CHINA> Focus
![]() |
Ramadan brings normalcy back to Kashgar
By Hu Yinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-19 09:59
Kashgar, XINJIANG -- A month after a brutal terrorist attack near its front entrance, the three-storey Yijin Motel in this largely Uygur city re-opened for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"Most of our guests are Uygurs, so we only have Uygur signs in our rooms. We're doing fine, only that tourism here has been bad in general because of the violence this year," a Yijin staff member told China Daily. "But the degree of tension has been exaggerated by outside media. I've been in Kashgar for more than 40 years; people get along here just like they do elsewhere." On Aug 4, two Kashgar natives brutally attacked a group of border patrol officers, killing 16. According to local authorities, the attackers were both Uygur and were driven by religious extremism to perform jihad. A month later, there are hardly any signs of the tragedy. "This city is very much coming back alive again from that horrible disaster last month," said Nico Rodriguez, an American who has been in Kashgar since June. "It's like nothing ever happened."
At dawn on any given day since the holy month began Sept 1, hundreds of worshippers gather at the Id Kah, which the locals claim to be China's largest mosque, for morning prayers. Beggars, too, flock to the sacred mosque for generous donations. According to foreign media reports, there has been a marked increase in security here since the attack. Ninety percent of the population here is Uygur, the highest number in the vast autonomous region of Xinjiang. Visitors to the four-star Tarim Petroleum Barony Hotel, across the street from site of the attack and the Yijin, are required to present their IDs to a pair of Uygur security officers at the door. "Only the rich stays in Barony," said a staffer at the Yijin. "A single room there costs 580 yuan per night. And they have hired security officers. But it's just as safe here." There are no security personnel at or around the Yijin, a decade-old motel with 24 shabby rooms. It was closed after the attack. Its eight rooms facing the street are still closed. Another staff member claimed they never opened in the first place. A single room at the motel costs 60 yuan ($8.8) per night, while a suite is 100 yuan. Air conditioning, which costs an extra 10 yuan, was cut off after the attack. Tensions have not been eased completely. A number of ethnic Han shopkeepers along Seman Road, a largely Uygur section of the city, have relocated. But the ethnically Han owner of the Yijin, who asked that her name not be used, is undeterred. "I know they are not against us," she said. "Few of the staff here speak Uygur but that doesn't seem to bother us."
There have also been a number of foreign media reports about a "government clampdown" on religious practices during Ramadan - in particular, on followers observing the sunrise-to-sunset Ramadan fast. Traditionally, Kashgar restaurants close during the day for Ramadan. Some were closed; others remained open for business, serving lamb kebabs, fruits and tea throughout the day. When asked about Ramadan dietary restrictions, a veiled female Uygur shopkeeper, who was eating sunflower seeds on a lazy afternoon, pounded on her husband's chest and said: "It's in there!" "Why need it here?" she said in broken Mandarin while pointing at her own mouth. Guli, a 19-year-old from Kashgar's Bachu county, is aware that there have been heightened security measures, but they hardly affect her. "I don't feel them. Young people like us don't normally observe the fast anyway; only the older generation does, and I don't see how they can be prevented from doing so," she said. "Why should I (be afraid)?" she continued. "You know what terror is? Terror is the bad thing that happens when you least expect it to. What happens around the clock is called life, not terror." "There is little feeling of terror here, unless you want to feel it. We're just living the same old lives, " she added. Nurlan, a 56 year-old Muslim taxi driver, said the August bombing is the most brutal attack he has yet seen, and that such tragedies will not be replicated. "I observe the fast. We all follow the Holy Scriptures here, so you always have many more good people than bad," he said. "I think Kashgar is safe - safer than most places, and definitely those to the west of us. Whatever other people may say, nothing can destroy our lives," he said. Kashgar prefecture borders Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Tajikistan and Kirghizstan. It is home to 3.6 million people. |
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产成人综合久久精品红 | 黄色三级网络 | 美女视频黄a| 精品久久成人免费第三区 | 99精品一区二区三区 | 亚洲精品久久一区毛片 | 精品国产高清a毛片 | 亚洲免费影院 | 特级毛片全部免费播放器 | 亚洲高清色 | 玖玖精品视频在线 | 999久久久 | 最新精品在线视频 | 欧美一区二区三区男人的天堂 | 久久精品国产一区二区三区日韩 | 国产一级a毛片高清 | 伊人爱爱网 | 一区二区在线播放福利视频 | 欧美高清性色生活片免费观看 | 中文字幕va一区二区三区 | 久久亚洲国产视频 | 国产精品高清在线观看地址 | 色偷偷888欧美精品久久久 | 国产大陆精品另类xxxx | 亚洲视频在线看 | 成人在线免费视频播放 | 萌白酱粉嫩jk福利视频在线观看 | 美女被男人桶到嗷嗷叫爽网站 | 俺来也欧美亚洲a∨在线 | 亚洲视频在线视频 | 亚洲成a人v | 国产成人在线免费观看 | 69精品免费视频 | 国产成人三级经典中文 | 国产精品午夜性视频 | 国产成人亚洲欧美三区综合 | 亚洲日韩精品欧美一区二区一 | 国产一级真人毛爱做毛片 | 国产成人精视频在线观看免费 | 亚洲一区在线视频 | 欧美a欧美 |