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).