Love the long weekend ... you should take one

moments of color and joy

The Shortest distance between two points in China is never a straight Line.

Today I was able to walk the two block distance from my apartment to the PSB (Public Security Bureau) also known as the police station. I have been needing to go there since the day I arrived in China in late July. What I didn't know until October was that I was supposed to register with them upon arrival in the city. The IMPORTANT PART is there there is rumored to be a 1,000RBM (about $150) fine for ever day that passes and you don't register. So When I figured all this out it was mid October and I had already been in country for nearly three months; I was not about to pay a fine like that... i think it was something like $14,000. The easiest way to navigate around this Chinese Bureaucratic nightmare was to make a little trip to Hong Kong. I suppose there are worse places to have to go.
I didnt know how wonderful it was until this weekend... and it is really wonderful... city, mountain ans water, so much like San Francisco, but more-so and better.
here are a few moments from my weekend.

The Muslim village. The Muslim City.

China is so big. There are parts of China that China doesn't even know about yet. In any particular day (and on one in particular) you can wake up in a crummy Chinese hotel, hop on a bus to an Israeli town past that into an Afghani village in the mountains, into the Egyptian desert, and finally rest in the afternoon under the grapevine shade of a Greek estate. China is not only Chinese, in fact more of it is not Chinese than is. While Han are the ethnic majority, the land is vastly not the typical CHINESE landscape and there are people over nearly half of it that are Tibetan, Mongolian, Kazak, Turk, Russian, Uyger and many other smaller ethnicities.
And even that is not all the city is another story all together.
Yet they all are Chinese, Just ask them (in what ever language they speak and they will tell you.)

A Uyger Hat making family in Turpan

Most of the people in Turpan (the second lowest place on the planet 154m below sea level) are the Ethnic Uyger. They are Muslim, they are Chinese, the speak a form of Turkish and use the Arabic script. Confused yet? They live in an oasis in the heart of the desert that has been fed by an ancient irrigation system nearly 2000years old. In underground canals, dug by their ancestors, the snow melt from the Tian Shan Mountains (Heavenly Mountains) runs with the help of gravity to this natural depression creating the greatest place to grow the sweetest grapes. The Kiraz irrigation system is famous for its technique and effectiveness, keeping this community alive for centuries.

The Uyger family factory we visited makes traditional Uyger hats. We had an opportunity to learn how the bead-work is done and the practice a bit ourselves. It is not easy and very time consuming, especially for our city hands which are particularly impatient and our young agile fingers are best at typing and videogame joystick maneuvering.

We were treated to delicious naan bread and local grapes under the shade of grapevine canopy. We each were suited with a traditional hat according to custom; Men wear black hats with white beaded patterns, while women wear red or burgundy hats with gold and pink bead-work and tassels. In return I left them with a few photos. Their smiles said it all.

The Ancient Abandoned City

The Magestic Dunes

kid-os and the bamboo man

over the course of the week we really got to know the villagers and the children in particular. they are cheerful, curious and a true delight: always smiling, watching and it is like being in the presence of something magical. We fell in love every day and it was always a challenge to not eat them up. They were dedicated workers even as young as one or two.

GanHiZi, a village in Yunnan

The Village rests on the far side of a mountain. The nearest road stops in a local township where we stayed in a rugged "guest house." In the mornings after breakfast we would hike over the mountain to the village where we would work with the villagers , play and eat in rapid succession.
The people of the village are ethnic Miao people. They are one of China's largest ethnic minority groups and populate large parts of Southern China. The women wear their hair up in the traditional fashion once they have children. The men wear suit coats for all manner of work: digging, farming, basketball and eating. even some of the younger boys wear them. It is an ironic image to see a muddy man with pick ax wearing a ragged tailored suit.