... grassland visitors’ centre, another hideous creation of the Chinese tourist industry, which I all too pleased to gave a wide berth to.
I had an unpleasant argument with the greedy driver because he asked ...
Hotan is a big town in the south of Xinjiang. Like in other oasis towns, its past is completely buried under a bustling modern life running according to patterns dictated by Chinese institutions and companies. ...
... conversant with the Chinese language, and even Haotian feels a foreigner. I chuckle thinking of yesterday’s scene when he bought some yogurt that was handed to him in a plastic bag. He wanted a cup to ...
... the crumbling houses in the old town, where the new buildings announce its imminent transformation into another anonymous Chinese town. Centuries of history will be replaced by modern buildings. The administrators’ ...
... lorry, later by a Chinese truck, and the final stretch was on a pickup where our bags were hastily stacked on sacks of aubergines in the open back, ready to be whisked off in a fast curve. We put ...
Last night I took a stroll through an exciting night market that made me fall in love with Kashgar at first sight. It was unlike any other Chinese market I had seen so far, full of visitors and stalls ...
... on the green train. The Uyghurs shake hands, pat the shoulders and have a more tactile approach compared to the Han Chinese.
In the early afternoon heat, a cute child soon stripped himself stark naked ...
... to a different lifestyle. However, it is surprising that many probably uneducated Uyghurs only speak very basic Chinese, which makes the rift between the peoples living in this province even more patent. ...
... for the Chinese to store up on these items before a journey of some import. It is sausages wrapped in red plastic, that once munched into give out a hideous odour of pork. In reality, they must contain ...
... problem of poor quality in China has reached unprecedented proportions: the nation boasts the ugliest towns built with materials of substandard quality. However, it is not just a domestic affair. Chinese ...