www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

The Silk Road
and Xinjiang Province, China
In June, 2001, Randy and I visited Tibet, China and The Silk Road.

Randy walking with Ray's friend, Li Chiang, through the ancient city of Jiaohe on the Silk Road - R. J. Wendell Photo

The Silk Road was an ancient, 7,000 mile long, network of trade routes between China's capital at Changan and the westernmost reaches of the Roman empire. These routes, historically, were used to exchange not only silk with China and the West, but a wide variety of other commodities as well. With friend Ray's help, Randy and I visited parts of the Silk Road in what is now China's Xinjiang Province in the northwest part of the country. Our journey took us through the Taklimakan desert, one of the route's most difficult barriers. Unlike the Gobi desert, the Taklimakan is much more dry and sparse with underground water or the occasional oasis very rare to come by. Even in early June we found temperatures to be over 35 degrees Celsius (Nearly 100 Fahrenheit). Depsite language barriers, heat, and an unplanned car wreck and fractured shoulder, we thoroughly enjoyed our travels through Xinjiang and the Silk Road and will return again someday...   - Roger J. Wendell, July 2001

The September 11th tragedy on America's east coast can never be forgotten. However, for the Chinese government to use this as an excuse to subdue Xinjiang's indigenous Uyghur People is unacceptable. The Uyghur People have been in western China much longer than the ethnic Han who are currently invading the area to ostensibly combat "terrorism."

- Roger J. Wendell, Spring 2002

China rejects U.S. attack on human rights
CNN - Beijing, China, March 12, 2008

"China's foreign minister Wednesday rejected criticism of its human rights record, accusing the United States of 'clinging to a Cold War mentality' and 'practicing double standards.'"

"Yang Jiechi was responding to questions about a State Department report released a day earlier that characterized China's human rights record as one of the most repressive in the world."

"The report was released five months before the Summer Olympic Games kickoff in Beijing."

"Although he chided the United States and other critics of its human rights record as 'making confrontation,' Yang stressed that China is 'ready for dialogue with the United States, as long as it is done in an environment of respect and fairness.'"

"Despite rapid economic growth and social change in China, the report said the 'authoritarian' Chinese government 'continues to deny their citizens basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.'"

"It also said there was an increase in forced relocations in Beijing, with people being thrown out of their homes to make way for Olympic projects."

"'China's overall human rights record remained poor in 2007,' it stated, citing tightening controls over religious freedom in Tibet and the Uyghur population."

"China announced Sunday that militants in Xinjiang's Uyghur Autonomous Region had planned to carry out two terror attacks, including one targeting the Olympics set to begin on August 8. China said it successfully thwarted both attacks.

"The autonomous region is home to about 19 million people, most of whom are Muslims and other minorities. Many of them oppose Beijing's rule."

"The State Department report also said China has increased its efforts to 'control and censor the Internet, and the government tightened restrictions on freedom of speech and the domestic press' and bloggers."

"It cited a 20 percent increase over 2006 in convictions of citizens under what it called China's overly broad state security law that is often used to silence government critics."

"'The government continued to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and imprison journalists, writers, activists, and defense lawyers and their families, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights under law,' the report said."

"'Individuals and groups, especially those deemed politically sensitive by the government, continued to face tight restrictions on their freedom to assemble, their freedom to practice religion, and their freedom to travel.'"

Our trip way out west of Beijing (about 2,000 miles west!)

Thousand Buddha Caves	Uyghur Knife Craftsman	Yurt	Xinjiang Rainbow	Lake Karakul, Xinjiang
Xinjiang camel	Donkey cart	Keep Off The Grass	Environment Protection!	Randy and the Bank of China

Agricultural University at Ürümqi

Riding with Li Chiang to Turpan

Making noodles...

...in Xinjiang

Randy at the market

Ray at a Kashgar market

Trouble...

Roger and Randy Wendell on some very rare and remote Chinese ground...

We were in a head-on collision coming down from an 11,000 foot pass in the Tien-Shan mountains...

A crowd almost immediately gathered out of "nowhere" as I didn't recall seeing any villages or people in the area...

The Chinese were able to X-ray my skull and arms where they found fractures my left shoulder.

