13 Urumqi
Urumqi is a city of several million people, on the Silk Road, in China's Far West. In winter, temperatures plummet to well below zero. In summer they rise into the forties (Celsius). Cars are made there and it's a major agricultural centre.
At night, freight trains speed from Urumqi towards the coast taking farming produce to Beijing, Shanghai and other cities. The extreme temperatures and abundant water supply, from the neighbouring Tien Shan Mountains, are ideal for the production of fruit and vegetables. Prosperous farming communities have lived in the region for thousands of years.
My main reason for going to Urumqi was to visit the museum that houses the famous "Urumqi mummies": also known as the "Caucasian mummies" They were excavated in desert oases along the Silk Road to the east.
Some of the mummies (bottom picture) have been dated to four thousand years ago and have European features. They were protected from decay by the intensely dry conditions in which they were buried and are in a remarkable state of preservation. I was greatly impressed by the high standard of dying and weaving evident in their well-tailored, four-thousand-year-old clothes.
Urumqi is a town of many ethnic groups. The region (Sinkiang) was formerly part of the Soviet Union. Stalin gave it to China when Mao Zedong and the communists gained power. At that time, the bulk of the population was Uighur, a Moslem people who speak a language related to Turkish.
Since then, large numbers of Han Chinese have settled in Urumqi. Their part of the city is similar to the cities of eastern China. For the tourist, the more interesting part is where the Uighurs live. You will find ancient mosques there and modern buildings with pointed arches in the Islamic style.
Many Uighurs wear Islamic dress. Some women have sombre clothing and keep their faces entirely covered. Others prefer headscarves and colourful dresses. Cloth caps and jackets, like my English grandfather wore, are popular amongst the men.
The daily street markets are well worth a visit. All manner of trades are practised in the open, just as they were in Europe a hundred years ago. Make sure you take your camera. There's a lot to be photographed but don't offend people who might not want their photograph taken. I got the impression was that the Uighurs are fairly relaxed in this regard ... so long as the photographs are taken by tourists from overseas.
I felt safe in Urumqi as a foreigner but was aware of inter-ethnic tension. Shortly after I left, it flared into communal violence.
The Urumqi mummies come from tombs in the deserts near Turpan and other arid regions to the east of Urumqi. They have been subjected to intensive investigation by Western and Chinese scientists. They look European and DNA studies indicate that a significant part of their ancestry came from western Eurasia. Not surprisingly, these investigations are highly controversial. The Uighurs are deeply suspicious of any findings that do not show them to be the original inhabitants of the land.