Looking back on my travels in Xinjiang, the most important reason why I stayed for two years at a time and spent most of my time in Kashgar, in the southern part of the country, is that I discovered the joys of traveling in Kashgar: some? The most important reason is that I discovered the joy of traveling in Kashgar: some of the? s humanistic flavor is unattainable.

On one occasion, two of my friends and I went to a local ethnic restaurant for dinner, and we met an Uzbek man who invited us to attend his family's wedding in a few days.

Uzbek

There are 56 ethnic groups in China, 47 in Xinjiang, and the Uzbeks are one of them. minority? Their population is very small, only 10,000 people in the whole of Xinjiang. In the process of my contact with my Uzbek friends, I can y feel some of this nation's ? superiority? s aura, which, I think, probably also has to do with this ethnic group's overall? I think this probably also has something to do with this ethnic group as a whole. I think this probably has something to do with the overall life of the ethnic group. During the Song Dynasty, the Uzbeks moved into China from Central Asia, and Kashgar was one of the first cities in Xinjiang where they arrived. Historically, many large-scale migrations of an ethnic nature have been due to war, famine, or harsh conditions, but the Uzbeks migrated from another land. Migration? to China was due to business.

The Uzbeks were very good at import-export trade, and they dealt in some of the more sought-after goods of the Silk Road: silk, porcelain, tea, and so on. By the Qing Dynasty, Uzbek caravans still traveled between West Asia and Xinjiang, and were once very prosperous. It was not until four or five hundred years later that Uzbek farmers and small craftsmen moved to Kashgar.

To this day, most Uzbeks in Xinjiang live in towns and cities, with relatively few in the countryside.

So, the temperament, appearance, and the overall situation of the family of the Uzbeks that you come into contact with on your way to travel in Xinjiang are very different from other ethnic groups. They give the impression of being quite rich and very posh. During my travels in Kashgar, Xinjiang, I found that the richer the ethnic minority family, the more ? ostentatious? The richer the ethnic minority family, the more ostentatious they are, the more they feast on grand festivals, the more they throw lavish parties on important occasions such as weddings and marriages, and the more they meet friends from other countries who come to watch. When friends from abroad come to visit, they will be warmly invited in. , they will be warmly invited to enter the door, and will be their own home to the melting of the whole scene. On the mainland, such a practice would probably be misunderstood as ? Showing off? and for Xinjiang's ethnic minorities, it's a way of showing their pride, beauty, happiness and hope: look, this is my home, and it's really great, isn't it?

The Uzbek Wedding

On the day of the wedding, my friends and I arrived as promised. It turned out that the Uzbek uncle we had met by chance earlier was the father of the groomsman. He told us that when Uzbeks get married, the man also has to give a bride price and prepare a new house, and that the money for the wedding has to come from the man's family. This is quite similar to the wedding traditions in the mainland. The woman's family can pay the dowry depending on the conditions, and just prepare some home decorations, electrical appliances and other accessories. However, once the Uzbek couples get married, the husbands have the sole control over the economy. The husband has all the power.

In the past, Uzbek weddings were very cumbersome and were held for many days in a row, during which time they had to go through the process of banqueting, visiting relatives, giving each other gifts, dancing? The group dances were held in the same place. The process was cumbersome, but now it's much simpler. The wedding we attended was a party at the man's house in the morning, a gathering of the women's sisterhood in the afternoon, and a ceremony at the hotel in the evening? This hotel blew me away, so I'll post a picture later to tell you more about it. It was the first time I saw so many Uzbek girls gathered together during this part of the men's house party.

Their appearance is quite different from that of the Uyghurs, with more three-dimensional, delicate features, more angular faces, and fair skin, even in middle age, when they are already rich and rounded, they still maintain their beautiful appearance. In addition to their looks, their homes, too, are very pretty.

