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Thus ends the journey in China

Kashgar, the Great Game, and Border Troubles


This will be the final travel blog post on China which I will make during my trip, I may do expanded topics later and will certainly do more posts showcasing videos which I will deal with in London / Canada (wherever I live next?), but I would like professional help to deal with video if I am honest, as I cannot produce something myself to the standard which I would like. I will also do a separate post or video covering my adjusted first impressions of China / final thoughts on the country after having visited – I am thinking of leaving this until the end of the trip so I can think about it more in context once I have visited the other Silk Road countries.

 

Kashgar

Whilst Kashgar may be the Western end of China proper (some parts certainly do not feel Chinese), it is by no means the end to the Silk Road, which continues onwards in all directions through the mountains which surround the city on three sides. Given its location, watered on three sides by mountains, and pleasant climate for at least part of the year, it makes sense that Kashgar is a metropolis. The modern city was much larger and more sprawling than I had anticipated. It is well known for its strong Uyghur culture, particularly in relation to its Old City centre which is I think has immense historical and cultural significance for the Uyghur people.[1] The old city centre is one of the key attractions in Kashgar, and it is as I understand, very much akin to those other great cities along the Silk Road, Samarkand, Bukhara and others. Naturally, visiting the Old Town was near the top of my list of things to do when visiting Kashgar.


Overview map of the "new" Kashgar Old Town:


However, before discussing and showcasing my own visit, it is worth pointing out that the original Old City was in fact almost fully destroyed by the Chinese authorities and subsequently rebuilt between 2008 and 2024.[2] The evidence of the rebuild is plain to see as some sections still remain unfinished. The stated reason(s) for this rebuild included safety of buildings due to the earthquake prone zone that Kashgar sits within, and to enhance tourism.[3] [4] Whilst I can accept some of those reasons, I did get the sense that these were not the only reasons, particularly given the result. The attempted sinicization of the city and its culture is evident, from the enormous central people’s square, featuring a giant statue of Chairman Mao, to the prevalent CCP flags and iconography, not to mention surveillance, throughout the old town. Other individuals with more time and experience in China have written extensively on this issue already, so here’s a few resources I used to help give my own first impressions some context.[5] In terms of my own opinion, I would like to visit China again in the future, so I will not comment on whether these actions are correct or necessary or not, suffice to say that they are evident. Kashgar felt rather more moody than other Chinese cities, and I personally did not find the locals (apart from the resident Han Chinese in fact) as friendly as other cities, I also noticed this in Turpan, for example.


In any case, enough social commentary, what were the sites like?

 

As with most ancient city centres that remain in at least some semblance of their original style and layout, they are a maze that is fit for endless wandering, always with new nooks and crannies to explore. The Old City of Kashgar felt similarly, although following the rebuild, it seemed as though most of the commercial enterprise and sites to be seen were limited to main streets, whilst back streets seemed more residential; indeed, I think many local tourists seemed to avoid the back streets altogether. The main entrances to the Old City featured heavy security, ID checks, limited bag checks etc., and every street was filled with cameras, which they at least attempted to blend into the normal city features. I tried to ignore this as I wandered through as security cameras are an absolute eyesore. The “New” Old City, in my view, had plenty of elegant buildings with detailed facades which I appreciated, albeit made of cement rather than traditional mud brick. There was a good mix of shops, although they tended to repeat what they were selling every few stores, which at least in my experience is the sad reality of most old city centres these days, heavily commercialised to the point of tackiness; this experience seems to be supported by other travellers with some level of discernment.[6] I noticed this in many old town centres, from Marrakech to San Gimingiano, although I did find the older sections of Vienna to be a bit of a departure from this trend. Whilst its very clear that people to in fact reside within the Old City of Kashgar, the vibe I got from it was that it was very much set up to walk through, engage in some sort of relatively quick commercial activity, and then leave. Apart from very few places, there weren’t actually many sit down venues, or simply areas with people relaxing and enjoying the city life, such as you might get in a square in a little Italian village. Perhaps it was the time of day.


A selection of photos from the "new" Old City of Kashgar.


Some religious looking structures seem to remain, although I felt these were few and far between. Perhaps that’s because of the large and beautiful Id Kah Mosque which would have originally sat within the Old City (it now sits I think to the west side of it, with the other western half of the Old City looking distinctly more modern than the eastern portion. I visited the Id Kah Mosque but did not enter and remained on the square, it seemed crowded with tourists and there’s always something off putting anyway about entering someone else’s place of worship as a tourist site, at least to me. Given my own religious background I make an exception for old churches, which I enjoy visiting.


