A Uyghur family preparing for an outing.
Kashgar is an Oasis at the edge of the Taklamakan Desert. It was once an important trading and refilling post on the Old Silk Road about a 1,000 years ago. The famous Tang Dynasty monk Xuan Zang has passed through this city on his way to India to seek Buddhist scriptures.
The Kashgar Old City is now being demolished and renewed at an astonishing rate. More than 85% of the original Islamic City has been renewed. This was one of the best examples of Islamic Architecture of the middle ages.
The Old City is the finest examples of Islamic Architecture. It has narrow alley ways that is passable by horses and horse drawn carts
Earthquakes have damaged the houses so very often in its history. Note the timber struts that were used to strenghten the walls.
Small mosques sprung up every now and then to cater for this exclusive Muslim Community
A grocery shop in the heart of this Old City served the needs of its residents
The residents are community proud. Each morning the residence would swap the part of the street they lived in. The whole environment was clean and pleasant to visit.
This was the Uyghur Communty and they were all Muslims.
A Vegetable Seller on donkey cart served the local residents.
A bread factory. This factory produced naan and other breads
The long alley ways were lined with cobble stones
Mother and child
Uyghur kids at play. We gave them balloons to play with.
These kids were real cute.
Mother and her kids.
Could we have seen the last days of this ancient Old City of Kashgar?