The new Uzbek house

Learning that the new house is located next door to the neighborhood upstairs, a few of us made a request to the man of the house, can go to their home to visit, the man gladly accepted. The new house from the outside looks, and ordinary residential buildings are not much different, but into the house, we were instantly stunned. It was like a room where a princess lives in a fairy tale!

Circular white curtains poured down from the roof, spreading around the bed, which was inlaid with pink flowers, surrounded by strong colors, as if being in a movie set. The uncle told us that many of the decorations and household items in the house were handmade, and some of them were made by the women of the house themselves. In the past years, Uzbek women have long been famous for their handmade embroidery, and they make lace and silk crafts, including handmade carpets, which have a strong ? Uzbek style? character, exquisitely gorgeous. There is not a single white wall or bare wall to be seen in this house, with closets and niches spread all around, a rich and brilliant color scheme, intricate and wonderful patterns, and many different forms.

The host said, their home carpet is very expensive, a finger is more than 10,000 yuan price, in addition to the collection, often thousands of dollars for a small one of the glazed products. Uzbek decoration with the feeling that there is no rule to follow, rich, colorful, gorgeous is the main external manifestation.

This was arguably one of the most rewarding days of my travels in Kashgar, and it wasn't until the evening that we learned that the place where this family held their bridal ceremony was a very famous hotel in Kashgar: the Knights' Grand View.

This place was even more than the couple's room? shocking? Locals say it's not on the ? star? , but it is recognized as the best restaurant in Kashgar in the minds of Kashgarites and is known as the ? Kashgar people's five-star hotel?

The interior of Knight's Grand View can be described as ? luxurious? to describe it, with its golden splendor, just like a huge palace.

There are several thick pillars in the hall, and the patterns on the pillars are arranged in a bipartite continuum, but when you look closely, the thickness of each pattern is different? This was carved on by the craftsmen by pure hand.

The hotel has a floor area of more than 4,000 square meters, standing on the second floor of the fence looking down, each wall decoration, each niche in the decorations are different, including the design of the ceiling according to the different areas of the different forms to create a different, every detail is unique. Shaping these decorations with your hands wouldn't have been accomplished for three to five years.

It really did not think that there is such a place in Kashgar, this piece of ? The elaborate luxury?

It is as if it is not as simple as a hotel, but as if the designer has poured out his whole life's talent to put together the castle of his dreams with hundreds of motifs.

The bride

Kashgar people have obviously been very familiar with this place, they do not pay attention to those brocade flowers, women went straight to the second floor of the bride? The women went straight to the bride's boudoir on the second floor, while the men gathered on the first floor.

The boys gather on the dance floor on the first floor to start a new round of revelry.

The bride, dressed in a white gown, has obviously been sitting still for a long time. At first glance, I thought she was wearing a wedding dress, but there were some differences between this white gown and the traditional Western wedding dress, which was inlaid with delicate lace at every edge and extra wide, with intricate diamonds in the lace on the front bodice and waist.

In addition, brides wear multiple pieces of gold jewelry with them, and it is said that the more gold there is, the more? expensive?

Jewelry matching in the Uzbek custom is very delicate, wearing jewelry? The rules for wearing jewelry are the same for every Uzbek woman. is an etiquette that every Uzbek woman must master, and even little girls wear beautiful jewelry.

Every girl of this ethnic group is very beautiful, and the small hats on their heads, called dopas, either quadrangular or round, are the exclusive accessory of Uzbek women.

It is said that the Uzbeks have no ? close relatives can not marry? It is said that the Uzbeks do not have close relatives who can't get married, and that even cousins can marry each other. I don't know whether this is true or not, but due to the small population, the Uzbeks in Kashgar have mostly intermarried with the Uyghurs, and they share the same beliefs, similar ethnic customs and food culture.

But this time I did not see the legendary Uzbek? The marriage must be eaten? s kind of grabbing rice, from the table set on the French fries, dumplings, fried vegetables and other meals, their dining habits have been gradually Sinicized.