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July 26, 2007
Hajajim!
It's been quite a while since I posted a new music video. I selected something traditional this time... but don't worry, pop tunes will return again in the future. The video is from Hajajim's latest VCD. This Kashgar-based dutar player's videos may be boring, but there's something very pleasing and hypnotic about this song. The singing is a cut above what you get from the average Uyghur country bumpkin.
Enjoy. As always, any Uyghur speakers out there who would care to elaborate on the lyrics or meaning of this song are invited to comment below.
P.S. It's 43°C/109°F in Korla today. That's really, really hot. But at least I don't have to worry about flooded rivers and mudslides.
posted July 26, 2007 at 02:16 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (55)
July 22, 2007
Love Xinjiang? Wear it with Pride.
I got jealous of Sinosplice for selling witty Chinese t-shirts on CafePress.com, so I went ahead and created my own Xinjiang-themed store. You can show your love of Xinjiang by ordering t-shirts, tote bags, mugs, etc. over at cafepress.com/xinjiang. Here's my first design: a collage of photos taken around Xinjiang by yours truly over these past few years, arranged inside a Xinjiang-shaped map, with the Chinese characters for Xinjiang (新疆) below.
I spent the whole afternoon yesterday making that graphic, so somebody better like it. What are you waiting for? Buy, buy, buy!
posted July 22, 2007 at 04:28 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (40)
July 21, 2007
Xinjiang News for 2007.07.21
No time or energy at the moment to flush things out with commentary, but there were two Xinjiang-related stories today that I'd like to share with you. Both developments are interesting for obvious reasons.
The Times: Suicide attack directed against Chinese in Pakistan signals new era
Pakistani security forces said they were certain that the Chinese were the targets of the attack, and Chinese in Pakistan were urged to be on their guard against more violence. The suicide bombing was the second attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan in less than a month. Suspected Islamic militants killed three Chinese engineers near the northwestern city of Peshawar earlier this month....
"China now faces the dilemma of any country that undertakes an active foreign policy, particularly one based on the acquisition of resources. It must now decide how much to get involved in other countries' internal issues." (link)
AP: All Uyghurs must surrender passports to police
Members of a Muslim minority group in far-western China have been ordered to hand over their passports to police in a government effort to prevent them from making a pilgrimage to Mecca, an activist said....
Officers at two district public security bureaus in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, said Friday that Uighurs were required to submit their passports for "safekeeping." Both refused to give their names or any additional details. (link)
I particularly like how the first article mentions "the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Uighur". I'd like to go to Uighur someday. Perhaps it's just like Xinjiang?
The full articles are below.
Suicide bomb attack jolts China into realising the risks of global ambition
Zahid Hussain, Islamabad & Jane Macartney, Beijing
20 July 2007
The Times
30 killed as convoy passes market town; Fears of colonialism stirring resentment
China was reminded of the harsh realities of its newly acquired status as a global power yesterday when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of its workers in Pakistan.
At least 30 people were killed when a vehicle laden with explosives was detonated as the convoy carrying 60 Chinese rumbled through a market town near Karachi.
Seven policemen and many bystanders died in the blast, which ripped through a bazaar and shops. However, the buses carrying the workers escaped serious damage.
Pakistani security forces said they were certain that the Chinese were the targets of the attack, and Chinese in Pakistan were urged to be on their guard against more violence. The suicide bombing was the second attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan in less than a month. Suspected Islamic militants killed three Chinese engineers near the northwestern city of Peshawar earlier this month.
The attacks will come as a stark reminder to Beijing of the risks inherent in China's bolder approach to the extension of its interests and influence beyond its borders, particularly in Asia and Africa. More than four million Chinese now work overseas.
Pakistani security forces have stepped up protection for the 3,000 Chinese working on development projects across the country since the siege and assault on Islamabad's radical Red Mosque.
The violent end to the siege was triggered by the kidnapping of a group of Chinese women by women students from a seminary linked to the Red Mosque. Leaders of the mosque, who modeled themselves on the Taliban, accused the six Chinese of working as prostitutes in a massage parlour.
Pakistan traditionally has enjoyed close ties with China. However, relations were strained when members of the Muslim separatist movement in the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Uighur sought refuge in Pakistan's tribal region after fleeing from Afghanistan in 2001. They became closely linked to Pakistan's radical Islamists.
