Boiled sheep head anyone? Although the Chinese authorities are doing their darnedest to try and destroy Uyghur culture in Kashgar and other parts of Xinjiang, they are certainly not achieving their goal at the once-weekly Sunday Animal Market. The market is still very much a full-on Uyghur affair. Trading in sheep seemed to be the most common activity at the market, but there was plenty of other stuff going on when we visited a few years back and the fair is the perfect place for a spot of people watching. Our advice, however, is to eat before you go unless you are partial to a bit of boiled sheep’s head!
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Fantastic photo per usual. I am heading to Urumqi and Turpan at the end of the month. Hoping I see images like this.
Thanks Ric! In Turpan I think you will see similar scenes but I not so sure about Urumqi. We were there about 6 years ago and I first visited the city about 25 years ago and the chances were immense. Mostly immigrant Chinese and hardly any Uyghurs. Try heading to the People’s park – we saw some traditional dancing there and it was an enjoyable place to spend a few hours.