Entering China's Only Muslim State
Right now, I'm on my way to Xinjiang, a massive Chinese province where few outsiders are allowed to visit. Xinjiang is home to 12 million Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority who differ greatly from those of more traditional Chinese backgrounds. That's because their ancestors were nomadic tribes who migrated here from Central Asia. But due to all the restrictions surrounding Xinjiang, the area remains incredibly mysterious and is filled to the brim with people unseen and stories untold. So what is life really like for the Uyghurs in Xinjiang? And what can the world learn from their story? My mission is to uncover the truth in this hidden province and share my findings with the world. Will I succeed without running into trouble? Join me to find out! Our journey begins in the city of Kashgar. It was once a key stop on the Silk Road, a route where goods and ideas flowed from China to Europe from the second century BC to the 1400s. As a traveler who's been to every country in the world, I've always wanted to visit Western China for its history and remoteness but honestly I have no idea what to expect Good morning, walking on the streets here and you can see them making bread in the traditional way which is what they do all around Central Asia. They basically take the dough and they stick it on the side, throw water on it and then let it cook. There's a guy making ice cream on the side of the road here which is exactly like they do it in Kabul, Afghanistan. Pretty cool Really creamy, really good.
The signs look like they're in Arabic, but it's actually in Uyghur language. But it's written in Arabic letters Behind me you can see the large statue of Mao Zedong, so reminders that we are in fact in China. He's responsible for being one of the founders of China and brought it to be what it is today When I see that statue, the first thing that comes to my mind is communism. He's viewed as a hero by many of the older generation Chinese but the younger ones are not the biggest fans I'm on my way to meet up with a Uyghur guide who's gonna show me life in Kashgar from a local's perspective. But he prefers to remain anonymous because of the tensions in this region, Right away, we're heading to the busiest spot in town. I've made it to the Sunday animal market here in Kashgar. It only happens once a week and it's a place where all these men gather to sell their sheep, their goat, their lamb, their cow, their chicken. And it smells really bad in here! I'm inhaling some poop smells and dirt
It's really a cool sight to witness and it just reminds me of other animal markets I've seen. Like in Mauritania, there's a camel market. In my opinion, there's no better place to feel and sense the culture than at a market like this. And this guy spitting a loogie behind me There's a lot going on around here. The cows are being slapped, they're being moved and there's a lot of dust in my face. This is kind of the indoor section which is actually quite nice 'cause it's shading us from the heat. This is the barbershop right here. He's cutting them to make them look nice to sell. They shaved the butt so it looks like a human butt . We've got some negotiations happening right behind me I think a deal was just made with that handshake.
I think he really wants me to buy the ghost. Yeah, the handshakes are a real thing here. Can you tell me about Uyghur culture? This whole place feels like a movie set, which it kind of is because it was built about 20 years ago. It's kind of sad that all the ancient history and tradition here has been demolished and now pretty much built for tourists You can see basically tourists on every single corner. Like none of this is original, but it looks original. All these shops are brand new and just catered for tourists The gift shops are huge here. You can see there's paintings, all kinds of little handcraft made things, magnets. It almost gives vibes of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul here. This is all the old city that remains here in Kashgar. Thousands of years of history and this is it. It's turned into a museum
Like in other places in Central Asia, you'll find old towns like this but they're still bustling with markets and people around. It's really cool to visit Entering the mosque here is a beautiful walkway. I just got the haris on my arms stand up, it is so beautiful here. This grand place of worship features a gate tower, a courtyard, a teaching area and a large prayer hall. Originally built in 1442 and restored multiple times it draws thousands of worshippers every week during major Islamic celebrations like Ramadan up to twenty thousand people can fill the outside square
We're inside the mosque now. You can see it's very, very rugged and there's no dome like most mosques have I actually haven't been in a mosque in, uh, quite some time so it's pretty amazing. Um... On the wall there is a rather large carpet it's got to be like 15 feet tall. It’s actually my first mosque I've ever visited in China so special moment right now .