Islamic militants loyal to al-Qaeda swore revenge after Pakistan handed over to China a number of senior Muslim leaders captured in Kashmir in 2002. They included Ismail Kadir, the Uighur leader who has led a violent struggle to set up an independent East Turkestan state in predominantly Muslim Xinjiang, which borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and restive Central Asian states. In January 2004 China drew up a list of militants linked to al-Qaeda who operated within Pakistan's tribal areas. Many are believed to have been killed in Pakistani military operations in Waziristan.
China says that its role overseas is to promote neighbourliness and understanding, in countries as diverse as Angola and Antigua. However, the main beneficiaries of China's overseas investment are poorer nations, such as Sudan, that are rich in the natural resources China needs.
There is a growing sense of unease in countries that are beneficiaries of China's overseas investment about what many perceive as a new form of colonialism.
China wants its Third World friends to act in accordance with the spirit of the struggle against colonialism and hegemony, but has difficulty grasping the idea that increasing numbers of people believe that it lacks sincerity.
The antagonism ranges from rage felt by Islamic radicals in Pakistan over China's policies to suppress pro-independence Muslim movements, to resentment among small merchants and tribesmen in Kenya who see their jobs and businesses being taken over by Chinese contractors.
Ahmed Rashid, a political analyst in Pakistan, said that anger was simmering over perceptions that the Chinese were stealing their livelihoods. "The Baluch feel that all the contracts are going to Chinese and they use only their own labour," he said. Chinese contractors bring in many of their own engineers and labour.
They live in tight-knit communities that operate in a virtual vacuum inside whichever country they have been assigned. That breeds resentment among locals who fear for their livelihoods and are suspicious of outsiders.
In April nine Chinese workers and 65 Ethiopians were killed when guerrillas attacked an oil installation near the Somali border. Rebels abducted a Chinese mining executive searching for uranium in the Sahara, adding Niger to the list of states where China's hunger for minerals has led its nationals into trouble.
In a recent report, Stratford, the security consultancy, said: "China now faces the dilemma of any country that undertakes an active foreign policy, particularly one based on the acquisition of resources. It must now decide how much to get involved in other countries' internal issues."
The idea is anathema to Beijing, which regards non-interference in other countries' affairs as a fundamental plank of its foreign policy.
At least 16 people died when a suicide bomber struck at the centre of an army camp in northwestern Pakistan yesterday. The explosion happened during prayers at the Kohat garrison in the North West Frontier Province.
World exposure
* China will need to import 60 per cent of its energy requirement by 2020. Africa already supplies 25 per cent of its oil
* Chinese direct investment in Africa has risen from $5 million (Pounds 2.5 million) in 1991 to more than $50 billion last year
* China is almost three years into a $100 billion investment programme in Latin America
* China has given $700 million in credit to Venezuela, and invested $20 billion in Argentina
* In the four years to 2006 China and India quadrupled annual bilateral trade to almost $20 billion China's trade with Pakistan increased 40 per cent to $4.25 billion in the two years to 2005. Analysts also believe China has helped Pakistan's nuclear programme and supplied short and medium-range missiles
Sources: Heritage Foundation; Foreign Policy in Focus; Council on Foreign Relations
Activist: members of Muslim minority group in China forced to surrender their passports
20 July 2007
Associated Press Newswires
BEIJING (AP) - Members of a Muslim minority group in far-western China have been ordered to hand over their passports to police in a government effort to prevent them from making a pilgrimage to Mecca, an activist said.
Uighurs in Xinjiang province were ordered to surrender their passports about two months ago, Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Germany-based World Uighur Congress, said in a telephone interview Thursday. Passports that were not turned in would be voided, he said.
The Uighurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims with a language and culture distinct from the majority of Chinese.
Officers at two district public security bureaus in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, said Friday that Uighurs were required to submit their passports for "safekeeping." Both refused to give their names or any additional details.
It was not known how many Uighurs had turned in their passports.
Raxit said Uighurs who wanted to leave China could do so only after being officially invited by a formal organization, and in some cases would have to put down a deposit of 50,000 yuan (US$6,600; euro4,780) to retrieve their passports.
He accused the Chinese government of preventing pilgrims from going to Mecca in an effort to "restrict religious freedom."
