Return to Urumqi: Xinjiang Part 7

February 15, 2010:

Thank you, Father, for getting us back to Urumqi! I feel very vulnerable without Reborn. But he has provided for us every step of the way.

This morning Kelsey and I got on a bus in Aletai. Reborn's family was there to see us off in the bitter cold. Before we left, they even got on the bus to argue with people who were sitting in our seats. They're awesome and I already miss them a lot. I loved being with them. It was a lot like the Father's grace with the gift of the Son. We don't deserve it and can never pay it back. We can only receive it with open hands and hearts.

So somehow we made it back to Urumqi. This time we had seats, so I could look at the scenery out the frosty window. It was pretty much the same view the whole time--hundreds of miles of the most barren, open land I've ever seen. And it was all white. But there were interesting things to see, and I'm glad to know that China isn't all one gigantic cityscape like Nanchang. Everything is so clean and fresh here.

I loved looking at the herds of horses, which were attended to by rugged, bundled-up men on horse-back. Our bus also had to slow down several times for camels that were walking along the road. None of them had people on them, although some of them must
have belonged to someone, because a few had beautifully embroidered blankets on. Sometimes I also saw lone herders with furry sheep and rams, as well as very tiny-looking, beige-colored deer roaming freely about. Everything was so open, vast, and wild. Xinjiang is literally China's last frontier!

When Kelsey and I arrived back in Urumqi, I was a little nervous, since I'm unfamiliar with the city and my Chinese is quite limited. But we managed to book a decent hotel room near the bus station using my Chinese, and also got a nice dinner. We will be here for another day and a half. Thanks, Father, for bringing us here safely. Continue to watch after us, especially since we look and feel very vulnerable...


(A herder with horses on the road back to Urumqi).


(The bathroom for women on the side of the road. It was a hole in the snow).

Year of the Tiger: Xinjiang Part 6

February 14, 2010:

Happy Chinese New Year! Yesterday ended with fireworks, and the day also began with fireworks. Apparently you have to set off fireworks in front of your house to ward of evil spirits. Reborn's dad wrapped a roll of firecrackers around an old crutch, stuck it out the window, and exploded them. Everyday I'm thankful that I haven't been in a building that hasn't burned down yet.

Today is the day in China when you visit your relatives and neighbors and sit in their houses for hours on end. Kelsey was exempt from a lot of this, because of her knee, but I still had the privilege to visit all these people and bring them many gifts. It is the day that I was finally ready to leave Xinjiang. It is tiresome to sit forever, especially when you don't understand a lot of what is being said, and they are shoving plates and plates of food in front of you all day long.

In the early afternoon we went to a random aunt and uncle's house with more random aunts, uncles, and cousins. We were there for several hours. We ate lots of interesting food like cow stomach, sheep stomach, horse stomach, gelatin from cow feet, etc. Some Kazakh neighbors also came and treated us like long lost relatives. I thought it was interesting that the Kazakhs and Han were friends, but the Uighurs and Han weren't...

Then we returned to Reborn's house for Kelsey to rest. Reborn and I went back out in the cold to make the trek to visit her grandparents' house again. Many of the stores were closed, so we had a difficult time finding some fruit to bring to them. We hiked to their apartment and sat and watched the same annoying CCTV (Central China Television) Spring Festival performance that has been playing non-stop since yesterday. I have now seen it four or five times. I want to go crazy.

At one point they had an elaborate dance with Uighurs. There were beautiful women and handsome men, and little children dancing with backpacks. Reborn said that they were singing about how much better their life is now, and how happy communism has made them. I asked her, "Were they happy before that?" She answered, "No, of course not." And then everyone in the room talked about how much they disliked them; even hated them. I was so angry and sad.

After that, Reborn and I arrived back at her house to have about the 12th meal of the day. Tomorrow Kelsey and I leave...

New Year's Eve: Xinjiang Part 5

February 13, 2010:

Happy Chinese New Year's Eve! It is Spring Festival time and the mood is quite festive here. It's a little like Christmas, and it's nice to be around a Chinese family.

This afternoon Reborn and I braved the cold to go run some errands before everything closed for the New Year, which is tomorrow. Kelsey stayed home to rest her knee. I felt a lot colder than yesterday. Then Reborn and I decided to go ice-skating outside. Or actually I skated; Reborn watched. It was pretty fun, although my fingers just about froze. I could barely move them. And it wasn't the best idea to drag Reborn around in the cold. Now she has a high fever.

Although everyone didn't feel the greatest, we went to Reborn's grandparents' tiny apartment for a huge meal and to set off firecrackers at midnight. It was a special occasion, and I'm glad we got to spend it with such a great family.

There were 21 people in a room about the same size as our dining room in Topeka. It was hot and smoky and a bit uncomfortable. We sat all squished together around a wooden table on little wooden stools. Kesley and I were the guests of honor, so we go to sit by Reborn's grandparents.

