This day was mostly a travel day. We drove back from Xiahe to Lanzhou, stopping for lunch in Linxia, a Muslim town. It is a center of Muslim culture, known in some periods as the Chinese Mecca. It was the capital of a Muslim Republic of East Turkestan in the 1930's. The Hui and Dongziang people live here. The Dongziang people are descendants, according to our guide, of Arab soldiers in Genghis Khan's army, and Mongolian women. Some groups here are also the result of other migrations from the West as a part of the Silk Road cultural exchange. Women sometimes wear scarves, more often lace hats. Men often wear lace hats, and big round glasses with brass fittings.
We stopped to look at a mosque shortly before mid-day prayers. We were immediately surrounded by 40 or more young male students who pressed close and stared. The older teacher with them said they watch television -- it wasn't that we looked strange or exotic to them. Rather it was that they cannot believe that Americans, who hate Muslims and invade Muslim countries, come all the way to see them in their mosque. And, he offered, would we please come back and visit in the future.
We do another overnight on the train tonight in a journey to Jiayuguan, a garrison town at the end of the Great Wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment