The Road To Kashgar...

The 24 hour train journey from Urumqi to Kashgar passes through some incredible scenery. But two things made it a memorable trip.

I met Mathew from Glasgow, and we ended up having dinner and a few beers while the train made it's way through the desert and ever changing scenery. At one point the view out of the window looked exactly like the glens of Scotland – along with rain, low clouds, and sheep.

The second event of the evening was a series of whispered conversations we had with a Uigher man (the majority tribe in the Xiencheng province of China), who wanted to tell us what was really going on in the area.

It turns out that the night before there had been riots in Urumqi, with an official death toll of 159 as of today (09/07/09).

The story is all too familiar – with strong echoes of Tibet.

The Uighers do not identify themselves as being Chinese, and from the various conversations I've had don't want to be part of China. In many cases, the people told me they feel like they are being oppressed by the Chinese Government.

There have been uprisings before – and in common with Tibet, the Uighers have their own flag, national anthem, and government in exile – which is currently based in Germany. If the area ever gets it's independence – it will be renamed East Turkistan – two words that shouldn't be said here out loud. When we inadvertently said it – we were told to be quite – being heard having these kind of discussions can lead to imprisonment or execution for Chinese residents.

As part of the process to “reform” the area, Han Chinese people are being brought into places like Urumqi and Kashgar, and it appears (from what I've been told) that job opportunities always go to the Han Chinese who move to the area.

On a slightly different note, the Tamarkand Desert – just down the road – is used for Nuclear testing, and almost 50 nuclear devices have been detonated here, by both China and Pakistan. Sadly, the increased levels of radiation has resulted in thousands of Uighers dying of radiation related illnesses and a marked increase in birth defects. The detonations have also rendered swathes of the land as useless.

I hardly slept as we crossed the desert, as I turned over the conversations I'd had – but felt reasonably rested the next morning. Just before we reached Kashgar, another of the whispered conversations took place, and it turns out that during the night the police had searched the train, checking identity cards for all Uighers. Ominously – photo's had been taken at the riots in Urumqi, and our “friend” had had his ID card checked against the pictures of those wanted by the authorities.

Finally – at lunch time we arrived in Kashgar to find a city where most of the stores were closed, and a lock down was in progress.