The grandpa was quite an interesting guy. He had a really terrible hearing aid that was basically a microphone in one of his ears. He could barely hear, because he was in the "Old" Red Army in the 1940s. I'm not sure why the grandma is also practically deaf. They have five sons and one daughter. Reborn's dad is the oldest son.

At midnight we went outside to set off fireworks. It was a lot like the Fourth of July, except we were in Siberia and it was a lot crazier since everyone in the apartment complexes were also setting them off. It was a very memorable experience.


(Ice-skating in a freezer).


(Some of the many dishes at our New Year's Eve dinner).


(With the grandpa and his creative hearing aid).

China Skiing: Xinjiang Part 4

February 12, 2010:

Today the wonderment of Xinjiang pretty much ended. Everything was okay this morning, though. First, Reborn, Kelsey and I got on one of the tiny, super crowded buses, which was filled mostly with Kazakhs and their giant fur hats. The street looked like it was during war-time. People were bundled up in very old-fashioned clothes. Some people argued with food vendors on the sidewalks. Massive trucks of coal passed by, and dozens of soldiers marched through the street.

At one of the bus stops, a bread van picked us up to take us to a ski place. We headed directly for the beautiful mountains. It was like we were in Switzerland, but the tons of cattle roaming the snow-encased, narrow road showed otherwise. The little stone houses people lived in were half buried in snow, and looked like they were from another century. The rickety van had to swerve around horses, carts, and wandering cows.

We finally arrived at the ski place, which was pretty nice as far as China is concerned. And it only cost 50 yuan from ski rental and skiing all day, which is less than $10! I hadn't skied since I was 11 years old, but it was a little like learning to ride a bike again. I just felt older, taller, and less flexible. It was so much fun to ski down the fairly empty slopes, surrounded by pristine mountains. The mountains weren't developed at all, so the beauty was nearly untouched. The sky was a gorgeous blue. I don't think many people can say they've gone skiing in such a remote place. I felt very close to heaven.

We really enjoyed skiing, although I was the only one who didn't fall. Maybe it was because of my ballet skills? Reborn, who has been skiing much more often than I have, literally fell on her face about every two feet. Then Kelsey was feeling brave and went on the craziest, steepest slope. She wiped out halfway down, and ripped something in her knee. The ski patrol had to come save her. All the other skiers were so excited. Little kids would ski down the mountain and report, "There's an American up there who looks Kazakh! And she's hurt!" It seemed to be the most thrilling thing to them. So many people were involved in rescuing her. One very nice man even drove us all the way to Reborn's home in his car.

After we made it back into town, Reborn's dad took us to the hospital. The hospital visit was free, because Reborn's dad said Kelsey was his daughter. Nobody even batted an eye, although Kelsey wasn't obviously even close to being related to him. The hospital itself was smaller, but nicer than Nanchang's hospital. Nobody was dying in the corners or throwing up on the stairs. They took an X-ray, although Kelsey didn't think she broke anything. We took the developed X-ray into a room, where a chain-smoking doctor sat playing video games. We didn't feel too confident in him. He just looked at the X-ray, and announced, "You're fine! Nothing's broken!" Yes, we know... So the hospital visit was pointless and Kelsey still feels a lot of pain.


(On the road to the ski place).


(The slopes).


(Skiing with cute little Reborn).

Living History: Xinjiang Part 3

February 11, 2010:

Every day is full of surprises. Today Reborn's grandma came over for a shower. She is the tiniest 85 year-old I've ever seen, but she has perseverance. When she was six years old in eastern Shandong province, her parents began to bind her feet. I've never met anyone with bound feet, especially since most of those generations have died. It was a traditional practice in China to make girls' feet look more "beautiful." The tradition had mostly died out by the early 1900s, but it still hung on in some parts of the country until the 1920s.

So here is Reborn's grandmother with 6-inch long feet, shaped like triangles. She can still get around quite well, and walks by shuffling along on her heels. It was like a living piece of history walked into the apartment.

We were curious about her feet, so she told us more about them, especially how painful it has been her entire life. They had to break all the toes except for the big one, and bandage them tightly into the rest of her feet. And she proudly showed us her tiny little shoes. I was in disbelief. This woman with abnormally small feet laughed when I showed her my large feet, which are twice as long as hers.

We wanted to know more about her life, so she told us a bit through Reborn as our translator. In 1950s, when Reborn's mom was born, they all nearly starved to death. Millions of people did starve to death. Maybe that's why Reborn's grandma and mom are so petite and look older than their age. They could only eat one mantou (bun) a week. The only other thing they could eat was tree bark. They were farmers who literally had nothing, and there was a terrible famine. So now I can understand why Reborn's family is so frugal...

