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Reflections on a Wandering Life.....
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Yesterday, I visited a home in rural Kashgar. I had arranged a tour guide to take me to have lunch with a local family. The countryside around Kashgar is very, very pretty, and the weather is perfect. You couldn't imagine a more pleasant summer climate. Kashgar is at about 5000 feet, which puts it at about the same elevation as Denver, Colorado. Warm and dry, but not hot. The country people around Kashgar are very open and friendly. We took a taxi to the rural area where the home was located. We were offered some snacks--Uygur bread and vegetables, and then went for a walk in the neighborhood before lunch. As we were walking, another family saw us and invited us in. Total strangers, but very outgoing. The Uyghur people in the countryside around Kashgar live a very simple life. They spend a lot of time making things with their hands.
When we were leaving, I was saying "good-bye," and I reached out to shake the hand of our hostess, and thank her. She smiled, kinda embarrassed, but didn't say anything. My young tour guide, Awanisa, quickly told me that Muslim women don't shake hands with another man. I said, "Do you ever shake hands?" She said, "Yes, but I'm not married." Oh. Guess I should have listened to Ann Landers.
When we were leaving, I was saying "good-bye," and I reached out to shake the hand of our hostess, and thank her. She smiled, kinda embarrassed, but didn't say anything. My young tour guide, Awanisa, quickly told me that Muslim women don't shake hands with another man. I said, "Do you ever shake hands?" She said, "Yes, but I'm not married." Oh. Guess I should have listened to Ann Landers.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Yesterday afternoon, I met with an official from the Islamic Association here in Kashgar. I had asked a tour guide to arrange a meeting with a Muslim cleric, to help me understand how Islam functions in China. Instead, he lined up a meeting for me with an official from the Islamic Association, which turned out to be a better choice, because the Islamic association is charged with the responsibility for coordinating between Islam and the Chinese Communist Party.
The tour guide asked me where I wanted to meet. Since I am not from this community, and am not familiar with various restaurants and tea houses, I really thought they should choose the place, but they wanted to be polite. I recommended John's Cafe, since it is the only place I really know about. The tour guide quickly told me that the official could not enter that place, because it was run by Chinese. This is unfortunate, because the folks who run that place are really very nice people. They're from Qingdao. But isn't a racial thing, really. It's the fact that the Chinese eat pork, which is detestable to the Uygurs. Anyway, they selected a local Uygur place with an outside veranda.
The official was warm and friendly, with a firm handshake. Definitely a politician at heart. But it was clear very early in our conversation, that he is also a devout Muslim. I asked him how Islam functioned in a society where religion is controlled by the party. He said that the association would facilitate negotiation between the party and the religious clerics regarding anything that could be politically sensitive. He seemed to downplay any problem, perhaps because he basically works for the government (probably through the Public Security Bureau), and, of course, would not want to be seen as objecting to the government's position.
I also asked him about the nature of Islam as compared to Christianity. I told him that the Christian gospel teaches that God is a God of Love, but also a God of justice. God's standard is perfection, and He is not willing to compromise His standard, but since He is also a God of love, He sent His Son to fulfill the requirements of God's standard and live a perfect life, and then fulfill the requirements of God's justice by taking the punishment we deserve. The official's response was to talk about the prophets of Islam, of whom Jesus of Nazareth is one.
The official asked me about my family. I told him that I had three children, but that I was divorced. He was upset about this. He told me quickly that divorce was not a good thing. I agreed with him and explained to him that under American divorce law, one does not have a choice in such matters. He told me that if a man in their community was single, they would "force" him to find a wife. There is a very strong family orientation among the Uygur people. The Uygur are exempted from the one-child policy. I don't think they have large families, but I would expect to see very, very few one-child families among the Uygur people.
The tour guide asked me where I wanted to meet. Since I am not from this community, and am not familiar with various restaurants and tea houses, I really thought they should choose the place, but they wanted to be polite. I recommended John's Cafe, since it is the only place I really know about. The tour guide quickly told me that the official could not enter that place, because it was run by Chinese. This is unfortunate, because the folks who run that place are really very nice people. They're from Qingdao. But isn't a racial thing, really. It's the fact that the Chinese eat pork, which is detestable to the Uygurs. Anyway, they selected a local Uygur place with an outside veranda.
