A bit exhausted from the impressions in the morning we got really
hungry. The family we went for lunch is living in an old uygurian
villa. Well, it's not really a private invitation for lunch, this
family
is running a kind of tourist restaurant.
The food was delicious: mutton rice, flat bread with yogurt, kebab and
plenty of tea. And yes, it's really delicious, even if some people will
not believe. But the real attraction was the house itself. In each room
are plenty of shelfs in the wall with a lot of trash in it. All
the walls are plaster with "stucco" (is there an English word for the
it alien expression? Does English/US people know about Stucco?) but
there are no chairs at all. Maybe they run short on money, at the end
we had to sit on the floor.
Stuffed and happy, maybe a little bit tired, we drove to the handicraft
road. This road is close to our next big stop, the Idkha mosque, so we
can have a walk though the street and do some window shopping.
In this street there is plenty of stuff made from copper, brass, other
metal, wood, just everything the local handicrafts can produce.
Very popular are the small powder compacts with mirror. Stephan was a
little bit confused, why the women need some make up under the scarfs
but well, seems to be a woman thing.
Not all the handicraft man are having the same shiny look like the
products, they are making.
The longer we stay in Xinjiang province, the more we're getting used to
the music. In the street we also found some instrument maker with the
big variance of the real uygurian instruments. Duttars, Tembers and how
else they're named. In the shop there are always some people playing
the instruments, everyday concerts for free.....
It's quite clean here in the streets, but this was to expect in the
mixture of china and Arabia ;-) Quite clean because there are a lot of
street cleaners and garbage collectors. Hmmm, maybe the craftsman
should start producing some glasses for them.....
There are mosques everywhere. Really. With 3.3 million inhabitants at a
rate of 90% Uygurs which are all muslimic it's no surprise. Roughly
2.500 Mosques means that around 1.200 people are sharing one mosque -
minus the women. In Xinjiang the mosques are only for man.
Why the dentists are settled in the handcraft street, well just take a
look to the modern equipment. We decided we're not brave enough to get
tooth ache.....
And the tea house is also a very traditional thing here. But this
particular tea hose we were told not to enter. There are some
informants from the government in it, so better not to go. Ok, when the
guide tells us, we stay out.
We got nearly lost by all the impressions, pictures, faces, odouers.
But somehow we made it to our next goal: the Idka Mosque.
The Idka Mosque was build in 1442 by Saqsiz Mirza, the King of Kashgar
at that time. Or he build at least a room for praying, the real Mosque
was then expanded some when in the 16th century.
In the mosque there are some really nice places for those who don't
want to pray inside but for sure there is also a very big prayer hall
which is big enough for 5.000 people at once. So it's the biggest
Mosque in whole China.
To get into the big prayer hall you need to put off your shoes. And the
women has to wear a head scarf. No problem, Regina was prepared. IN the
room itself is a carpet on the floor with markings, so everybody has
his dedicated place. Additionally there is one big chair, looking like
a throne for the boss of the Imam. Unfortunately we missed the title of
this man. Maybe somebody can help us out with it? Another important
thing is the big clock which shows the prayer times. Well, you remember
the thing with the local time here......
Next to the praying area there is also a Koran school, flower beds,
construction yards, playing children....
We are nearly finished with the sight seeing for today, just one last
thing to visit: The Sunday Market. A really famous and big Bazaar, but
this is another story.....
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Doors...
....are found in all colors, sizes and shapes.....
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