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Description
Kashgar, west China, Nov. 1999 - scan of the old print of a slide - my scanner does not work very well (

(NB : that day was very hazy with a blinding light).

Description of the scene : in the old weekly livestock market of Kashgar (on the Silk Road, extreme west China, an area called « east Turkestan » by the Uyghurs living there, « Xinjiang » by the Chinese), which used to be directly in the outskirts of that great city, a man demonstrates the quality of a horse for sale, galloping over a very short distance down a narrow path between a crowd of onlookers.

There were also other animals for sale, Bactrian camels, goats and sheep etc.

Since then, the market has been relocated far away from the city ; more practical and much larger, but not as colourful and atmospherical.

=============
NB : my heart goes to these people... I travelled 3 different years to that area, learnt a bit the language, heard the many complaints about for instance, the lack of job opportunities from many angry young Uyghurs as the Han Chinese settlers get always preferential treatment : the plight of the Uyghurs and other minorities in west China, like in Tibet, is terrible, their culture being slowly erradicated : minority languages are only taught at primary school level !

(Unfortunately, difficult to get an objective account on the recent riots in Urumqi, we can only hear the version from the Chinese govt).

I'd love to return there one day...

Description
Kashgar, west China, Nov. 1999 - scan of the old print of a slide - my scanner does not work very well (

(NB : that day was very hazy with a blinding light).

Description of the scene : in the old weekly livestock market of Kashgar (on the Silk Road, extreme west China, an area called « east Turkestan » by the Uyghurs living there, « Xinjiang » by the Chinese), which used to be directly in the outskirts of that great city, a man demonstrates the quality of a horse for sale, galloping over a very short distance down a narrow path between a crowd of onlookers.

There were also other animals for sale, Bactrian camels, goats and sheep etc.

Since then, the market has been relocated far away from the city ; more practical and much larger, but not as colourful and atmospherical.

=============
NB : my heart goes to these people... I travelled 3 different years to that area, learnt a bit the language, heard the many complaints about for instance, the lack of job opportunities from many angry young Uyghurs as the Han Chinese settlers get always preferential treatment : the plight of the Uyghurs and other minorities in west China, like in Tibet, is terrible, their culture being slowly erradicated : minority languages are only taught at primary school level !

(Unfortunately, difficult to get an objective account on the recent riots in Urumqi, we can only hear the version from the Chinese govt).

I'd love to return there one day...