Customer Reviews

Kashgar: Oasis City on China's Old Silk Road

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The old, inner city of Kashgar, rather than the relatively new and bland buildings surrounding the area are the focus of this interesting cultural and anthropological examination of the fabled junction city on the southern Silk Road, at the edge of a shifting sandy desert and beneath ancient mountain ranges, north of Pakistan and just east of Kazahkstan. The color photographic images and brief introductions of this old town within a city of 3.5 million take us on a virtual exotic adventure. Architecture and design are a unique blend of Indian Moghul, Turkman, Mongolian, and Han Chinese styles, plus traditional Arabic Muslim forms. Donkey, horse, and camel share the roads with motorcycles. The traditional markets and mosques, alleys, homes and cemeteries remind me of another preserved ancient area, the medina of Fes, Morocco. My only complaint is that there were not more photographs and a more refined inspection of the way of life in this distant land. Nonetheless, this is probably the first modern photographic essay of Kashgar, one that should be included in any study of the Silk Road.