新疆: Part 1

As one of my previous posts stated, I spent my first day in Beijing in preparation to leave the next. During orientation, we Yale students were surprised with a pre-commencement trip to 新疆 Xīnjiāng (Xinjiang Province) on the complete opposite side of the country. Now I knew next to nothing about Xinjiang, and our internet wasn't working in the dorm, so I didn't have the chance that evening to do some quick research. All I did was pack for a Nebraska fall (ready for heat or cold) and hope that would get me through the five days. What little I gleaned as I prepared for the trip with the other seven Yale students was this:

• Xinjiang has been host to some serious ethnic tensions in recent years between one of the minority groups, the Muslim Uighers, and the majority Han Chinese who had been moving in to "modernize" the area.
• Its principal city, Urumqi, was pretty large with a couple million people.
• Since it was Ramadan, a lot of people wouldn't be eating during the day.
• The cities we'd be visiting bordered some serious desert and mountains. We'd be going to the hottest spot in China. We would also be eating lots of grapes, which were apparently a specialty of the region.
• Xinjiang would feel a lot like Inner Mongolia since they're so close and share a lot of customs. Great.

So we flew into Urumqi on Wednesday. I realized that I had entered a completely different China when I saw this building looming:

And then I saw what was attached to the rear side:

Yep.

The market happened to be directly across the plaza, and it was selling so many crazy things, namely of the animal-body-part variety. Tea shops were selling animal bones, dried animal heads, pickled eyeballs, and other really, really weird stuff. Inside the market were the typical tourist-attracting souvenirs: small instruments, "regional" art, special tea, locally crafted jewelry and other trinkets, and SO MUCH FUR. These people are very partial to fur... of all kinds. Please see Exhibits A, B and C below.

Yes, I wore the tourist T-shirt. I happen to like it very much. 

Earlier that day, we had lunch at this beautiful restaurant right by the plaza. It was a bit of an unusual experience. Since it was Ramadan at the time, few restaurants were fully functional, as their normal clientele was fasting. So when we arrived at this restaurant, not only was it sparsely populated, but it also really only offered one dish: their lamb fried rice specialty.

Now I'd like to go on the record and say this was one of the most delicious dishes I have ever had in my life. They added RAISINS. I love raisins! And the sweeter, lighter taste actually went amazingly well with the fried, oily rice. I think I might secretly add raisins to my fried rice from now on. Working on the logistics.

Alright, it's bedtime in China, but look forward to more (hopefully) interesting pictures and stories about Xinjiang, like food specialties, religious practices, breathtaking scenery, ethnic conflict, picnics, language learning and... the sandstorm.