Kashgar

This is the westernmost city in China, where the north and south Silk Roads met and created a trading frenzy. Alot of history here but a lot of it also has been demolished.

It has an old city, which consist of houses built using rammed earth, but the Chinese government has started a program called Dangerous House Reform back in 2009 and it is still ongoing until about 85% of this city has been modernized. The rest of it will turn into a museum-like town. Honestly, I'm not too happy about this "new" old city but maybe it is better for the locals to have more sturdy houses.

There is a mosque here by the name of Id Kah Mosque. It was built was back in 1442. Somehow the more west I travel, the older the structures are. This mosque is the largest in the Xinjiang province.

We also visited a tomb here. Abakh Hoja Tomb, established in 1640 by the king of the Hoja regime, is known to have the largest dome in Xinjiang. 72 people from 5 generations of the Abakh Hoja family was buried in the coffin chamber here.

We stayed Kashgar Old Town Youth Hostel, which was in the "new" old city, so we pretty much spent our day walking around this part of town. At night my travelmate went to the night bazaar but it quickly closed at 9pm as the police were upto something. I didn't go though. It was cold and I'd rather sip warm tea in my hostel room.

And that concludes my written tour of Kashgar. Tomorrow, Karakoram Highway awaits!Read more