Sunday, June 21st - Kashgar

This morning we got to sleep in a bit, which was really nice.  We are here for 3 nights because of the border closure due to the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.  That means we have more time and can tour around more leisurely.  Kashgar is also at the very west of China so by Beijing time the sun rises around 8 and sets at 10:30 so everything here happens later than you might expect.

It is also Ramadan right now so that adds a complication.  This area has a lot of Muslims in it and they of course cannot eat or drink after sunrise and before sunset.  That means that even some of the restaurants are not open during the day.  The Chinese restaurants are open though so we will be fine.  The restaurant here at the hotel is open for breakfast from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Beijing time, then lunch from 11:30 to 2:00.  Something follows that in the afternoon but I don't remember what it was called and then dinner is from 8 to 10:30 and supper from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.  The folks who were out walking until just after 11 p.m. last night said there were lots of families down at the lake and the little kids were playing in the water.  It was still very warm - probably well into the 20s Celsius - so although they say it is cool in the evenings it really isn't.

Okay, back to today.  We had breakfast at the hotel and it was mainly Chinese food.  I had some fried rice, vegetables, buns, etc. and then also a fried egg, toast that wasn't really toasted and some yogurt.  There was a lot of other food available as well but I don't think I tried anything else.  It was good and it was certainly enough to keep me going.

At 10 a.m. we got on our bus and went off to the animal bazaar.  Before we even got there we knew we were heading in the right direction.  There were big trucks and little trucks, motorcycles pulling carts, horses trotting along side vehicles, etc.   The bazaar is outside and the area is quite large.  There are huge sections for sheep and goats and for cattle,  a much smaller section for donkeys and horses.  The cows looked very healthy and well fed, and the bulls were huge and healthy.  They in particular did not look too pleased to be tied up and having people poking and prodding them.  The sheep and goats didn't look as impressive but they looked healthy.  Again there was a lot of poking and prodding going on but they didn't seem to mind.  It was interesting to see a farmer come in with sone animal - probably what he had to sell in order to feed his family or keep his farm going.  

Some farmers (and I'm assuming they were all independent farmers as opposed to brokers) came in with a half dozen head of cattle and dozens of sheep and goats.  Negotiations were generally quiet and done by hand signal but the prices seemed high.  If our guide was correct donkeys were selling from $300 to $600 and the cattle were going for a lot more than that.  Given how much meat you get in a restaurant when you order a dish, you would think the meat was cheap so I'm not sure these figures make sense.  We walked all through the bazaar and had a lot of strange stares but generally we were easily accepted.  Most of the farmers appeared to be Muslims of Arabic ancestry, as opposed to Chinese, so that would explain the fact that there were no pigs for sale.  The buyers were sometimes buying for their own farms to help build up their stock and sometimes buying for the meat.  At the sides of the bazaar there were people killing the animals (which I didn't actually see, thank you very much, so I can't tell you how it was done) and the skinning and gutting them and selling the meat.  From what I could tell, they certainly don't waste much.

There were also stalls for people selling farm supplies like ropes, fertilizer, feed, etc. and they seemed to be doing a good business.  There were a few food places - mainly bread, vegetables and fruit.  Aside from a few dozen obvious tourists like ourselves, the buyers and sellers were mainly male, and there were hundreds of them of all ages.  I saw maybe half a dozen women at various times, as well as a number of children and young men with their parents.  It is a Sunday and obviously a very popular bazaar for everyone.  Later as we were driving away we saw another smaller market which seemed to only have birds - probably a good idea to have them in a different place.

After the bazaar we drove to the Apak Hoja Mazar, which was built in 1640.  This complex is farther out of the city and in a vey green area.  There are several very old mosques of various size on the property - not very ornate but certainly functional for the time.  There are lovely gardens and ponds and park areas between them.  There is also one very big mosque or hall which holds 72 tombs of Hoja family.  Apak Hoja was a 17th century missionary and 5 generations are buried here.  The most famous person. Xiangfei, is one of his female relatives who was chosen as a concubine of the Emperor in Qing Dynasty.  She rose through the ranks to become Imperial Concubine, which is the highest level, and her claim to fame was her smell.  Yes, that's right.  Her natural body perfume was well known and pleased the Emperor.  As a result, the place is more commonly known as the "The Tomb of Fragrant Imperial Concubine".  For more information on her you'll have to check on google - something we can't do from here as google is banned in China.

