Kashgar is an ancient city in East Turkistan, a country now known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of western China. Thought now controlled, like Tibet, by China, Kashgar has a history of more than 2000 years of being a center of commerce, trade, political intrigue, religion, and art. Kashgar was a major hub on the Ancient Silk Road and is today a vibrant city in which the predominately Uighur population (Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking group of people whose history and culture have been written about at least since 206BC) continue to carry on their faith, creativity, scholarship, and love of beauty.

The word Kashgar actually means “variegated houses.” Looking at these three pictures of interior streets, arches, and doors, it isn’t hard to see how well the term “variegated houses” fits. As I walked these streets, I felt as if I were in an ancient civilization, in a timeless place filled with layers and layers of history. There was actually a dust storm occurring when I took these photos, and this dust adds, for me, to the haunting beauty of the environment.

Kashgar was the location for the shooting of the film, The Kite Runner; so it is clear that others see the timeless and ancient qualities of this special place as I did.

I wrote a blog post a while ago about the lovely Uighur people in Kashgar. You can read this post by clicking here.