What do you enjoy about the Uyghur culture? I think it's quite different from our Han people. Yeah. And it has a long history, I know that there are a lot of ancient cities and ancient kingdoms, as you say I get a little bit sad when I walk through here and it's all like commercial and touristy. How does that make you feel? I think you should say that you can compare the ancient city and also the modern city is totally different. Just as I get comfortable and sit down to rest, we have a little problem. Our guide is being really pushy and keeps taking us to the same loop here in the old town. And we don't really want to be in this touristy town. It doesn't feel authentic. I'm trying to like meet people. So we're trying to break off from him, but he's not, he's refusing. So we're having a bit of an issue right now. I don't really know what's going to happen. He's worried that we're gonna make him look bad if we break off. So I'm just trying to stay calm and hopefully we're going to be able to have a solution here. I've hired many local guys in my life like hundreds, and only few times have I had a miscommunication, right now it's probably...
the most stressful and like the most disconnect between what he wants to take us and what we want to experience. A lot of behind-the-scenes stuff going on that is just making it really difficult to be here. I mean, I don't wanna be around all these Chinese tourists taking selfies all day. That's not why I came to Kashgar so we'll see, we'll see what's gonna happen After 20 minutes of negotiating, I tell the guide I'm gonna meet a friend at a coffee shop and he can wait for me at the hotel. I'm about to meet someone who's going to show me a completely different side of Kashgar. Okay we've successfully gotten away from the guide and on another side of town meeting a local that we got connected to at a barber shop Hello. How are you? It's so hot outside and the guy can see we're dying, so he brought us a Red Bull. Red Bull in China is quite different than elsewhere around the world
It doesn't have bubbles. It's like a Red Bull juice. It feels more like a bar than a barber shop, and all the bottles are full! Alright, Musa Jang. Hey, hello. Okay, we got in a taxi. He's taking me to one of his favorite restaurants in town. It already feels way better now that we have left the touristy old city and we're actually with local people and local life. We've arrived at the other side of town where no tourists can be seen Thank you. Have we arrived? Cool man, sweet. I wasn't expecting to find such a luxury restaurant on the outskirts of Kashgar, but it tells me that there is a hidden upper class here. This place is packed with locals and I'm starving
If you pick me up and drop me in this restaurant, I would guess I'm in Paris. Especially with that French music playing in the background. It is so cool in here. Not at all what you would expect from Xinjiang province in Kashgar. This meal's on me. I'm gonna buy this 'cause it's like a fancy place Is this a normal kind of restaurant for you guys? All the food is arriving and it looks amazing. Oh, rock candy. They have this in Afghanistan and Iran. This is nice to put it in the tea This is becoming a very colorful and plentiful table. I hope you're hungry bro.
Alright, dig in. What I like about this cuisine is it's a mix of Chinese and Uyghur. You have some of these spices, especially on these noodles that feel like that chili oil that you get around China but some of the meats are really unique. What's the experience for you hanging out with an American here? Oh, those are the kebabs that I've been wanting to try since I've been here. So I guess everything we ate up until now has been an appetizer. The kebabs have arrived. How do I handle this monster plate? This looks 10 out of 10. I can just smell it or he made it like a sandwich No, no. That's for you. That's yours. This is mine. Take a bite right here
Really spicy, incredible juicy flavorful. Now I feel like I'm in Central Asia That was one of the best meals I've had in all of China, and it only leaves me hungry for more. That's why we're heading to the night market. And don't be confused if it's not dark outside yet because believe it or not, China has a one-time zone policy It's literally 10:00 PM right now, and there is hustle and bustle all around. So we are on Beijing time despite being a world away. We're here in the night markets. It's really nice to see locals hanging out, eat some food even though we can't talk to each other, we're still enjoying each other's presence We're gonna try some street food right now.
