The Kashgar railway station is a potent symbol of Chinese subjugation in an already beleaguered Xinjiang. The glistening, marble-clad monolith at the end of a sumptuous two-lane highway in the outskirts of the city, is another sign for the so-called ‘minority’ race that the end is near for their predominance in this remote homeland. Completed only last year, the rail link between the capital Urumqi and this strategic southern Uyghur city, is another nail in the coffin of their hopes for independence and signifies the determined Chinese commitment to swamping southern Xinjiang with the Han majority population. 

As part of a plan to settle more than 55 million Han in Xinjiang over the next 25 years and to promote a ‘Go West’ mentality, China pushed ahead with one of its most ambitious railway projects yet, in order, many feel, to ship in record numbers of Han to swell the already mushrooming community and to open up one of the most remote corners of China. A three-day bus ride used to be the norm for anyone determined enough to make the 1500-plus kilometer Urumqi-Kashgar pilgrimage. Sleeper buses have halved this to 36 bone-displacing hours, but the brand new double-decker train has revolutionized the journey in terms of both comfort and speed and hundreds of Han Chinese make the trip every day in a pain-free 24 hours.

The terminal itself speaks volumes for Han intentions in the area. Designed for a majority Chinese clientele; Chinese kiosks, Chinese signs and Chinese staff predominate. One Uyghur restaurant hidden in a far corner of a 40-strong Chinese cafe-complex, exists as a sop to the eating preferences of Uyghurs who refuse to eat with the Chinese. But in fact Uyghur faces are a rare commodity on the trains. Most cannot afford the luxury of train travel and prefer to haggle on the bus. The train, hot off the Chinese press, with Chinese signs, Chinese staff , 24 hour piped Chinese music, Chinese announcements and Chinese food, is not for the likes of the average Uyghur citizen. ‘These trains are for Chinese and foreign tourists,’ said Ibrahim, an Uyghur tour guide. ‘The Chinese are the rich ones round here. Our people like to negotiate a fare but there’s no negotiation on the train. The only Uyghurs you find at the station are touts buying up tickets to re-sell-but even that’s being knocked on the head by the Chinese authorities.’ 

The stunning ride cuts a swathe through the edge of the Tienshan mountain range on one side and the Taklamakan, one of the world’s cruelest deserts, on the other. Plagued by sand storms, ferocious winds and frequent derailments, the payoff for the Chinese can be measured in terms of the dramatic changes already taking place in the landscape of Kashgar, one of the former silk-road trading posts. Fifteen years ago, Chinese faces were a rarity in this Muslim city. Low, mud-walled houses lined narrow, un-paved streets along which streams of donkey carts clattered, driven by small boys in peaked caps. Life in the ancient city spilled out onto the sidewalks as people plied their centuries old crafts. Kashgar was home for the Uyghur people. 

A big push during the past five years, accelerated since the arrival of the train last year, has meant Han population arriving in droves to settle in a now flourishing Chinese community. Vast tracts of the old city have been bulldozed for two-lane highways which are now bordered by Hong-Kong style high-rise developments. Artists’ impressions of 21st-century Kashgar decorate street hoardings and many Uyghurs are worried by rumors that the entire old city is earmarked for destruction. ‘They say our houses are unsafe and by re-housing us all they are doing us a favour,’ said Uyghur teacher Rahim Mahmudov. ‘But our houses have withstood many tests for centuries and their construction is perfect for our conditions. Their real motive is to break up our strong bonds and to scatter us. We don’t trust them,’ he added bitterly.  Wide roads now separate parts of the old city, carving up the tightly knit communities and mowing down traditional housing. The latest assault on the community since the railway station road destroyed a Uyghur village, has been the destruction of a chunk of the city wall to make way for a giant Ferris wheel which now dominates the skyline. ‘No one knows where it will stop,’ said Rahim. ‘We listen to the rumors, see the evidence and are afraid for our people.’ ‘You cannot say you have seen the Silk Road until you have visited Kashgar,’ trumpets a Technicolor billboard teetering on the edge of a new Chinese roundabout where old houses used to stand. ‘Kashgar has taken on a new look. Silk Load (sic) is even more shining,’ boasts another.

But few tourists would fight to visit a ‘shining’ Kashgar and the Uyghur people themselves are bitter and terrified about the changes taking place before their eyes. Kashgar has seen turmoil and political intrigue in its lifetime, and its history is peppered with assaults of every description. Few, however, can have been more destructive or more far-reaching than the assault it is experiencing today. And from this assault it seems, there will be no turning back. 

By Ruth Ingram