Picture of the Week: Kashgar's Id Kah Mosque

*The following is a scheduled article.  Until noted otherwise, my ability to access the internet has been completely cut off*

Although the face of Kashgar is rapidly changing with the demolition of the Old Town, one part of the city remains proudly standing: the Id Kah Mosque.  This is reportedly the biggest mosque in all of China and during the major Muslim holidays is stuffed with tens of thousands of worshippers who gather to pray (see a video of this event here).

“Roaming” Muslim Holiday Comes Early

You know how it always feels like Christmas comes a little earlier every year?  I find it fascinating that this type of “roaming holiday” is exactly what Corban (a.k.a. Eid al-Adha) is to the Xinjiang Muslim culture. Last year we celebrated this holiday on December 10th but this year was moved all the way back to last Saturday on November 28th. Thanks to the lunar calendar one never exactly knows when the next holiday will be, and oddly during some years it is celebrated on two different days in different parts of the world.

Many businesses and educational institutions here in Xinjiang - including my school - were given last Monday off as a provincial holiday (Muslim and non-Muslim alike) and most of the Muslims are granted an extra two days holiday on top of that. This year it worked out great for me, giving me a nice three-day weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving.

If you’re not quite familiar with the Corban festival, called 古尔邦节 (gǔěrbāng jié) in Chinese, you might enjoy my article from last year detailing my interesting (and bloody) experience with a Uyghur friend of mine:

This year our friendly butcher was very good...and incredibly fast! In less than 20 minutes he turned our young sheep into usable meat (so fresh it was still steaming) and was off to the next house with payment in hand. He didn't accept cash though and I highly doubt he wanted checks, either. Instead, his payment was the skin and intestines from each sheep he prepared, which on this morning might be around ten. These skins could then be sold for an average of 50 yuan (US$7) and were put into piles about 1.5 meters high along the main street of our city.

For a personal account of my experience with this holiday, including photos, check out Celebrating Corban in Xinjiang, China.