On the Silk Road: Chronicles of a Sixty-Something Traveling Completely Independently (page 3 of 4)

Thanks for the photos of Urumqi from 35 years ago—they’re amazing!

Now the city looks like this:



What was once a Uyghur neighborhood has become a commercial artery controlled by police and full of Chinese flags.



The remaining parts of the neighborhood are slowly being demolished and replaced by residential towers.



Residential towers surrounded by barbed wire (and guarded 24/7 by police, but I didn’t dare take a photo).

Back in 2013, there was still activity in the mosques.

Here in Urumqi



And here in Kashgar



By 2019, nothing. This is the main mosque in Hotan on a Friday



And the street where it’s located, completely deserted



I took these two photos quickly and without getting too close—I was starting to get fed up with all the checks.

To Parigino, Jipeg, Sarana... and other visitors to China from the "good old days" or now. Really interesting, these comparisons (keep them coming)... but not very cheerful. 2020, travelers are pretty gloomy!

It's fascinating to see how these cities have evolved, especially when the photos are taken from the same spot... where there was a dual carriageway in 1988, there's now an 8-lane urban highway... not to mention all the high-rises. In Lhasa, the change was even more striking at the foot of the Potala. The shopping street with flags can be found in every major city... with the same luxury stores, often empty because they're too expensive for locals who prefer neighborhood shops.

Here are a few more photos from the Kashgar market (1985 and 1988). The wood market and the carts that were the only way to get around the city, to go to the market, to the only hotel for foreigners, the Sanam Binguan, or the former Russian Consulate.







The Kunjerab Road with Tashgorgan (1988), which was limited to its citadel, one main street, and a single run-down hotel where our Pakistani travel companions—who came to China to do business—let off steam and enjoyed the "pijio" and everything that was forbidden back home. After a month in Pakistan during a very troubled time (civil war between Sindh and Punjab), we appreciated it too.







The border post (Khunjerab Pass) at 4,700 meters above sea level. It had only recently opened....

At the risk of repeating myself, your photos of Tashkurgan are stunning!



Here’s pretty much the same shot from last summer:



While I’d been able to wander around freely a few years earlier, the Taskhurgan Fort has turned into a very Chinese-style tourist site: grandiose, expensive, with a little cart shuttling you from viewpoint to viewpoint. When I was there, we were just a handful of people.

As a result (maybe?), there are hardly any yurts left on the prairie. Check out the difference between 2013 and 2019:





As for the "town," it’s changed a lot too.











The Chinese want to turn it into a must-see tourist spot for any trip to Xinjiang. In fact, the road from Kashgar along the Tajikistan border was being completely redone. No doubt it’ll soon be at least a smooth two-lane highway in each direction, making the town more accessible. There’s already a youth hostel run by young Chinese that brings together a pretty eclectic mix of Chinese tourists, solo foreign travelers, and Pakistanis. Because there are still a lot of Pakistanis in Tashkurgan: students, businessmen... I didn’t continue on to Pakistan, but I saw the buses leaving from the bus station. It still feels like an adventure! 🙂

Thanks for the photos. Memory from 1998 of an absolutely wonderful spot—yurts on the plain, the fort, the only grimy hotel in the small town, the Mustag Ata and its herders... Back then, you could still travel solo between Sust and Kashgar, though you had to keep a low profile when camping. The Han presence was already starting to be felt, but the old towns were still intact. L.

Amazing trip 🙂, it was such a pleasure to read your post.

Your account of passing through Kashgar and crossing the land border into Kyrgyzstan really took me back to my own very similar experience a year earlier 🤪. I felt a huge sense of relief when I arrived in Kyrgyzstan.

By the way, here’s a link to an Arte documentary that focuses on the situation in Xinjiang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wN3emyA-ew

A few more snapshots from 1995 Kunjerab Pass and passport control along the way. Landscape around Tashkurgan. Bike ride to the very pretty Abakh Khoja Mosque (1640) on the outskirts of Kashgar. What has become of it? Informational sign (health) in Kashgar

The very lovely Abakh Khoja Mosque (1640) near Kashgar. What has become of it?

