Kashgar's Old City is a warren of mud/straw compounds that have housed Uyghurs for ten generations. Each home, fronted by a colorful and unique door, opens into a courtyard, surrounded by sleeping rooms and common spaces.
Walking those narrow tiled streets, past those ancient doorways and under the rough-cut trunks that supported second floors extending over the street, it felt like the contradictions in "modern Kashgar" melted away, leaving us in a pocket of untouched antiquity.
A family returns home to the Old City.
Many parts of the old city have already been demolished already, but a substantial portion remains. The Chinese Government has posted a notice outlining their plans to demolish the entire Old City over the next several years.
The drab brick-and-mud walls and tile floors are broken up by beautiful, brightly-colored doors. If a door is locked, no one is home. If a door is unlocked but closed, only women are home and it would but considered offensive for a man to request entry. If a door is open, then a man is home and another man can approach and enter the house.
Though there are no street signs and we would have been hopelessly lost without a guide, the floor's tile pattern changes from hexagonal (for throughways) to brick (for dead ends), so you can always find your way out. Well, I guess there are some signs, but they weren't doing too much for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment