Davis in China: Xinjiang: Urumqi

May 1st was International Labor Day in China, and I decided to do some domestic traveling during the holiday weekend. Holiday's in China are a traveler's nightmare...flights and trains are sold out and tourist destinations are overrun with Chinese holiday-goers. I figured Xinjiang, China's remote western desert province, was my only hope for a relaxed travel experience. It is not popular among the Chinese (an issue I'll get into later).

THE RUNDOWN ON XINJIANG

Xinjiang has been associated with China since the Silk Road. The province is China's largest, but is mostly uninhabitable desert. It is officially known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is the homeland of the turkic Uyghur people. My visit to Xinjiang has caused me to question both the 'Uyghur' and 'Autonomous' aspects claimed by the province's official title. In the mid twentieth century, Xinjiang was around 90% Uyghur. Today it is below 50% due to government sponsored immigration of Han Chinese. Ethnic tensions in Xinjiang are high. During my stay in Urumqi, the provincial capital, I noticed a significantly higher police presence than in other Chinese provinces. I noted three police forces in Urumqi: the standard beat and traffic cops found around China, a sort of civilian police force that patrols neighborhoods in gangs of around 20, and the heavily armed SWAT police ubiquitous in public spaces. When I traveled from Urumqi to Turpan, my bus was stopped both ways by police checkpoints. The checkpoint entering Urumqi was an airport style security facility staffed by SWAT police. The Urumqi airport had the most strict security I have experienced at any airport.

Civil unrest in Tibet is well know and publicized by western media. Unrest in Xinjiang is unheard of in the west (probably because no one in the west has ever heard of Xinjiang to begin with). In the past five years there have been several bombings and riots that have left hundreds dead. The Chinese government has responded with raids on suspected dissidents and 'communication blackouts'. After the 2009 Urumqi riots, internet and mobile phones were disabled in Xinjiang for nine months.

In Chinese, Xinjiang means 'New Frontier'. This name is rejected by Uyghur seperatists who refer to the province as East Turkestan. During the Chinese civil war, Mao marched his troops through many outer provinces, Xinjiang included. With his army's compromised state, Mao was compelled to make many concessions to these outer provinces to gain their support. This included promising true Autonomy for Xinjiang and the right to secede. Shortly after winning the civil war and consolidating power, Mao revoked the right of any province to secede. Today 'Autonomous' is nothing more than an historical relic from the civil war attached to the name Xinjiang.

URUMQI

Urumqi is the capital and largest city of Xinjiang. Urumqi comes from the Dzungar language and means 'beautiful pasture'. It is not pronounceable in the Chinese language, so the Chinese refer to it as Wulumuqi.