Welcome to Xinjiang. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too.
What's your name? Nice to meet you. I am Uyghur. You're Uyghur. yes I'm American. U.S.A.? Yeah, USA.
I like Uyghur people so much. Thank you. Yeah. So you being like us o people.
Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. Halo, Ibu. Hi. Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too. Where are you from? Xinjiang, China. I hope you have a nice day. Friendly people everywhere just coming up and saying hi, it's pretty great. Whoa! We're about to try some Xinjiang ice yogurt.
Giving it a try. I thought it would be sweet and refreshing, but it's like a sour Grieer yogurt. Very very strange. The faces here are so diverse you have people that look like they're from Europe or even Turkey, like this guy Freshly squeezed pomegranate juice here, which is a staple all around Central Asia. Yes! Good Sweet as can be and delicious. Everywhere you go in China, there's police watching you from every angle but here in Xinjiang it's on another level like the guy right behind me If you ever wanted to try goat legs, you can do it right here in this market. This is a giant bowl of rice with goat in it.
These guys dancing. Is this like Uyghur culture or are they just dancing for the tourists here? So far I have not seen a single other Westerner here or foreigner. Only Han Chinese and Uyghur, it's pretty awesome. Pretty amazing night market. Definitely going to come back here again someday soon
Just got back to my room and yeah, that was a really interesting day from the tour guide being a little strange to walking around trying to make sense of the place. I enjoyed it overall. It's just a bit stressful shooting while I'm feeling pretty sick. It's super hot outside and there's just a lot of tension in the air. So anyways, gonna hit the hay here. I got a really nice big bed which is awesome. Excited for a full day of exploration tomorrow and learning more about this amazing place that I'm in. The culture is outstanding and I'm just really looking forward to it So, goodnight guys hopefully I can sleep of the sickness. I'll see you in the morning peace! It's bright and early, and if there's one thing I'm sure of it is not to walk around the old city anymore. It feels too much like Disneyland with fancy candy shops and over-the-top cafes. I want to dig deeper and find out what Uyghurs do in their everyday lives. What kind of jobs do they have? How do they feed their families?
So I hailed down a taxi to take me far outside town, to a random village in search of something more authentic. We only took a car ride 40 minutes outside of Kashgar City and we've entered a whole new world with no tourists, Everybody really friendly, open to the cameras and you just feel like you're in the culture way more here. It's a good travel tip sometimes you got to get outside of the main city centers and go to random villages The melons in this province are absolutely amazing. They're huge, look at these cantaloupe over here you have guys sitting down having a little candle party it's quite nice
Fresh cantaloupe with the elderly men. Mmm, delicious. I'm so jealous that these guys live in a place that they have the freshest melons in the world. They can just chill here and eat melon. This guy's super friendly. He just saw us walking and he said, come try my melon. So here we are eating melon together. Behind me is a mausoleum for Afāq Khoja. It was built in 1640, and it's one of the holiest sites for all Muslim people in the Xinjiang province. And if you look at it, it's absolutely stunning. It reminds me of architecture you'd find in neighboring countries like Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. Really, really special here . This is my first taste of true Islamic culture in China and I'm in total awe. Is this really China?
Just feels very, very ancient here and very old and traditional. These blue tiles are stunning. You can really feel Uyghur culture and see what their daily lives are like. They're just out here hustling, selling goats and sheep, and everyone's super friendly. They're not just hustling to try to sell an extra dollar very, very kindhearted people. Very friendly. We found the goat section here. Everyone's just selling goats. I wonder what they cost? It's a really, really cool scene to be right now. I'm just surrounded by Uyghurs and their goats. Oh! And I'm getting pushed by a goat
This guy is transporting a sheep on the back of his little car. How are you? We just found a pack of kids here walking home from school. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you They're really funny. They're really curious little guys. How are you? How old are you? 15.