After we got back to the hotel we went around the corner for a quick pizza lunch, which was okay but not great.  I don't think they can believe how little we eat.  Three of us shared a pizza and didn't even finish it.  They wanted us each to order one.  The people at the next table had a full meal which started with a large bowl of ice cream.  Yes, they eat that first.  Then they had salad and soup and something else I couldn't identify.  And those were the side dishes that came with their main course, which was a steak, two eggs and pasta.  That seemed to be the standard luncheon fare and this was in a Chinese restaurant.  We are going to have to try it at some point but it certainly seemed to be too much for lunch.

After an hour rest to recharge batteries - both ours and our cameras, phones, ipads, etc. we were off to the Grand Sunday Bazaar.  The Bazaar was huge and had virtually anything you might want: men's and ladies' clothes, socks and nylons, belts, shoes, coats, hats - both winter wool and religious, curtains, bedding, carpets, jewelry, bags and purses, stationery, toiletries, spices, fruit, vegetables, etc.  My particular favourite was the shoe repair guy because he fixed the strap that goes around my suitcase, which the airline broke on our flight in.    He was fixing shoes for a lady but interrupted that work to sew my strap, and he had others waiting as well.  He used an old hand crank machine but it certainly seemed to do the trick, and he charged me 3 yuan.  I gave him 5 yuan, which is only about a dollar, and he was very happy with that.  I was very happy to have the job done and so quickly!

The stalls were all full to the rafters with merchandise and the colours in the materials were so vibrant and shiny.  It was a hot afternoon so some of the merchants were sound asleep in their stall.  Others had their children with them and they were very cute.  It started to storm while we were there and it was a torrential downpour.   We headed to the central part where it was dry but the sound of the rain on the aluminum / tin (?) roof was almost overwhelming.  The merchants with wares not totally under cover very quickly covered their goods or moved them to drier places.  The drainage system couldn't keep you with all of the rain so some streets and alleys were flooded. As we left we had to step through quite a few puddles but we survived.  We figured the water was good for washing the potential waste from the animal bazaar from the bottom of our shoes anyway.  The cutest part of the visit was the two little girls who jointly carried a small pail to the drain in their beautiful sparkly white dresses.  Then they would return to the stall to remove the one pail from under the pipe while they put the now empty pail in its place and repeated the process.  They really were cute, a great example of teamwork and of helping the family business as dad was busy selling his goods at the time.

While the bazaar was interesting, it was also very relaxed and laid back.  No one hassled you or tried to sell you anything, and only the main entrance corridors were busy.  It was quite different than any other bazaar I had been in and didn't seem quite right.  I sort of missed the noise and bustle of the other bazaars but this one was certainly interesting to see anway.

We returned to our hotel to change and have our happy hour before heading out for dinner at the old British Embassy, which is now a restaurant.  This was our last dinner together in China with our tour guide as he leaves us tomorrow to fly home and we head on to Kyrgystan and a new guide.  The meal was excellent - Chinese since we were there at 8:30 (before sunset when Muslim restaurants open).  We had a private room and the walls were very ornately decorated, and the view of the city was lovely on the balcony off our room - although it was too hot out there to stay for very long.  The British left after WWII when their "invitation was revoked".  The building then went to other embassies and eventually became a restaurant.

After dinner we went for a walk down to the lake - probably about six blocks from our hotel.  It is a lovely facility and they have walkways and piers and lots of room for people to enjoy the area.  There were lots of families out - even at 10 pm and the children were definitely enjoying the water.  Our hotel is right beside People's Square with a big statue of Chairman Mao and a heavy police presence.  This area has in the past tried to break away from China so now China polices it quite heavily to ensure there are no demonstrations or unwanted activities.  

We got back to our room about 11 and that was the end of another wonderful day - much more relaxing than some of our previous ones.