The official was warm and friendly, with a firm handshake. Definitely a politician at heart. But it was clear very early in our conversation, that he is also a devout Muslim. I asked him how Islam functioned in a society where religion is controlled by the party. He said that the association would facilitate negotiation between the party and the religious clerics regarding anything that could be politically sensitive. He seemed to downplay any problem, perhaps because he basically works for the government (probably through the Public Security Bureau), and, of course, would not want to be seen as objecting to the government's position.
I also asked him about the nature of Islam as compared to Christianity. I told him that the Christian gospel teaches that God is a God of Love, but also a God of justice. God's standard is perfection, and He is not willing to compromise His standard, but since He is also a God of love, He sent His Son to fulfill the requirements of God's standard and live a perfect life, and then fulfill the requirements of God's justice by taking the punishment we deserve. The official's response was to talk about the prophets of Islam, of whom Jesus of Nazareth is one.
The official asked me about my family. I told him that I had three children, but that I was divorced. He was upset about this. He told me quickly that divorce was not a good thing. I agreed with him and explained to him that under American divorce law, one does not have a choice in such matters. He told me that if a man in their community was single, they would "force" him to find a wife. There is a very strong family orientation among the Uygur people. The Uygur are exempted from the one-child policy. I don't think they have large families, but I would expect to see very, very few one-child families among the Uygur people.
Monday, August 01, 2005
The Great Game. The term Great Game describes the global contest between the British and Russian Empires for dominance in Central Asia during the 19th Century. The city of Kashgar played a central role in this contest because of it's strategic location as a trading post on the old Silk Road. Both the Russians and British maintained consulates in this area during that period.
The British consul was a man by the name of George Macartney, who arrived in Kashgar in 1890. Macartney was eventually joined by his wife, Catherine, who stayed with him in Kashgar until the end of World War I. She is known for bringing European civilization to the consulate, including cuttings from English gardens, exotic flowers, tennis courts, and Brahms records. She even managed to have a piano hauled over the mountains. She tells her story in a book called, An English Lady in Chinese Turkestan.
Kashgar is isolated, but very pretty. During the years of the Great Game, this isolation made the relationship between the Russian and British consuls very important, because both sides were keen on getting what information they could from the other. The relationship was sometimes testy, as exemplified by an incident described in the Lonely Planet where the Russian consul gave the British consul an expensive pane of glass, and subsquently demanded it back after a disagreement over a political cartoon.
The British consul was a man by the name of George Macartney, who arrived in Kashgar in 1890. Macartney was eventually joined by his wife, Catherine, who stayed with him in Kashgar until the end of World War I. She is known for bringing European civilization to the consulate, including cuttings from English gardens, exotic flowers, tennis courts, and Brahms records. She even managed to have a piano hauled over the mountains. She tells her story in a book called, An English Lady in Chinese Turkestan.
Kashgar is isolated, but very pretty. During the years of the Great Game, this isolation made the relationship between the Russian and British consuls very important, because both sides were keen on getting what information they could from the other. The relationship was sometimes testy, as exemplified by an incident described in the Lonely Planet where the Russian consul gave the British consul an expensive pane of glass, and subsquently demanded it back after a disagreement over a political cartoon.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Every day, five times a day, comes the cry of the muezzin from the mineret tower, calling the faithful to prayer. And in that cry is the often repeated affirmation of Islam:
"There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet."
"There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet."
"There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet."
Over and over it is repeated. But times have changed. The muezzin doesn't climb to the minaret anymore. His voice is heard over the loudspeaker. I couldn't follow it myself, because the audio was a bit muffled, but mostly because I don't know Arabic. The mosque is open for prayer (and closed to tourists) five times a day. But it is on Friday that the crowds really come. The other days, most Muslims tend to go to a mosque in their own neighborhoods. Kashgar is a city with almost literally a mosque on every street corner.
It is hard for me to convey to you the importance of the mosque in a Muslim community such as this. Everything in "old town" Kashgar seems to be built around it. And even though some prefer to pray at home, a local Muslim told me that it is 27 times better to pray in the mosque than to pray at home.
