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Abduweli Ayup has not returned to Kashgar since 2015, and the chances of that happening anytime soon seem slim. The Chinese government has revoked his passport, he said.
Sometimes he watches videos on YouTube from his hometown. They didn’t make him better. It feels compulsive, he says, “like eating bad food.”
“You know, you want to keep eating, but then your stomach feels tired,” she added. As he watched the video while talking to a BuzzFeed News reporter, Ayup pointed to a giant statue of a traditional stringed musical instrument at the city gate. “Look, this is just for tourists,” he said.
The city is now full of these photogenic additions. There is a giant teapot at the main intersection near the city gate. Elsewhere, murals show a map of Xinjiang or carry slogans such as “Xinjiang Impressions” where visitors stop to take holiday photos. A new entrance has been added to the metalwork market, with a large sign featuring a silhouetted figure hammering iron. The anvil sculpture in the corner now features projected flames, as well as fireworks and a soundtrack of metal pipes being struck. Camel rides are also available.
In the video he saw, Ayup also noticed footage of people dancing while wearing traditional Uyghur clothing – a costume that may have been used more than a century ago. Figures like this can be seen on Chinese state television and in the country’s annual rubber-stamp parliamentary sessions. “Nobody will wear those clothes anymore except for the show,” Ayup said.
Tourism is now booming in Xinjiang. Last year, despite global numbers falling due to the pandemic, 190 million tourists visited the region – an increase of more than 20% from the previous year. Revenue increased by 43%. As part of the “Xinjiang is a beautiful land” campaign, the Chinese government has produced videos in English and held events to promote the vision of the region as peaceful, newly prosperous, and full of dramatic landscapes and rich culture.
Chinese state media also portrays this as an economic growth engine for Xinjiang natives. One article describes how a former camp prisoner named Aliye Ablimit, upon his release, received hospitality training. “After graduation, I became a tour guide for the Ancient City of Kashgar,” Ablimit said, according to the article. “And later, my house became a Bed and Breakfast. Tourists love my house very much because of the Uygur style. All the rooms are fully booked today. Now I have a monthly income of about 50,000 yuan,” or about $7,475.
The facade is not as good as the mosques of Kashgar. Many of the neighborhood’s smaller mosques appear disused, their wooden doors broken and boarded up – and others have been demolished or converted to other uses, including cafes and public toilets.
Inside the Id Kah mosque, many cameras, including inside the mosque, have disappeared. But as expected over the past five years, many worshipers have also disappeared, from 4,000-5,000 during Friday prayers in 2011 to just 800 today.
The imam of the mosque, Mamat Juma, admitted this in an interview with a vlogger who often produces videos supporting the Chinese government’s narrative, which was posted in April 2021. Speaking through a translator, he did not understand that not all Uyghurs are Muslims and to reduce the role of religion in Uyghur culture. “I am worried that the number of believers will decrease,” he said, “but that is not a reason to force them to pray here.” ●
Additional reporting by Irene Benedicto
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