Yarkand

Trip Start May 14, 2010

108

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of China Yarkand, Xinjiang, China
Tuesday, July 13, 2010

From Kashgar, I headed east along the Silk Road -- the southernmost of two ancient routes around the Taklamakan Desert -- toward Yarkand. I was surprised to see that the first part of the route was so green -- I don't know if Kashgar oasis is simply very big, or if the Chinese have managed to reclaim some of the desert with irrigation schemes, or if the road really just follows a path to the south of the desert. Eventually, though, we did travel through some desolate desert landscape before reaching Yarkand's oasis.

After finding a hotel room for the night, I visited the Altun Mosque -- where I waited patiently for quite a while, because the yard in front of it was constantly full of praying men (and I was reluctant to interrupt their prayers by walking in front of them, even though it wasn't an official prayer time). I hadn't seen so much religious zeal since I'd left Turkey -- the countries of the former Soviet Union had seemed pretty secular -- but here, the mosque seemed very active.

In front of the mosque is a mausoleum of Queen Amanishahan, who was a beloved Uighur poetess. I am not actually sure how old that mausoleum is (since there seems to be an older mausoleum in the nearby cemetery, and I've since found information elsewhere that implies that this building might have been constructed recently). In any case, I didn't find that particular mausoleum very attractive, since the horizontal lines didn't seem to go with the arches very well, and made the building look short and squat and overcrowded. The mausoleum was, however, surrounded by very fragrant flowers, which I enjoyed.

The sprawling cemetery near the mosque was fascinating, with several tiled mausolea and some simpler tiled graves as well. Most of the graves were plain, although some were adorned with recently painted inscriptions. I liked the fact that the mausolea hadn't been restored -- the tiles were beautifully worn with age, and some domes had only a few blue tiles remaining. It seemed somehow appropriate that the monuments in a cemetery should be worn down by time in such a way.

I returned to the mosque, which I was finally able to visit. It seemed to represent a nice fusion of Chinese and Islamic aesthetics, with brightly painted wooden doors and columns. An outdoor prayer area was shaded by grape vines, and the minarets were attractively tiled.

I visited what was left of Yarkand's old town, but it seemed mostly modern. I noticed that very young children walked around without any pants there, which I'd been told is a common practice throughout China. It's very practical in such a warm climate, and no doubt saves a lot of money on diapers -- but I certainly hadn't seen any naked children in the more modest countries of central Asia. So the Islamic culture seems to manifest itself differently in different places -- relaxed standards of modesty in Xinjiang, but lots of devout prayer.

Shanghai hotels

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