During the afternoon I trudged across a long road and bridge to Reborn's grandparents' house. It wasn't as cold as yesterday, but it was snowing. The temperature might have been as high as 8 degrees or something!

Then Kelsey, Reborn, and I went to the Kazakh neighborhoods. Aletai is about 60% Kazakh. We went to one area, in particular, that looked like a World War Two Jewish ghetto, Kelsey and I both thought. Nobody was probably starving, but that's what the place looked like. They sold saddles, whole skinned animals, and blocks of rock-solid cheese. Everything was extremely dark, dingy, and dirty. The buildings looked like they might collapse any second. Then we rounded a corner and saw a cart full of animal heads-- all bloody, frozen, and still with all the skin, eyes, hair, and teeth. The horse heads were especially grisly.

The rest of the evening was spent inside. We washed clothes, which was the most laborious, time-consuming effort ever. They had a "washing machine," which was barely one step up from washing the clothes by hand. The machine wasn't much of a machine, and didn't do much washing.

You had to fill the machine up with water yourself using buckets of water from the sink. Then you turned a crank, and it halfheartedly swirled everything around for a bit. Then you had to haul the extremely stretched-out, wet clothes to another side of the machine, where you wrung the clothes out with another crank. This whole process was repeated twice. Then we hung all the clothes to dry over the radiators. I would be a terrible Chinese housewife.

And one of the most exciting events was taking a shower! I haven't taken a shower for nearly four days. After the water was heated up in a big, metal box on the wall, I got to take a shower in their dimly-lit bathroom. The water was just a lukewarm trickle from a pipe that stuck out from the middle of the wall. Never had a shower felt so good. I'm learning to be grateful for so much!


(Reborn's grandma with her 6-inch long shoes).


(The grandma's description of her feet being bound).


(Family picture! With Reborn's family).


(The trek across the river to Reborn's grandparents' house.)


(Need some meat? I lost my appetite when I saw these animal parts in the Kazakh section of Aletai).

Kazakhstan: Xinjiang Part 2

This is the continuing story of our Xinjiang excursion, as recalled by my journal entries. :)

February 10, 2010:

It was another long, but fairly interesting day. We woke up around 10 a.m. and went outside in the most bitter cold imaginable. It was apparently a "warm" day, with temperatures around -10 or 0.

In the daylight I could see more of this tiny city. Their small apartment directly overlooks mountains covered entirely in snow. The town itself is covered in more ice and snow than I've ever seen. Everything is icy and treacherous; they don't use salt or sand to melt it. Actually nothing ever melts, so the snow and ice just grows and grows as layer upon layer. People were in the street with sledgehammers breaking up the ice. They probably have to do that everyday.

The whole town has a feel of an Arctic outpost. Everything is expensive, and people were tons of fur. When we went outside the apartment this morning, there were men right by the door with blow torches burning the hair off of cow feet and a cow head. I didn't expect to see that.

There were very few taxis or buses, so we slowly walked downtown, which probably only took 15 minutes, but felt like an eternity in the frigid air. There are only two streets in the town, and we stopped every few minutes to look in little stores and warm up a bit.

People kept asking us where we were from. Just like in Urumqi, they also thought that Kelsey and I were Kazakh or Russian twins. It was really funny. Half of the town is Kazakh and they would smile at us like we were old friends, because they thought we were one of them. Some of them had very light brown hair and very light eyes. They aren't Muslim, so they aren't as distinct-looking as the Uighurs. But they are still so friendly, and it's a nice change for Kelsey and me to sort of fit in somewhere in China.

After looking at some amazing ice sculptures downtown, we went to lunch. It seemed like we walked right into Kazakhstan. Reborn took us to a very busy Kazakh restaurant. It was a very crowded, bustling place. It was like what I imagined the Soviet Union to look like in the 1940s. There were tons of men in old fashioned clothes and fur hats, with very ruddy faces and tall noses. Women were wrapped in shabby fur coats, and had colorful shawls draped across their shoulders and heads.

We all sat shoulder to shoulder in the cramped, lively place as we ate tasty rice, lamb kebabs, and drank tea from bowls. I couldn't understand anything, since they all spoke Kazakh. And they all silently and politely stared at us, trying to figure out who/what we were. Reborn said most of them are farmers or herders, and live very difficult lives.

We finally headed back to Reborn's house by jumping into a full bread van. I had noticed soldiers with fur hats all around this tiny town and asked Reborn why. I sort of understood why in Urumqi, but not in Aletai, which is hundreds of miles away from the capital. She said that they sent in soldiers to prevent unrest like in Urumqi, and that some more soldiers arrived during the "snow disaster" last month, when it snowed something like 5 feet.

Then this evening Reborn went to hang out with some friends. So Kelsey and I hung out with her parents and a random 8 year-old cousin, who never stopped talking once. We tried to make baozi (like giant dumplings) with Reborn's mom. We also played with the little girl all evening. It was fun to be with them, and I spoke so much Chinese.

