Travel to China: Kashgar Oasis

We're going to head out of down on the Seman Road to the northwest. Zero expectations, so you can't be disappointed.

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The road is very straight with only an occasional right-angle turn.

Somebody has money to burn.

There's water here, and it supports a fairly dense population.

Remember those wood columns in the mosque?

A side lane. Electrification well-advanced.

The locally famous cemetery is at Yopurghur, 50 miles northeast of Kashgar, but here's an ordinary one.

Transport both by motor cycle and donkey cart.

Orchard prunings.

New construction.

Open fields. Forget fencing. The air quality is poor, but naturally so, from desert dust.

A birch crop.

Saplings, trained.

Field preparation is by hand and hoe.

Greenhouses; the north side is solid; the tapered south side is open but with roll-up covers.

Here the heavy covers are rolled up, though plastic sheeting is still in place against spring chills.

A local palace.

Hard to see more than this, but here's somebody with traditional taste.

An air view of the oasis.

And another.