October 19th - 10:00am
On a bus from Hami to Dunhuang

Another bus day, although I may still do something interesting this afternoon, since the bus is scheduled to arrive in Dunhuang at 13:00 or 14:00.

Back last night in Hami, I noticed a sharp decrease in the number of Uyghur people. This is only logical, since I’m going eastward, away from central Asia, and toward central China, where it’s almost all Han. I see no definite Uyghur people on this bus. There are, however, a good number of people who appear to be Hui Chinese. Some could be mixed Uygur/Hui/Han, but I’m not sure how much mixture goes on between the ethnicities here. My impression (it’s just an impression, mind you) is that Hans prefer to keep their families pure-blooded when it comes to ethnic minorities in China, and the minorities have an attitude of, “Well, we didn’t want your bloodlines, anyway.” I’m half Han/half European mix, and people like me are already rare enough (though we’re gaining all the time, thanks to folks like Parker. I imagine that Hans mixing blood with the ethnic minorities is even rarer, due to the number of Han people who sort of look down on them.

Today marks my departure from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (新疆维吾尔族自治区), and my entrance into Gansu Province (甘肃省). There’s more desert scenery today, but somehow a little nicer than yesterday. The desert goes pretty much as far as I can see. And as we approach Dunhuang, you occasionally pass a dilapidated section of what used to be the Great Wall. There’s a faint shadow of some mountains VERY far to the south, which might possibly be the beginnings of the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai province. I’ll have to look at a map. (Afternote: I was wrong. It was still a bit early to be seeing the Tibetan Plateau. They were just some regular mountains.)

Hopefully I won’t have any stories today like my pigeon story from yesterday. Once again, despite the no smoking sign, people keep trying to smoke, then the bus staff (the driver and the omnipresent ticket-seller – this is the setup on almost every bus in China) yells at them and they put it out. The fact that somebody says something at all is actually a decent sign of progress in my opinion. The only interesting stories I can tell today are ones about what’s going on inside of me. Why, oh why did I eat so much garlic last night??? I know that the sulfurs in garlic are good for me, but I should also know that those very same sulfurs make for horrible, horrible gas. My intestines are PAINFULLY full of pressure. I really don’t want to be rude and release all this dreadful gas right on the bus. The last two bus rides I took, the driver stopped about every 1.5 – 2 hours for a bathroom break, but this driver seems intent on making it to Dunhuang with as few stops as possible. I think it’s been about 3 hours since our last stop. It really doesn’t help that the road is of such poor quality, either. Every bump jostles my innards, moving the gas around, and stretching out new portions of my intestine. This happens at least once a minute, sometimes many times a minute. The outside surface of my stomach is actually sticking out, making me have a huge belly, due to all the pressure inside it. I will never make the same garlic mistake again. Well, maybe. But I’ll be sure to be extra mad at myself when I do.

Since today is a bus day, and I don’t have too much else to write about, I thought I’d give a bit of background on the various ethnicities I’ve been talking about, as it occurs to me that a lot of you may have never heard of an Uyghur or Hui before reading my weblog.

• * Han - Most Chinese people are Han. The name comes from the Han Dynasty, and the Mandarin language is called “Hanyu” (which means “Han Language”) by most people in China. Hans are what most westerners think of when they envision a Chinese person. Popular examples: Lucy Liu, Jet Li, Bruce Lee, Yao Ming. Hans control China. Even in autonomous regions and areas dominated by ethnic minorities, Hans are in the important governing positions, running the show. If there is a large industry somewhere, you can bet that it’s owned and run by Hans. This filters all the way down to the small details. Police are mostly Han. Employees in large-scale shops and restaurants are mostly Han. You get the picture.
• * Uyghur - This is the ethnic group that the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region was named after, because they are the largest in the region. They speak a Turkic-based language, and write in Urdu – the Arabic script, I believe. They look a bit like Hans mixed with middle-eastern or Indian blood. They are frequently darker-skinned, maybe like a lighter-skinned Northern Indian. They are also typically somewhat hairier, and frequently have full moustaches, unlike the typically more sparse ones of the Hans. Their status as the largest ethnic group in the area may have changed since China finalized control of the region in 1955, as more and more Hans move into the region. I’m pretty sure that Urumqi has more Hans than anything else now, and it appeared that way in Hami, too. But definitely NOT in Turpan. Turpan is clearly mostly Uyghur from what I could see, and unlike most other places, many had some of the more official jobs, such as police, taxi/bus drivers, and hotel front-desk staff, to name some.

  

  From what I’ve read and what people have told me, the Uyghurs in general are still unhappy about being a part of China. They would much prefer to have their own country. The last demonstration of this happened in 1997 and was a violent one involving bombs. It was quickly repressed by the Chinese government, resulting in the execution of some of the revolt leaders. This, in turn, caused some backlash riots and other unrest, which was also quickly quelled. It is my impression that if the Uyghurs just had the means and organization to take their independence, they would, but the government keeps many vigilant eyes wide open to prevent exactly that. Xinjiang is in a geopolitically strategic spot and is also fairly rich in resources such as minerals and oil, which makes China understandably loathe to give it up.