The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, called hajj, attracts Muslims from across the world. Beginning this year on Dec. 18, it is a chance for Muslims to purge themselves of sin and fulfill one of the five main tenets of Islam. Pilgrims often save money for years for what is usually a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
In May, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom named Uighur Muslims among several groups in China subject to "serious restrictions, state control, and repression."
China is officially atheist. Christians, Buddhists, Taoists and Muslims are allowed to worship, but only in churches, temples or mosques run by state-monitored groups.
A man at the Xinjiang provincial Communist Party office, who refused to give his name, said he did not know anything about the passport confiscations. Calls to the Urumqi public security bureau were not answered.
posted July 21, 2007 at 11:22 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (37)
July 19, 2007
The 9 on Yahoo!TV
Somehow, this blog has ended up being featured on Yahoo!TV's The 9, a daily show that covers the entertainment industry, Internet topics, viral videos, etc. How on Earth did that ever happen? Zhineeayng is awesome is what happened. (That's how Xinjiang is mispronounced in the voice-over.)
OK, so an old friend from my hometown in New Jersey works for the show, and I was only featured on The Back 9. But still, it's pretty cool. Taxicab Samurais forever, baby!
Check out the video by clicking here. Also, since I'm expecting that the exposure will generate some increased traffic to this site, can I ask you again to please vote (or vote again) for this site in the 2007 China Blog Awards? It only takes about three seconds.
posted July 19, 2007 at 12:55 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (23)
July 18, 2007
More on the Monster
While China Expat is busy complaining about The Confucius Institute stealing their content, I've got real problems on my hand. Seems like The Times ("one of the world's greatest newspapers" according to Britannica) is making millions on my ultra-sensitive investigative efforts. Yes... the story of the Kanas Lake monster, which you read about two days ago on this site, has been picked up by the big boys.
How do I know that this blog is responsible for the story going global? You may remember (or you can just look at the previous entry) that I pin-pointed the location of Kanas Lake, "near Xinjiang's short border with Russia." Well, check out this quote from a really strange piece of pondering that ran in The Times today:
For these are Chinese creatures, recorded on Kanasi Lake, near Xinjiang's short border with Russia, and are being screened in grainy videos on Chinese television. And they have the traditional qualities of all good (ie, bad) monsters. They are unlike any other creature known to biology. They are huge, and presumably dangerous, so making humans shiver with vicarious pleasure in the comfort of their cave, or, in this case, armchair. They are the unknown Other.
What the f%$# is Daniel Finkelstein talking about? And how does a piece like this make its way into a modern newspaper? Seems like something out of a Robertson Davies novel to me.
And don't think that Jane Macartney's article slipped by me, either. I think I'm owed at least [snivel]... a simple [snivel]... thank you.
I wanted to say thank you for your piece yesterday on Lake Kanas. I have to say it was brilliant and was the inspiration, and indeed, the spark for me to write a story based on the videos to which you linked. I wrote about the monsters 20 years ago when I was first working in China and, thanks to you, I had another chance to do so.
Well, then, apology accepted! That's what I call a class-act. How many big-shot journalists in Beijing would take the time to write a thank you note to a lowly media outlet like The Opposite End of China? Even if Kanas Lake is completely ruined by tourists, I'll still be happy knowing that my posting a link to someone else's YouTube video allowed the word "Xinjiang" to pass before millions of British eyes this morning. Let me thank YOU, Jane Macartney.
The Times' articles are pasted below, but why not follow the links above? More bangers and baked beans, please.
The Times
July 18, 2007
Legendary lake 'monster' is captured on camera
The unknown creature in Kanas Lake, China
Jane Macartney
China’s Loch Ness monster has been sighted. Or so Chinese state-run television says. Not just one, but more than a dozen huge creatures can be seen churning across Lake Kanasi in remote western China, leaving a foamy wake more like an enormous motorboat than a big fish.
A rare video filmed by a tourist at the lake in the Heavenly Mountains of the wild Xinjiang region, has reignited debate over the existence of an underwater creature that can compete with the Loch Ness monster in both mass and mystery.
The grainy film shows about 15 objects moving at high speed just beneath the surface of the lake and whipping the smooth blue water into a bubbling white frenzy. Chinese Central Television broadcast the video on its news channel, describing the footage shot by a passing tourist on July 5 as the clearest ever seen of a legendary beast that has been rumoured for centuries to live in the depths of Lake Kanasi.
