The westernmost province in China, a major part of the old silk route. It does not feel like China, rather like a place out of the Arabian Nights. There is a strong Central Asian / Turkic feel to the place. There is definitely a difference between the natives (Uighurs), and the rest of China – in terms of language, ethnicity, culture, religion and food. They even follow their own local time called Kashgar Time, different from the official Beijing Time.
When I landed there, there had been an outbreak of protests, and the government in Beijing decided to cut off all private internet connections in the region. In fact except government offices and police stations, the rest of the populace were cut off from the world at large. Things have since then calmed down, and I hope the region remains peaceful, and everyone can, in the words of the famous ‘Rodney King, “Get Along”.
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Random Musings of a Wanderer 