Thanks for the great day, Father!


(Men burning the hair off of cow feet and a cow head).


(With Kelsey and Reborn on the icy streets of Aletai).


(A lady sledgehammering the ice in the road).


(Aletai at its finest and coldest).


(Eating lunch at a Kazakh restaurant).


(The Kazakh twins eating lamb kebabs).


(Making baozi with Reborn's mom).

I'm ALIVE! Xinjiang Part 1

I've returned to civilization! I've gone to the ends of the earth and now I'm back to tell you all about it! So much interesting stuff happened, that I thought I'd explain one day of my trips to Xinjiang and Sichuan every day. I'll post thoughts from my journal, so you can get the feeling as it happened. :) Thanks as always for your thoughts! I don't think I could have survived without you!

February 9, 2010:

It is midnight and somehow I have found myself on the edge of the earth where it is about -20 degrees. We are currently in Reborn's hometown of Aletai, Xinjiang, which is the most northwestern village in China. We are in the corner of China in the corner of the world.

Kelsey and I arrived in Urumqi, the capital of this vast province in the wee hours of yesterday. Reborn and some random friends met us at the empty airport. I was blown away by the sheer cold and all the snow. I decided we had arrived in Siberia.

One friend had a car so he drove us to stay at his parents' apartment. He got lost, so we were driving around forever in the city, which is pretty amazing. It reminded me a little of America, because of the wide streets. Anyways, we didn't get to bed until 5:30 a.m. and then we slept in 80 layers of clothes until 1 p.m.

After we got up and moving, we convinced Reborn and her friend to take us to the Uighur part of town. The Uighurs are descendants of Turkic people who traveled across the Silk Road and settled in what is now China's Xinjiang province. They are Muslim, and are quite distinct in every possible way from the China's Han majority--religion, appearance, culture, and language.

The formally all Uighur region is now just 40% Uighur, because of the influx of Han people. You can tell there is mistrust and understanding, especially after the July 2009 incident, when 200 people were killed by unrest in this city. (If you're interested in knowing more, look it up on the Internet).

So Reborn and her friend took us to the predominately Uighur part of town, and it was one of the most fascinating places I've ever seen. It was a mix of China, Russia, and the Middle East all rolled into one. Nobody really stared at us, because Kelsey and I don't look too out of place. They were quite friendly, wore lots of fur clothes, and pretty headscarves. The women were quite big and the men were quite tall.

We visited their big market and I bought some scarves. We also sat on a camel in the snow and took pictures. I certainly didn't feel like I was in China, with all the mosques, different languages, and the frigid weather.

After we left the market, Reborn's friend said, "I'm glad you enjoyed it, because we risked our lives going there." I can't believe the misunderstanding and fear Uighurs and Han people have with each other! I was in disbelief.

Around 9:30 p.m., we went out for hot pot at an amazing restaurant. Everyone eats and goes to bed really late here, because it is the same time zone as Beijing, thousands of miles away to the east. It gets light really late in the morning, and doesn't get dark until around 9 p.m.

Then this morning we said good-bye to Urumqi. We hopped on a smelly, stuffy sleeper bus for 10 hours. We had to take the bus during the day, because it's too dangerous to drive at night in the extreme cold, remoteness, and snow. Everyone at the bus station was talking to us in Russian. The taxi driver to the station thought Kelsey and I were twins from Kazakhstan. Nobody has even tried talking to us in English.

The bus was filled with Kazakhs. People greeted us and assumed we were Russian. One Kazakh guy gave Kelsey a hug, like they were old friends. They could not believe we were Americans. And everyone had glittery clothes and fur hats. Some of them had very light-colored hair and even green eyes! They all are Chinese citizens. One Kazakh guy gave me his phone number and insisted he would find me a boyfriend. I could barely understand any of their Chinese; it was so heavily accented. The bus was like being in Central Asia, not China.

The journey was long and a little boring. There was only snow, small mountains, and frozen shrubs everywhere. It was literally the tundra. We drove very slowly on the ice and snow-packed two-lane road. Everything was so desolate. I've never seen so much remoteness for so long. We only stopped a couple times, because there wasn't anywhere to stop. It was extremely cold and only some cattle and camels were on the side of the road. Some Kazakhs served us steaming noodles at one point.

And now we have somehow arrived in Aletai, just shy of the Russian border. I've never experienced such cold and so much snow. Nothing ever melts, so the snow is stacked up as high as one-story buildings on the side of the road. It will be a long, cold week, but I'm glad we can share the Chinese New Year with Reborn and her family at the edge of civilization...


(On a camel in the Uighur section of Urumqi).


(One of the many mosques in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi).


(Freezing on the 10 hour sleeper bus ride to Aletai).


(Welcome to Siberia: the long road to Aletai).