Id Kah Mosque, Kashgar:


To conclude, the Old Town of Kashgar does a decent life of creating the façade of what the original Old Town may have been like, but to me something felt a bit off or contrived, it felt less livable. The one exception was the Tea House I found where an older gentleman was signing and playing a local instrument.


Kashgar Tea House with local musician:

 

The rest of Kashgar

It didn’t have a large amount of time to explore the wider modern city. The other areas of Kashgar which I did visit, in search of various items before heading to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, seemed relatively par for the course with other Chinese cities. I had some decent food, and somewhat surprisingly, had a hell of a time trying to find a solar chargeable power bank which I had forgotten to buy before leaving Canada/UK. I did have a pleasant experience trying to find some liquid honey, where one young fellow (Chinese) walked me several city blocks to a large grocery store, entered with me, and then proceeded to pay for the item, refusing to accept any payment. When I queried why he was being so kind, he simply said something along the lines of “because we are human”.


Camel friends in Kashgar and a monument to a horrible little shit (Mao):


 

The Great Game

Before I continue to detail my next stops in Kashgar, those which relate to my keen interest in the “Great Game”, I thought it would be helpful to the reader (and of course enjoyable for myself 😉) to explain exactly what this “Great Game” in fact is, and why I (and others) find it so fascinating.


My typical explanation of it when asked, is that the Great Game was the sparring between the British Empire and Tsarist Russia during the 19th and early 20th centuries over the territories between then British India and Imperial Russia. Many of these intermediate regions went by different names at that time, but they include Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and parts of Western China including Tibet (to name but some of them!).


A very cool artists impression of some of the key Great Game regions, looking north from India from the British Perspective:


Encyclopaedia Britannica notes the following [the Great Game was the] [r]ivalry between Britain and Russia in Central Asia in the late 19th century. The term was used by Rudyard Kipling in his novel Kim (1901). British attitudes were influenced by the reports of official, semiofficial, and private adventurers enjoying the thrill of clandestine operations beyond the frontiers of India, reports that frequently embellished (or even invented) accounts of Russian machinations and the vacillating loyalties of local chieftains.


A selection of other maps of the Great Game region, as well as historic Kashgar during the period the British and Russians operated out of the city:



Having read a large amount of the literature now on the subject, in particular the excellent series of books covering the Great Game and the old Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk[7], I can’t say I fully agree with some of the more opinionated elements (i.e. re embellishment) of the Britannica definition (for example, Russian effectively annexed Khiva (presently in Uzbekistan) and other parts of Turkestan (including most of the Pamirs), and their goods were sold in the markets of Afghanistan, with envoys (and soldiers) throughout the region. Of course, I’m not surprised by this obvious error of definition, most modern encyclopaedias are staffed today by midwits who engaged in things like censorship which is never acceptable. That’s not to say the British were any less present or encroaching than the Russians, they may have been just less overt about it in some regions (Afghanistan being a glaringly obvious exception to that!).


The amusing fact as I see it is that the adventurers (correctly official, semi-official and private) which were engaged in such clandestine and adventurous activities, seemed to live lives and have experiences which I feel one could scarcely dream of in the present world, where the sheer amount of paperwork and restrictions (including technological) to get anything done anywhere renders travelling in such a manner as they did, likely impossible today absent the official sanction of multiple sovereign states.  Of course, in the 19th century, to have the backing of the Imperial British or Russian Empires, or to be privately financed could circumvent some of the more bureaucratic difficulties. It was to me, a time of proper civil servants doing proper work, rather than, for example, establishing ULEZ in London, or otherwise harassing and robbing nominally private citizens at home, which seems to be the modus operandi of the western civil “servant” today.


The quality of the work done, from mapping and exploration, to soldiery and official reports which now fill the archives such as those of the former India Office (some examples are here[8], and here[9], and one can also read firsthand accounts like those here[10]), all without the aid of modern technology, computers and satellites is astonishing to me. It needs also to be said that this was still a time in these regions where bandits and brigands could and did harass travellers and traders alike; Now of course governments do that, but perhaps with rather less outright violence. Notwithstanding such brigands, many of these adventurers prevailed in their missions. It would be very remiss of me not to mention the vast numbers of Imperial subjects (locals), such as the infamous “Pundits” which helped make all of it possible, utilising such gadgetry as prayer beads and a precisely calculated stride to assist in mapmaking. Indian born Nain Singh who was tasked with exploring and mapping Tibet, is but one example. Of course, I should also mention the numerous local guides, caravan leaders, Mullahs and of course “horse traders” (a frequent disguise), that helped both these western adventurers and the Pundits along the way – sadly many of their names will forever be lost to history.