While in the Tien-Shan mountains, nearly 1,500 miles west of Beijing, we were able to sneak into a military area where few Westerners had ever stood before. Although we were successful in reaching that rare spot the police found us out and took us in for the night. Unfortunately they were not in the mood to allow any picture-taking in and around the jail. Nevertheless, I was able to preserve pictures of the "Out of Bounds For Foreigners" sign (And boy did they mean it!!) and the shot of me and Randy on that rare and remote Tien-Shan mountain real-estate where few westerners had ever stepped before.

Xinjiang is a HUGE province with a lot of difficult roads...

The following morning, after being released by the police, we left the restricted area via an 11,300 foot pass through the Tien-Shan mountains. Unfortunately, on the way down, we came into a head-on collision with a utility truck that completely totaled our car. Our driver's face was cut, pretty badly, with Ray, Randy, and Jeshua sustaining a variety of bumps and bruises. I, myself, hit my head and shoulder really hard as I was leaning out the window taking a GPS reading at the time of the collision. I think I went unconscious, briefly, but was definitely disoriented and dazed for awhile. According to my GPS we were doing about 40 mph when the truck hit us head-on as we both rounded a curve along the mountain road.

I was taken to what I believe was the region's only hospital - nearly six hours away via unpaved road to Kuche, still well within the huge province of Xinjiang. The hospital staff treated me well although I do recall some chuckling as they kept trying to stand me up in front of their X-ray machine and I kept passing out and crumpling to the floor. Many of the other patients, and their visitors, found me to be a curiosity - some asking if my nose would ever stop growing while they stared smoking next to me in the hallway and hospital room (Many Chinese are fascinated with blonde hair, something I don't poses. They're also distracted by what they believe to be very large noses on the faces of Westerners - I'll have to agree with them - my nose, and that of the majority in North America, is pretty darn large when compared to Asians!).

The Uyghur People
(pronounced "Wee-Gur")

Uyghur craftsmen	Uyghur Herdsmen	Uyghur lunch crowd	Meet the chef!	Kashgar donkey cart
Karakoram "Highway"	Lake Karakul (Qarokul)	The camels we used...	Mustagh Ata - 7,546m	Mount Kongur - 7,710m
Meat for sale	Preparing the meat...	Turfan Depression	A Yurt!	Inside a yurt...

In the third photo, bottom row, I am bicycling through the Turfan Depression in Xinjian Province, China. Also known as "Turpan," the area is 200 feet below sea level with the Karez Wells nearby. Although it was only June, it was pretty darn hot out and I was wearing shorts through different parts of the Muslim world - a faux pas I wish I would have been more aware of at the time...

More Silk Road Photos:

1. Map of the Silk Road (123k)
2. Map of China (12k)
3. Here's the truck we hit in the Tien-Shan Mountains... (37k)
4. Miles from anywhere yet a crowd still gathers (46k)
5. "Humeral Neck" and "Greater Tubercle" fractures with damage to my "Deltoid Tubercle?" (28k)
6. This off-duty police woman was not impressed with us (37k)
7. Earlier we helped this truck get through an avalanche shed at about 11,000 feet (38k)
8. On about a dozen occasions we got out to help our own car over some rough sections of road (62k)
9. Some gas stations were modern, some were not... (52k)
10. Chinese wind power near the Silk Road! (29k)
11. Ray, Tina and the kids were great! (42k)
12. Randy put together this Power Point presentation on where we were... (It's a BIG 857k file)
13. I found the Squatty Potty toilets of China, despite their lack of cleanliness, to be much more healthful than what we're accustomed to. This is because a natural "squatting" position is required that doesn't entail touching your bottom to anything. This particular photo is of a typical train squatty (5k) and is a stainless steel version of what can be found in all kinds of different forms around the country. Tina, our American friend in Urumqi, introduced me to the term "Squatty Potty," something I also discuss on my Africa page. My Toilet Matters page has more info on this delicate subject...
14. There are more photos from our trip on my Tibet and China pages...

Links:

Back to Roger J. Wendell's Home Page...

Abbey | About | Blog | Contacting Me | Copyright | Disclaimer | Donate | Guest Book | Home | Site Index | Solutions | Terms, Conditions and Fair Use
Copyright © 1955 -