Photo from 2017—it’s still there and has even been restored:

Two hours by bus from Urumchi, summer 2000, a stroll to the stunning Heavenly Lake (Tianchi). Lots of Kazakh yurts. A peaceful spot. You can eat lamb slaughtered on-site. No Westerners, but a few Chinese visitors enjoying the fresh air and renting costumes for photos.

Now, searching online, I’ve read that the site entrance is paid and there’s a shopping center... Any recent updates (or not)?

Two hours by bus from Ürümchi, summer 2000, a stroll to the stunning Heavenly Lake (Tianchi). Any fresh news (or not)?

I went there in 2013, and it had already turned into a massive amusement park with a paid entrance and hundreds of buses shuttling thousands of people around all day.





It was the second day of my life in China (I’d arrived the day before by train). I was still traveling without GPS or a translation app. I’d found the bus departure point in Ürümqi in the LP, headed there early in the morning, and hopped on. I was expecting a peaceful ride to the lake, but nope: 1/ there was an entertainer with a mic shouting all sorts of things, and 2/ the bus made shopping stops along the way, which wasted time every single time. By the time we finally arrived at the site, it was lunchtime! Since I’d had enough of hanging around, I set off alone to the lake. The entertainer told me, "Okay, meet back at the bus at this time." No problem, I’ll be there!

At the scheduled departure time, when I saw the ocean of buses in front of me, I wasn’t feeling so confident anymore... Still, I managed to find mine (everyone was already there—I wonder what they even saw of the site). We seemed to be on our way back, already entering Ürümqi, when suddenly... one last shopping stop in a center full of jewelers! That was the last straw for me. I bailed, thinking I’d just head back quietly... Except I had no idea where I was, and I didn’t have GPS. After a few attempts to ask for directions, I ran into a group of really nice young people who flagged down a taxi for me.

Anyway, for an introduction to China, I got a taste of post-economic-boom Chinese tourism: spend money whenever you can, especially if you absolutely don’t need what you’re buying 😎

As for the site itself, there were no more yurts around the lake. The Kazakhs were put on display like animals, and the Chinese tourists were snapping photos nonstop. Coming from Kazakhstan, it felt pretty strange...





That said, the lake with the snow-capped peaks in the background was still just as breathtaking.

Thanks for this info. Chinese-style tourism... terrifying, sad, and so well described in words and images. Little respect for people or the environment.

In 2017, in Yunnan, at the best viewpoint to see stunning terraced rice fields, they had built a huge wall to block the view and charge admission. Trash tossed over the other side of the wall didn’t bother anyone.

Thanks also to SBecker for the photo of the beautiful mosque that, fortunately, still stands.

Thanks also to SBecker for their photo of the beautiful mosque that fortunately still stands.

That was still the case in September 2018, and it will remain so because the "fragrant concubine" is reportedly buried there, a testament to historical Chinese influence. During my visit, I got the impression the gardens had just been restored.

However, not all historic mosques are safe. For instance, the Kargilik / Yecheng Mosque was demolished between 2017 and 2018. No wonder I was intercepted as soon as I got off the train and escorted to the west bus station for "deportation" to Yarkand.

Unaware that this historic mosque had been razed, I naively insisted on making a detour to see its façade (which was the main artistic interest). Not exactly helpful for my situation. 🤪

Fabrice

Thanks for these details—they really help explain why this one is preserved and restored.

A little flashback... During our last visits, which date back to 1985 and 1988, there was a cemetery all around the Abakh Khoja Mausoleum. It seems to have disappeared... In 1988, there was an earthquake that woke us up in the middle of the night, and many mosaics had come loose...

The cemetery was still there in September 2018; I caught a glimpse of it between the planks of a fence, east of the mausoleum. But there was no way to access it.

Some historic Muslim cemeteries don’t escape "redevelopments." I saw this in a village a little east of Turpan, and it led to me being "intercepted" by plainclothes police and having my photos of the "redevelopment" deleted. Yet it was a region far less troubled than Kashgaria.

Fabrice

Great topic, thanks for sharing your experience!

Thanks for this interesting story and the photos. It really makes you want to go. However, I didn’t look at all of them closely—even though some seemed really beautiful—because seeing you in most of the photos, even though you seem nice, gets a bit repetitive.

You're right, I'll do a little sorting so you can come back.

Thanks for all the work on this travel journal, which, beyond the joy of reliving great moments, allowed for mostly friendly and enriching exchanges.