Kashgar 喀什市

Setting and landscape

The Kunlun range (昆仑山) rises to the south and the southern ranges of the Tianshan (天山) to the north, and the Kashgar River (喀什噶尔河) runs through its flat land. The climate is typical temperate desert. Oasis farming produces peaches, grapes, apricots, pomegranates, cherries, melons, almonds and pistachios.

History

In AD 73 the Han general Ban Chao (班超) installed a new king of Shule, and he then used it as his base in the struggle with the northern Xiongnu for the Western Regions. Under the Tang it became one of the Four Garrisons of Anxi (安西四镇). The Kara-Khanid khanate (喀喇汗国) moved its capital here in 893, and after its khan Satuq Bughra Khan (萨图克·博格拉汗) converted to Islam in 915 the city gradually became Muslim. The modern city was created in 1952.

What to see

The Kashgar Old City (喀什古城) in the centre is a national 5A scenic area. A renovation covering 8.36 square kilometres repaired its traditional houses one design per household within their original layout, and the city government describes coppersmiths, flower-pot, blacksmith and hat bazaars, handmade instruments, pottery and ironware, and a century-old teahouse on Wusitangboyi Old Street (吾斯塘博依老街) where elderly people play the dutar and rawap. A gate-opening ceremony, a camel-caravan parade and a 'princess chooses a groom' procession are staged for visitors.

Id Kah Mosque (艾提尕尔清真寺), first built in the 15th century, stands in the heart of the city and is one of the largest mosques in Xinjiang. The Afaq Khoja Mausoleum (阿帕克和卓之墓), a 17th-century tiled tomb 5 kilometres northeast of the centre, holds five generations of the Afaq Khoja family; it was once wrongly said to be the tomb of the Fragrant Concubine (香妃). Both are national key cultural relics protection sites. The Sunday Market (中西亚市场) continues a Silk Road trade of more than 2,000 years.

Getting oriented

Kashgar has China's westernmost railway station, reached by the Southern Xinjiang Railway since December 1999; the Kashgar–Hotan Railway continues to Yarkand (莎车) and Hotan (和田).

Highlights

• Kashgar Old City 喀什古城: National 5A scenic area of renovated traditional houses, craft bazaars and teahouses.
• Id Kah Mosque 艾提尕尔清真寺: 15th-century mosque in the city centre, a national key cultural relics protection site.
• Afaq Khoja Mausoleum 阿帕克和卓之墓: 17th-century tiled family tomb, once mistaken for the Fragrant Concubine's tomb.
• Kashgar Sunday Market 中西亚市场: Trading point on the Silk Road for more than 2,000 years.