You're very tall. How old are you? 1 14 Wow. One of the school kids really wants to join us so I'm going to treat him to his favorite restaurant in town but before we eat, we are heading to check out the local markets. I'm going to buy a Uyghur hat, traditional one. My head's too big for this one. Ja, okej.
always a nice gesture to dress locally, get a local hat or something. Just gives a lot more respect from the locals and you feel cool. All right we got our ice cream three ingredients milk sugar and eggs the best You dropped it! Oh, you dropped it. We've got to get you another one. I love the bazaars here. They have an assortment of all kinds of snacks and candies, nuts, dried fruit, raisins. It's such a beautiful sight to see. I like that they scream and chant when they put the big plates of bread and dumplings on
All these bigger guys behind me just hanging out eating food and watching a movie. You can see watermelon is really a way of life for Uyghur people. I'm in the middle of a Uyghur watermelon party, It's really funny as they're making the dumplings, they're just screaming things. We got the goat hanging here. This is an incredible scene. These dumpling guys screaming caught my attention. So, here we go with a rural eating scene in Xinjiang Province, China . I think he doesn't want him to pay. Yeah, he didn't want him to pay I think Uyghur food is really, really good. You're lucky to live here man
What do you want to be when you grow up? You should make friends with the owner here. How many languages can you speak? So just Uyghur and Chinese? Thank you. same same. It's really cool to see the diversity of the cuisine here, Of course you've got meat skewers which you can find all over Central Asia and then you have this rice dish which in Uzbekistan they call it pilau just like carrots and oily rice with some vegetables on top of it And then this has a lot of inspiration from central China with like the spices, oils, the aromas and the peppers. But there's also some local touches on it so it's really cool to have like a mix of cuisines here. Thank you
It's okay. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. I hope you have a nice day.
this is welcome to xinjiang Alright, that was delicious. Thanks for taking me here buddy So the kid went home with his sister. Little does he know, we came back to the sheep market here to buy a sheep for him and his family We've entered the larger sheep market and now the question is who are we going to buy from? How much for a sheep? I'll take that one right there. Deal. Yeah, he's holding my hand. I can't let go. Okay!
I can't pull it away. He's just holding it. Oh, got a little WeChat and we're still shaking hands by the way It's normal to do that. To shake hands for like five minutes. We just bought the sheep and now we're going to put it on a car or to take it to the village. He's asking if we wanna butcher it now, I told him no Crazy stuff man, crazy stuff.
The sheep has been transported from that little truck to the trunk of a car. It's a bit cruel, but you know this is real life how it happens and I'm just here to document it. We're bringing the sheep handler with us. Get in here big guy! All right. We have a car full of people and a sheep in the back I'm humbled to gift this sheep to the kid's family because out here, these animals are as valuable as money. It's just a kind gesture but I know that it'll mean a lot to them Hi! How are you? We got you a sheep. It's for you because your son was so nice to help us, so I wanted to give back and we got you guys a sheep. It's for you She's so happy.
pretty nice moment here. Even though we can't speak to them much, but you can feel the emotion. I wish you all the best of luck and happiness, and really nice meeting you guys Take care. The family looks to be equally in shock and surprised as they are to receive a big gift like a sheep, and also to have a foreigner standing at their house. But it just feels really good to be nice to people and do good things because karma always comes back in the end. And I'm just really happy to be out here and to meet the local culture, and to really humanize them because they're just people and they are living humble lives out here in the countryside. That's really my mission of coming here Xinjiang is one of the most fascinating and complicated places I've ever traveled to. From the energy of Kashgar's markets, to the quiet strength of the Uyghur people, this journey has shown me a side of China that few will ever see. The more I explore, the more I realize how much exists beneath the surface here and how some stories are just more difficult to tell than others on my channel. But if this video opened your eyes even just a little and you enjoyed learning about Uyghur traditions, food, and hospitality, then I hope I've done my job. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you guys in the next video
2025-04-30 08:05
