money back.  I did get it back eventually, but that was just salt in the wound.

I got kicked out of my hostel (sort of)

On the day following my failed attempt at traveling to Karakul Lake, I happened to be in the reception area of my hostel when a Police officer walked in.  The workers became visibly agitated and the laoban (boss) made a subtle gesture for me to leave the room.  I quickly retreated to the large lounge area set up for guests and waited.

A minute later, the laoban approached me saying that the officer wanted to see my passport.

“My passport?  Why only me?”

“Because he saw you.  He will probably tell you to leave this hostel so tell him that you are flying to Urumqi tonight.”

“I don’t understand, why would he do that?”

“I don’t know, just get your passport.”

So off I went and brought the officer my passport.  Without even opening it he tried to kick me out.

“This hostel is no good for you, you must leave tonight.”

“I’m flying to Urumqi tonight so I’m not staying anyway.”

“You have to leave immediately, you can’t stay here.”  He either wasn’t listening or didn’t care enough to hear what I had to say.

“I just said I’m flying to Urumqi tonight.  I’m not staying.”

“Oh, you’re flying to Urumqi?  Let me see your plane tickets.”

“Well, I don’t have them, I have to pick them up at the airport.”

“OK, as long as you leave tonight then.”

He then proceeded to take a few moments to stare at my passport, pretending as if he was going to write something down.  He decided not to, returned my passport, and left.

According to the laoban this is not an uncommon occurrence in Kashgar, especially around the time of celebrations.  And especially since the riots that occurred in Urumqi a few months ago, tensions have been particularly high.  The Chinese think that it is necessary to kick foreigners out of their hostels and hotels in order to force them to stay at one or two specific places so that officials know where they are.

I’m not sure what mode of thought motivated this behavior but my impression is that it is born of paranoia.  As if the Chinese believe that they must control every aspect of life down to the minutest detail or else utter chaos will be unleashed upon the land.  Like a tidal wave, unrest and protests will sweep across the lands all the way to the very doorstep of the CCP in Beijing.  All because I visited the countryside without a permit (which, according to some, isn’t even necessary).  All because I stayed in a single hostel for three nights in the Old City of Kashgar.

The obstacles that I faced came as a big shock to me.  It was really the first time where being an American citizen actually made me a target for something (or someone) other than beggars.  In addition, in just the four days I spent in Kashgar I faced these problems of arbitrary decisions with seemingly no rhyme or reason, and certainly no explanation.  I can’t even begin to imagine the feelings of frustration and resentment that the Uyghur people have for the Chinese because of similar actions and decisions (and much, much worse) that have occurred over the past 50 years.

Related posts:

1. Yet Another Lake in Xinjiang
2. A Night on Karakul Lake in a Yurt
3. Kasghar: Uyghur Culture Meets Chinese Development