Chad’s Blog

Christmas Island couldn’t possibly be an Australian territory if it didn’t have some form of messed up wildlife. Crabs living on land might have qualified, but fish that live on land definitely fit the bill.

Watching them jump a foot from rock to rock was very cool.

The red crabs are cute considering they’re large red relatives of spiders.

What gets a little disconcerting is that they’re everywhere.

Their bigger cousins, the robber crabs are big and scary looking. They really reminded me of a creature from Alien.

What I didn’t realize is that crabs are foragers that eat whatever happens to be on the ground. Judging by the speed with which this guy snatched and ran, banana peels are a tasty treat.

We also stumbled across these little guys who are barely two inches from tip to tip, and have wee yellow eyes.

The trees were still brown, but spring has sprung and cherry blossoms are everywhere.

We had a great hike along the wall near Jiankou. Technically this part of the wall is closed, in reality it’s open enough that you need to buy a ticket.

Some parts were extremely steep, but very manageable. I couldn’t imagine living on the wall hundreds of years ago having to bring water up these cliffs.

It was the first beautiful day in Beijing this spring and it seemed like a great time to get outside. Peking University was the eventual destination.

It’s a beautiful campus, especially when cherry blossoms are in season.

It’s big, green, and run-down. The most interesting parts were the little details, like this old padlock.

One of Kashgar’s big attractions is the weekend animal market.

I’m not sure what a well-trimmed behind says about a sheep, but they were certainly well groomed.

Big Brother is everywhere in China, especially in provinces known to riot. In Kashi, he made himself known in the form of heavily armoured troops marching forcefully through the streets.

He made himself less known, but just as present observing and recording from the roof of our hotel.

I have no idea what this poster actually says, but I get the impression that it’s a pretty stern warning to anyone considering starting an uprising.

During the riots, the government shut down all forms of electronic communication. Local phone access is back, but there was still no internet access, no international phone access, and no international sms messaging in Xinjiang. I went through withdrawal for the first few days without Blackberry service.

It was a spectacular road to nowhere in Xinjiang. Our destination was Kalakule lake, about four hours by car from Kashgar.

Along the long and winding road, we stopped several times to check out the frozen desert. This is the most rugged and bleak terrain I’ve ever seen. At the same time, it was spectacular.

I wouldn’t have known that the rice would have an official home, nor would I have guessed that it would be in the middle of a desert in Kashi where nary a rice paddy is to be found.

Kashgar, Kāshí, قەشقەر‎, or 喀什, is a city in Xinjiang province Uyghur Autonomous Region at the far Western edge of China. Almost everything about the city seems like it would be more fitting in the nearby -stan countries.

This is where the Silk Road enters China. The old city is a huge mound of brick and mud buildings connected in a labrynth of narrow corridors. The only parts not bearing a reddish brown resemblance to the desert that surrounds the city are the thousands of brightly painted doors.

It’s about this time when my stomach starts to get the better of me. These buns were stuffed with a fatty super-garlicy lamb mix that was absolutey delicious.

Back to the city… The reason we decided to visit now is because the city is being torn down by the Chinese authorities. Most of the buildings have already been abandoned and the wrecking crews are in full force.

The government has said that the old city is overcroweded and an earthquake disaster waiting to happen. They’re definitely right, but it seems a shame to replace such history with generic apartment blocks.

Outside of the old city is clearly “China Town.” It’s like being in any other Chinese city. This photo sums up the contrast quite well.

The city plans to replace the city with reproductions of islamic architecture. The full details are in a New York Times article from 2009.

Following riots in July 2009, the city has been without internet access, international phone connections, or the ability to send international text messages. To follow the news, people gather in the square in front of the central mosque to watch the news on the big television.

After three full days of exploring a small city, we found time to squeeze in an afternoon of Settlers. More likely, we ran out of things to see in Kashgar.