A few of the famous Great Game Players (left to right): Alexander "Bokhara" Burns; Francis Younghusband; Pundit Nain Singh; Jan Prosper Witkiewicz; Dost Mohammed Khan:


A glance through but a few of the stories of nearly any of these individuals, whether Pundit, British or Russian, should provide plentiful fantasy inducing stories for the more adventurous minded. Many first-hand accounts exist, and numerous items of secondary literature. For those wanting something a little lighter, several of George Macdonald Fraser’s Flashman series of books cover key aspects of the Great Game, these books are an absolute pleasure to read.


In many respects (and in my opinion), the spirit of the Great Game in some way continued in the region long after the decline of Imperial Russia after 1917 (and thus removal of the immediate threat to British India, such concern itself of course officially ending with Indian independence in 1947. The USSR and China continued and move into these regions throughout the 20th century, with major highways (such as the Pamir / M41, which I have now driven) not being completed until the 1930s, meaning traversing such regions must have still been a proper adventure. Indeed, the M41 was only connected to the Karakorum highway in the 2000s! Of course, with the end of the USSR many of these Central Asian states now have their independence, although with China’s Belt & Road Initiative it remains to be seen what the long-term impact on those countries will be, it seems very evident to me that the new “Imperial” (if I may dare call it that) power in the region is most certainly China. For some excellent reads on the older Silk Road and the modern Silk Road, I highly recommend both of Peter Frankopan’s books on the subject.


I could blather on about this topic and the most amazing stories for ages, but I will stop here.

 

Kashgar and the Great Game

Kashgar played a key role in both British and Russian interests in Turkestan (now, encompassing part of Xinjiang, China (and other regions)). Each of the British and the Russians would seek to influence the Chinese and other nearby groups to sway their allegiance one way or another. When the Russians did effectively annex the Pamir region (present day Tajikistan) by 1895 for example, it was the British and Russian consulates in Kashgar which (alongside their respective authorities in London/Simla and St. Petersburg) would have worked to establish a new frontier line in the Wakhan Corridor (which I have now visited in Tajikistan);[11] The British for their part would use this as well as troop movements as evidence to the Chinese that Russian agents had not been truthful, and they would further push for greater recognition of Chinese sovereignty in the region.[12]


Given that historical backdrop, I was keen to see the old British and Russian Consulates which were situated in Kashgar in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I was rather keen to walk and explore where such clandestine intrigues would have taken place and to, hopefully, gaze upon any residual old-world splendour that remained.


I found both locations.


The Old Russian Consulate

The first I visited was the old Russian consulate from 1890, which had apparently been turned into a hotel. On arrival I was pleased to see it was still standing and retained a brass plaque announcing its former Russian provenance. Unfortunately, however, after a walk around the perimeter and trying several doors, it seemed to be closed. According to what I can see online it may have ceased to operate as a hotel, this was curious as I had tried to book it the day before on trip.com. In any case, it was nice to at least see where some of the Russian players in that Great Game may have walked and carried out their official and more clandestine activities. Nikolai Fedorovich Petrovskii would have been Russian consul during the high time of Great Game intrigue in Kashgar, facing off his counterpart George Macartney.


The Old Russian Consulate, 1890. Also, Nikolai Fedorovich Petrovskii, Russian counterpart to George Macartney:



The Old British Consulate

Otherwise known as Chini Bagh (“Chinese Garden”), the old British Consulate now sits behind a “modern” and rather ugly hotel complex, which I understand was built over the allegedly magnificent gardens of Chini Bagh. After checking with the hotel staff, I ascertained which building it stood behind and went through and found it. Rather unfortunately, it is almost entirely boarded it up with some hideous billboards concealing what seems to be a renovation or hotel conversion project. Only the dilapidated looking brick entranceway corners can be seen at ground level, that and a rather faded stone plaque indicating that it was a former British consulate.