The Id Kah mosque, built in the 15th Century, is the largest mosque in China. It is open to tourists, but the tourists are shut out during prayer times, which makes me wonder how this religion is propagated. This, of course, is one of the major differences between Islam in Christianity. A big part of Christianity consists of inviting others to worship services.
In some ways, I think the mosque is even more important than the religion itself, although that may be a contradictory statement, becuase the mosque is part of the religion. But I guess what I mean by that is that the mosque is a tangible representation of identity for both the "true believers," and those who really don't seem to be that religious, but still consider themselves Muslims.
Islam is definitely a man's religion. This is most noticeable on Friday, when you can see all the men streaming toward the Mosque for the mid day prayer time, and a group of women sitting outside the mosque. I have been told several times, in answer to my queries, that the women "pray at home." But I cannot help but wonder how many of them actually go through the process of bowing and praying at the same time as their men are praying at the mosque. I don't know.
"There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet."
"There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet."
"There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet."
Over and over it is repeated. But times have changed. The muezzin doesn't climb to the minaret anymore. His voice is heard over the loudspeaker. I couldn't follow it myself, because the audio was a bit muffled, but mostly because I don't know Arabic. The mosque is open for prayer (and closed to tourists) five times a day. But it is on Friday that the crowds really come. The other days, most Muslims tend to go to a mosque in their own neighborhoods. Kashgar is a city with almost literally a mosque on every street corner.
It is hard for me to convey to you the importance of the mosque in a Muslim community such as this. Everything in "old town" Kashgar seems to be built around it. And even though some prefer to pray at home, a local Muslim told me that it is 27 times better to pray in the mosque than to pray at home.
The Id Kah mosque, built in the 15th Century, is the largest mosque in China. It is open to tourists, but the tourists are shut out during prayer times, which makes me wonder how this religion is propagated. This, of course, is one of the major differences between Islam in Christianity. A big part of Christianity consists of inviting others to worship services.
In some ways, I think the mosque is even more important than the religion itself, although that may be a contradictory statement, becuase the mosque is part of the religion. But I guess what I mean by that is that the mosque is a tangible representation of identity for both the "true believers," and those who really don't seem to be that religious, but still consider themselves Muslims.
Islam is definitely a man's religion. This is most noticeable on Friday, when you can see all the men streaming toward the Mosque for the mid day prayer time, and a group of women sitting outside the mosque. I have been told several times, in answer to my queries, that the women "pray at home." But I cannot help but wonder how many of them actually go through the process of bowing and praying at the same time as their men are praying at the mosque. I don't know.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Market Day in Kashgar
"In 1954 Simon Zhao and the other members arrested in Kashgar were transported to Urumqi where he met those arrested in Hami in 1952. The Public Security, People's Procuratorate and People's Court set up a special committee of investigation. Uncle Simon knew that as he and his co-workers were innocent the whole matter would soon be solved. But he was wrong.
"Not only was he not speedily released, but it was 36 years before he was able to meet up with those members of the Band who had survived prison. Some had died in prison or labor camps. For years he was separated from family and friends, and through the endless suffering he often called on the Lord's mercy in his utter loneliness.
"Day after day, year after year Simon toiled in the reform-through-labor camp, tilling the land and repairing dikes. He carried endless baskets of earth, dug up by hand, on shoulder poles for miles on foot. Often he was so exhausted his legs gave way and he could only crawl on the ground with his load. His body deteriorated, but his mind became sharper. He had not forgotten his commission and so secretly told the other prisoners about Christ."
It is all but impossible for me fully to appreciate the suffering that Simon Zhao and men and women like him endured for the sake of bringing God's love to people very different from themselves. And it is especially hard to comprehend the difference between then and now. China is still a controlled society. But today the government of areas like Xinjiang seems to be much more on the order "live and let live. If you keep your head down, and especially take pains not to create the impression that you have political ambitions, you are pretty much left alone in today's China. But while the treatment of people like Simon Zhao has changed somewhat, the government has never gone back and cleared the reputations of folks like Simon Zhao. Justice demands that this be done. I believe it is time, now, for China to set the record straight, and give such men as Simon Zhao the honor that is due them.
