I first came across Uyghar music in my first trip to China in 2010. The Xian Muslim Bazaar was playing turkish bollywood persian style music but in a language unfamiliar, as well as some actual turkish music. When I asked what this music was a vendor said he was from Xinjiang and this was their music. When I found a Xinjiang restaurant in Shanghai they were playing more of this music and had a satellite tv channel with music videos. Growing up on bollywood music ...

The hotels I stayed at in Xinjiang were quite impressive. The first, Tumaris Hotel Urumqi, had a very impressive lobby and main floor like aladdins lamp or the arabian nights. It was very close to the Grand Bazaar, Night Market, and Tatar Mosque. They had a very large breakfast buffet with choice of western or traditional meals. Two Russian tv channels in hotel room as well as China State TV. Well stocked minibar but pricy in local terms. Video : Urumqi hotel lob...

Having been dropped off at the airport for my 1pm flight local time I now had three flights to get me home. Security at Kashgar airport was overly sensitive and threw out my shaving cream even though it had already taken three internal flights to get to Kashgar. They also had electronic sniffers for hand luggage before you board the plane.After a short 2 hour flight to Urumqi we had to deplane even though the same flight continues to Beijing. Many people had boug...

Having been dropped off at the airport for my 1pm flight local time I now had three flights to get me home. Security at Kashgar airport was overly sensitive and threw out my shaving cream even though it had already taken three internal flights to get to Kashgar. They also had electronic sniffers for hand luggage before you board the plane. After a short 2 hour flight to Urumqi we had to deplane even though the same flight continues to Beijing. Many people had bo...

For my final morning in Kashgar we left the hotel at 8am to head to the famous Sunday livestock market before the morning heat. Before The Kite Runner movie this is what Kashgar was most famous for. It is commonly known in Pakistan that if you head north from Islamabad thru the Karakouram Mountain range you will reach Kashgar in China and the famous sunday livestock bazaar.There is long tree lined approach road into the market, where people are walking their anim...