The old British Consulate, what is left of it that can still be seen, that is:



I wandered around the premises further and through a back alleyway or two to see if any better views were to be had. Unfortunately, after this little survey (this only resulted in a view of a wall of mud brick on what seems to be the remnants of a hill behind the structure) the best I was able to do was to climb a rather dodgy staircase on the adjacent hotel and take a few shots of the roof.  It looks like portions of the original structure remain, but they are not in good condition.


Some more recent photos of the exterior, roof and once lavish interior of the former British Consulate:


The condition of the site is rather a pity, because based on some of the older photos I have sourced (below), it looks to have been a rather classy building, which would have been a centre of both intrigue in a far-off outpost of Empire, and a lively household which would have entertained many famous visitors.[13] The British agent in Kashgar who played a crucial role in the local intrigues was George Macartney who arrived (with his wife) in 1890 with Francis Younghusband’s expedition, although, he did not formally become consul until 1908, a fact some have attributed to Macartney himself being prejudiced against due to his being of mixed race (the son of a Scottish diplomat and a Chinese noblewoman, born in Nanking, educated in London). Unfortunately, apart from official papers, Macartney himself left no memoirs; however, fortunately his wife Lady Catherina Macartney did, so those can provide some day-to-day insights into the goings on of Chini Bagh.


Some historic photos of the British Consulate and also of George Macartney and wife Lady Catherina. I do not take credit for these photos.


Following the end of the British presence after Indian independence, the Chini Bagh site was used by the Indian and Pakistani Diplomatic service, which eventually ceased as well. More recently it seems to have fallen into disuse/disrepair, which must be the reason for its current renovation. I hope they can do it justice.

 

Border Troubles

Back to the travelling escapades, myself and it seems my Chinese tour company as well found out rather belatedly that my planned exit route from China into Kyrgyzstan via Irkeshtam was, bizarrely, closed on the weekends to all but commercial trucks. This resulted in a further two days in Kashgar. To add to this trouble, but the only method to get through the considerable distance (some 15km I reckon) between the numerous Chinese border checks (I think my passport was checked on at least 12 separate occasions and locations that day – ridiculously inefficient) and the Kyrgyzstan customs, was by (1) International Bus, or (2) Privately owned car (my driver had to return to his family for a well-earned Chinese holiday). Otherwise, one must walk between the border stations. Obviously, I did not own a car in China, and I wasn’t walking 15km at some 2500-3000m altitude with all my many bags. This left option (1), the bus, aka the loser cruiser. I cannot stand busses, they’re intolerable. Anyway, I had to stomach it. This of course turned into a debacle, because the Chinese driver clearly seemed not to understand that I needed to disembark at the Kyrgyzstan border check with my bags to meet my Kyrgyz driver. However, it also seems that the Kyrgyz border guards also did not understand this despite questions and protestation, with the Kyrgyz alleging that I could not meet a private car at that border check (clearly wrong as the driver had arrived there as I would subsequently learn).  Anyway, I ended up being on the bus all the way through the border to Sary Tash, Kyrgyzstan, where I was due to stay for the first night anyway, and at that point I just demanded to be let off the bus with my bags. This resulted in my standing in the middle of Sary Tash in the cold wind with my bags, with no internet and not a clue how to get to the planned homestay. Fortunately, a local stopped and picked me up, and I placed all my bags on the back of his small truck, I later realized the truck had been covered inside with a mixture of mud and possibly manure. Thank heavens I brought tons of sanitary wipes in my camping gear. I did offer him some Kyrgyz Som for the kind assistance and helped himself to a 1000 Som note (~£9), a rather princely sum in those parts, I should have paid more attention. The homestay, “Pamir Extreme”, run by Shamurat is excellent compared to many others I have seen and now experienced, and I would highly recommend it. Thus ends the first of now several major Silk Road travel debacles, all part of the experience really.


A view from the bus from the road where I'd be walking if not for it, also, a couple preview shots of the amazing Kyrgyzstan:



 

[7] Hopkirk’s magnum opus (in my opinion) "The Great Game" can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/dp/B00XWY4N86/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&sr=1-2

[13] Descriptions of the same are outlined in the book “An English Lady in Chinese Turkestan” by Lady Macartney, wife of the resident British consul George Macartney. Unfortunately, I have yet to read this, it’s on my list to acquire: https://www.amazon.com/English-Chinese-Turkestan-Oxford-Paperbacks/dp/0195838793

 
 
 

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