Sunday is Market Day in Kashgar. Lonely Planet estimates that upwards of 50 thousand people swarm in from all over the surrounding countryside. It is really something to see. Yesterday morning, we took the free bus from John's Cafe to the market, but three of us wanted to see the livestock market first. We happened to run in to a young Uygur man who spoke excellent English, and offered to show us how to get there. So we hired a motorcycle taxi, and he rode with us.
Lots and lots of sheep, donkeys, horses, and cattle. Donkeys are definitely the main beast of burden in Kashgar, so they were quite abundant. But there were lots of sheep, too. Mutton is a very big part of the Uygur quisine, and the wool is used for the strong and very traditional carpet industry.
But for me, the people are more interesting than the animals. With livestock sales, there always seems to be a middle man helping to negotiate the deal. Buyer will always check the teeth of the animal--the seller usually offers this service for the seller. There doesn't seem to be a lot of fighting or argument, but the process does take some time, so one can assume that there is quite a bit of discussion about the matter. And there always new animals being brought in. Constantly, you will hear the sound of someone calling "Bosh, Bosh" to tell you to get out of the way. If that doesn't work, there are other methods. At one point, I felt something on my behind. A farmer was tapping me on my butt end to get me out of the way. I moved, of course, as any good mule would.
Many different booths are set up to offer to food to those who are there. One of my favorites is a little hard shell dumpling filled with lamb. Really delicious.
I met a guy from Albania who lives in Italy and monitors elections for a living. He had just finished monitoring an election in Kyrgyzstan, and told me it was a very, very beautiful country. I don't know...I may go there some day, but not now.
Last night at John's Cafe, I ran into Michael, my neighbor from the foreign teachers' dormitory. He had been up to the Pakistan border, and tried to reach the pass in the "no man's land" between the checkpoints. But the Chinese would not let him past the check point without a visa. So he turned around an hitchhiked back to Kashgar. We were talking about this in John's Cafe, when he saw one of the other guys who had been with him. That guy mentioned something about hashish. Michael told me the truck driver had stopped to smoke some hashish. I told them about the time last summer, when a lady in Dali tried to sell me some hashish. The other guy laughed, "You don't need to buy hashish in Dali. You can pick it!" Well, I'm not into drugs, so I can't verify that, but it wouldn't surprise me. Dali has the perfect climate for that sort of thing. It's sorta the Greenwich Village or Haight-Ashbury of China.
I don't know why Michael decided to come to Xinjiang. I never really tried to talk him into it, but I have been telling him since last fall that I would be coming here. Actually, it probably doesn't have anything to do with me. Xinjiang has mountains, and Michael is definitely a mountain man.
"Not only was he not speedily released, but it was 36 years before he was able to meet up with those members of the Band who had survived prison. Some had died in prison or labor camps. For years he was separated from family and friends, and through the endless suffering he often called on the Lord's mercy in his utter loneliness.
"Day after day, year after year Simon toiled in the reform-through-labor camp, tilling the land and repairing dikes. He carried endless baskets of earth, dug up by hand, on shoulder poles for miles on foot. Often he was so exhausted his legs gave way and he could only crawl on the ground with his load. His body deteriorated, but his mind became sharper. He had not forgotten his commission and so secretly told the other prisoners about Christ."
It is all but impossible for me fully to appreciate the suffering that Simon Zhao and men and women like him endured for the sake of bringing God's love to people very different from themselves. And it is especially hard to comprehend the difference between then and now. China is still a controlled society. But today the government of areas like Xinjiang seems to be much more on the order "live and let live. If you keep your head down, and especially take pains not to create the impression that you have political ambitions, you are pretty much left alone in today's China. But while the treatment of people like Simon Zhao has changed somewhat, the government has never gone back and cleared the reputations of folks like Simon Zhao. Justice demands that this be done. I believe it is time, now, for China to set the record straight, and give such men as Simon Zhao the honor that is due them.
Lots and lots of sheep, donkeys, horses, and cattle. Donkeys are definitely the main beast of burden in Kashgar, so they were quite abundant. But there were lots of sheep, too. Mutton is a very big part of the Uygur quisine, and the wool is used for the strong and very traditional carpet industry.
But for me, the people are more interesting than the animals. With livestock sales, there always seems to be a middle man helping to negotiate the deal. Buyer will always check the teeth of the animal--the seller usually offers this service for the seller. There doesn't seem to be a lot of fighting or argument, but the process does take some time, so one can assume that there is quite a bit of discussion about the matter. And there always new animals being brought in. Constantly, you will hear the sound of someone calling "Bosh, Bosh" to tell you to get out of the way. If that doesn't work, there are other methods. At one point, I felt something on my behind. A farmer was tapping me on my butt end to get me out of the way. I moved, of course, as any good mule would.
Many different booths are set up to offer to food to those who are there. One of my favorites is a little hard shell dumpling filled with lamb. Really delicious.
I met a guy from Albania who lives in Italy and monitors elections for a living. He had just finished monitoring an election in Kyrgyzstan, and told me it was a very, very beautiful country. I don't know...I may go there some day, but not now.
Last night at John's Cafe, I ran into Michael, my neighbor from the foreign teachers' dormitory. He had been up to the Pakistan border, and tried to reach the pass in the "no man's land" between the checkpoints. But the Chinese would not let him past the check point without a visa. So he turned around an hitchhiked back to Kashgar. We were talking about this in John's Cafe, when he saw one of the other guys who had been with him. That guy mentioned something about hashish. Michael told me the truck driver had stopped to smoke some hashish. I told them about the time last summer, when a lady in Dali tried to sell me some hashish. The other guy laughed, "You don't need to buy hashish in Dali. You can pick it!" Well, I'm not into drugs, so I can't verify that, but it wouldn't surprise me. Dali has the perfect climate for that sort of thing. It's sorta the Greenwich Village or Haight-Ashbury of China.
I don't know why Michael decided to come to Xinjiang. I never really tried to talk him into it, but I have been telling him since last fall that I would be coming here. Actually, it probably doesn't have anything to do with me. Xinjiang has mountains, and Michael is definitely a mountain man.
Labels: Back to Jerusalem, Kashgar, Xinjiang
Saturday, July 23, 2005
"Eager to plant the gospel on virgin soil, Zhao headed south with five fellow workers to Hetian, a remote oasis town in the far south of Xinjiang, in the winter of 1950. But two weeks after they arrived the Public Security Bureau ordered them to leave. So they were forced to move even further west to Kashgar, where in September 1949 the Band had set up a preaching station at Shule and where there were quite a few Han Chinese. (In those days the vast majority of the population of Xinjiang were Uygurs or other mainly Muslim minorities.)
"They arrived in January 1950 to a chaotic situation. The gospel compound had been taken over by armed soldiers who claimed there had been a ?counter-revolutionary incident.? Uncle Simon did not know what to make of it. But within a few days he was arrested and placed in prison. He had with him only a pocket Bible, a notebook and a pen, but even these were confiscated. Not until his release thirty years later in 1981 did he see a Bible again.
"Uncle Simon thought his arrest must be a mistake and that he would soon be released. But later, when let out of his cell briefly, he saw two of his co-workers had also been arrested and only then realized his situation was grave. Two years later he found out that members of the Band back at Hami had also been arrested. Clearly the arrests concerned the whole Band, not just him personally."
I'm sitting here at John's Cafe in Kashgar. Kashgar is a welcome oasis after spending the past 24 hours cruising across the most lifeless, mountainous desert you can imagine.
Joy's brother-in-law kindly brought me to the train station and put me on the train. He is a banker by profession, so I was interested to hear his thoughts on the news yesterday morning that China had moved off the dollar peg. The news is very significant, but it will take a while to determine just what it means.
Last night, I went to the dining car, to get something to eat. After I had finished, a PLA guy across from me invited me to sit with him. He was very friendly and conversational, but I was somewhat surprised that he didn't speak English.
This afternoon, when we pulled into the station, I got off the train, and started looking for a taxi. Usually, whenever I get off a train or plane, I wave off the people who offer a taxi to me, because they are invariably black-market taxi drivers who charge unbelievable rates, in addition to which they are not legal, so I always look for the regular taxi line. But I was in for a surprise. There is no regular taxi line. All the taxis look like legitimate taxis, but none of them have meters. I finally asked one of the drivers how much he would charge to take me to the Seman Hotel, and he quoted a rate of 10 yuan. He opened the trunk so I could put my backpack in, and then, to my immense consternation, he disappeared. I did not realize it then, but he was rounding up other customers. He did not manage to find any, so we got in the car to go. To make sure there was no misunderstanding, I asked him the rate again. It had doubled. I promptly ordered him to open the trunk so that I could get my backpack out. Well, another driver was glad to get my business. He quoted me a rate of 10 yuan, so I got in his cab. Sure enough, he started yelling out the window, to other people looking for a taxi, and managed to get some other customers. A couple of guys got in. I noticed that he made a point of dropping them off first...not sure if that was really in proper order. But I was not surprised when he dropped me off and asked for twice the original price he had quoted me. I suppose I should not complain about 20 kuai, but fraud is fraud. I gave him the price he had originally quoted.
So where, exactly, is Kashgar? Five thousand kilometers west of Beijing. Due north of India. Northwest of Nepal. Surrounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, and Kazakhstan. Mongolia to the north, the rest of East Turkestan (now Xinjiang Province) to the east, and Tibet, of course, to the southwest.
"They arrived in January 1950 to a chaotic situation. The gospel compound had been taken over by armed soldiers who claimed there had been a ?counter-revolutionary incident.? Uncle Simon did not know what to make of it. But within a few days he was arrested and placed in prison. He had with him only a pocket Bible, a notebook and a pen, but even these were confiscated. Not until his release thirty years later in 1981 did he see a Bible again.
"Uncle Simon thought his arrest must be a mistake and that he would soon be released. But later, when let out of his cell briefly, he saw two of his co-workers had also been arrested and only then realized his situation was grave. Two years later he found out that members of the Band back at Hami had also been arrested. Clearly the arrests concerned the whole Band, not just him personally."
I'm sitting here at John's Cafe in Kashgar. Kashgar is a welcome oasis after spending the past 24 hours cruising across the most lifeless, mountainous desert you can imagine.
Joy's brother-in-law kindly brought me to the train station and put me on the train. He is a banker by profession, so I was interested to hear his thoughts on the news yesterday morning that China had moved off the dollar peg. The news is very significant, but it will take a while to determine just what it means.
Last night, I went to the dining car, to get something to eat. After I had finished, a PLA guy across from me invited me to sit with him. He was very friendly and conversational, but I was somewhat surprised that he didn't speak English.
This afternoon, when we pulled into the station, I got off the train, and started looking for a taxi. Usually, whenever I get off a train or plane, I wave off the people who offer a taxi to me, because they are invariably black-market taxi drivers who charge unbelievable rates, in addition to which they are not legal, so I always look for the regular taxi line. But I was in for a surprise. There is no regular taxi line. All the taxis look like legitimate taxis, but none of them have meters. I finally asked one of the drivers how much he would charge to take me to the Seman Hotel, and he quoted a rate of 10 yuan. He opened the trunk so I could put my backpack in, and then, to my immense consternation, he disappeared. I did not realize it then, but he was rounding up other customers. He did not manage to find any, so we got in the car to go. To make sure there was no misunderstanding, I asked him the rate again. It had doubled. I promptly ordered him to open the trunk so that I could get my backpack out. Well, another driver was glad to get my business. He quoted me a rate of 10 yuan, so I got in his cab. Sure enough, he started yelling out the window, to other people looking for a taxi, and managed to get some other customers. A couple of guys got in. I noticed that he made a point of dropping them off first...not sure if that was really in proper order. But I was not surprised when he dropped me off and asked for twice the original price he had quoted me. I suppose I should not complain about 20 kuai, but fraud is fraud. I gave him the price he had originally quoted.
So where, exactly, is Kashgar? Five thousand kilometers west of Beijing. Due north of India. Northwest of Nepal. Surrounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, and Kazakhstan. Mongolia to the north, the rest of East Turkestan (now Xinjiang Province) to the east, and Tibet, of course, to the southwest.
Labels: Back to Jerusalem, Kashgar, Xinjiang