  One thing I don’t really understand is why most of the world is quite aware of the situation in Tibet and China’s occupation thereof, but almost nobody knows about the similar situation in Xinjiang. There are “Free Tibet” concerts held in the United States, and movies made about the plight of the Tibetan Buddhists, but nothing that I know of which does the same for the Uyghurs. The biggest difference I can see is the religious significance of Tibet and the existence of the Dalai Lama. As far as I know, Xinjiang isn’t located at the heart of any religion, and lacks a figurehead like the Dalai Lama, so maybe it receives less attention.

  Understand that I am most definitely not here saying I support or am against the occupation of Xinjiang and Tibet, nor their independence. I’m only telling what I know to be true, and the impressions I have from various people. I may be misinformed about a number of things, and I obviously don’t have enough knowledge to even have a valid opinion about it.



• * Kazak - These people, in China anyway, are typically semi-nomadic herdsman living in northern Xinjiang. This makes perfect sense, as that area borders Kazakhstan. The ones I met and have described in this weblog were not herders of any kind; they have advanced into the tourism industry. But this is a fairly recent development, and it’s likely that the generations preceding these people were nomadic herders. They also look like a Chinese mixture, but more so mixed with eastern European or Russian blood. When asked about their views on Xinjiang independence, Chahocmete and Hosune said, “We Kazaks don’t like to stir up trouble. We’ve already got a country of our own – Kazakhstan. The Uyghurs don’t have their own country. If we wanted to leave and go to Kazakhstan, they would let us in.” Quite simple, but very to the point. From what I know and have experienced, Kazaks are very hospitable people.
• * Hui - The largest difference that I know of between Hui and Han people is that the Hui are almost all Muslims. This is easily recognized by the white caps that they usually wear (not always, though). Differences in appearance also exist, but typically are not too large. Sometimes they look a little more western than the Han. Slightly larger, pointier noses, or lighter hair, or thicker beards. Sometimes they even look Korean to me, being built slightly huskier than your average Han. Despite their increased ability to blend in with the Hans, they are said to proudly maintain their own separate identity, largely centered around their religion.

  I hope these descriptions help you understand a bit of what I’m talking about. Perhaps you might want to go and re-read some of the other entries, now that you know a little more background info. Probably some of you already know all of this, or maybe you know much, much more about these minorities than I do, but I’m SURE this is news to at least a good portion of you. There are actually a bunch more ethnic groups in Xinjiang and Gansu, but I haven’t had any experiences with them, and know pretty much nothing about them, so have not included them here.

  2003/10/19 – 23:00 PM – In the Holiday Hotel in Dunhuang

  I’m now settled into my room in Dunhuang. Cheapest hotel room yet! 80 RMB per night. It’s definitely not the worst quality, either. I managed to get a single room, with only one bed. All of the other rooms I’ve been staying in have had two beds. The original, high tourist season price was 190! I looked at rooms in 4 other hotels before choosing this one. Most hotels here were built eight or more years ago, and due to poor workmanship (which unfortunately is the norm in China), they are showing lots of wear. They look like they’ve been around for at least twenty years. This hotel, however, was build within the last couple of years, so though it isn’t the nicest overall, the newness and price make up for it.

  Soon after arriving and eating a late lunch at a place recommended by the guy at the hotel desk (who is AMAZINGLY helpful), I took the bus out to the Mingsha Sand Dunes (鸣沙山) and Crescent Moon Lake(月牙泉) . Basically, seemingly out of nowhere, at the south end of Dunhuang, for no reason that I can see, the biggest sand dunes in China pop out of the ground a few hundred meters away from the end of the trees (Dunhuang is an oasis town in the middle of rocky desert to the north, and sandy, dune-covered desert to the south). It’s actually quite an impressive sight as you approach the 500-meter high dunes. “Mingsha” means “singing sand”. Apparently, when the wind blows just right, and the sand starts to slide downward, the whole dune vibrates and makes kind of a rumbling noise. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear anything when I went. There were some great desert views, though.

  

  Crescent Moon Lake is a spring that oddly sprung up between two of these dunes, forming a crescent moon shape. There’s not much else to it, except for that it looks pretty, and is a bit of an oddity in the middle of these dunes.

  For 60 RMB, I a rode camel from the entrance gate to the Mingsha dunes (where an ARMY of camels waits for riders), took some pictures (click here, and here), then rode to the Crescent Moon Lake area. There I paid 10 RMB to climb one of the dunes. The reason you have to pay is twofold. One, because the climb is extremely steep, they put wooden ladder-like things onto the sand, so your feet don’t sink as much with each step. It’s still a strenuous climb, though. I really would have had to stop and rest a few times if not for the ladder assistance. Two, there is a place, about two-thirds of the way up the dune, that they give you a bamboo sled, and you just slide down the dune instead of walking. You control your speed by dragging your hands behind you. It was quite fun, actually, and I didn’t get NEARLY as much sand on me as I suspected. After sliding down, I rode my camel back to the entrance, and it was perfect timing, as by the time I got on a bus to go back, it had just begun to get dark.

  I went to the local night market for dinner, and had more sheep parts – head, stomach, heart, lungs, and liver – all in various forms (fried and in soup). Before this trip I had no idea how delicious all these sheep parts are (when prepared properly, I’m sure). I’m a changed man. I know I’ll be craving some sheep lung when I go back to Shanghai. Maybe I’ll try to make my own.

  Anyway, sleep now, and digestion of sheep parts, because tomorrow I go to the Mogao Caves, which are said to house (or have housed) the height of Buddhist art in China.