Local myth among the Chinese Mongolians living in the scenic mountains near the Russian and Mongolian borders has it that the animals have been known to drag sheep, cows and even horses from the shore and into the deep to devour them.
Yuan Guoying, of the Xinjiang Institute of Environmental Protection, told The Times that the video provided important proof in his more than two decades of research at the lake. “Only fish could make waves in this formation. I think the video is real.”
The television commentator described the sighting as the first since June 7, 2005 when two black creatures measuring more than 10 metres in length appeared on the surface swimming at speed from the shore to the centre of the lake. The newsreader described the latest appearance: “They sometimes gathered in a flock, sometimes spread about or moved shoulder to shoulder. The scene is grand and they looked like a fleet.”
State television made no attempt to identify the animals, saying only: ‘This time a large number of unidentified creatures emerged, bringing more mystery to Lake Kanasi.”
Professor Yuan has been on their trail since 1980 and has been gripped by the mystery since his first sighting in 1985 when he says he saw as many as 50 of what he called fish. “They looked like reddish-brown tadpoles because I could only see their heads on the surface. They opened their mouths to breathe and their length was about 10 to 15 metres.”
He spotted the animals again on May 28, 2004 when he was standing looking down at the lake from a nearby hill. “I thought there was a huge piece of black plastic in the lake and that someone had been polluting it. But then I released that it must be the back of a giant fish. I was shocked because they were just too big. Looking at them was like looking at submarines.”
When Mr Yuan got back to his office he tried to calculate the size of the animals by setting their proportions against those of the surrounding landmarks such as trees or the shape of the shoreline. “I didn’t dare say they were bigger than 20 metres because no one would believe me.”
Chinese researchers in the 1980s said the ‘monster’ was likely to be a huge member of the salmon family – one of eight species of fish living in the lake. Mr Yuan gave their name as Hucho Taimen, a freshwater salmon tht thrives in deep frigid waters. He says the biggest Hucho Taimen salmon ever captured was 2.1 metres long and was found in Russia.
The animals that roam Lake Kanasi live in an area about 24 kilometres by two kilometers and with an average depth of 122 metres and as deep as 188 metres at one point.
Mr Yuan believes that a lot more research is needed although China lacks the scientific equipment to make further studies. And it would be impossible to catch a fish of this size. “This fish will have tremendous strength.”
Other Chinese scientists have cast doubt on his findings, but Mr Yuan is adamant. “People will just say ‘You’ve got to be kidding’. But I saw them with my own eyes. I am a scientist. I have no choice but to believe what I saw.”
The Times
July 18, 2007
SinoMonster
But who, pray, is the most remarkable creature on the planet?
Man needs monsters. From the cave at Lascaux to your television screen tonight, Man has always needed something inhuman to measure his humanity against. The latest monster has swum into sight. This is a black aquatic creature, at least ten metres long. It swims very fast, in coils, occasionally raising its head out of the water. It was filmed and photographed by tourists during the holiday season. And, as it happens, it is not our own dear Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster.
For these are Chinese creatures, recorded on Kanasi Lake, near Xinjiang’s short border with Russia, and are being screened in grainy videos on Chinese television. And they have the traditional qualities of all good (ie, bad) monsters. They are unlike any other creature known to biology. They are huge, and presumably dangerous, so making humans shiver with vicarious pleasure in the comfort of their cave, or, in this case, armchair. They are the unknown Other.
The chimera was a fire-breathing monster, with the head of a lion, body of a she-goat and tail of a snake. In these incredulous modern times, the poor beast has become a metaphor for an unrealistic dream, or an organism consisting of at least two genetically different kinds of tissue: eg, a mouse lumbered with a human ear. The unicorn is loaded with romantic symbolism. The tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn in the Cluny Museum in Paris are masterpieces of medieval monsterology. Centaurs and Lapiths, Daleks and Gollum, Gryphon and the Jedi: the Chinese monsters join a never-ending tail, stretching human imagination and credulity. And they flatter the most remarkable creature of the all: Man. For monsters need Man to make them.
posted July 18, 2007 at 10:20 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (50)
July 16, 2007
Beware the Beasts of Kanas Lake
Forget about Nessie. Xinjiang's got lake monsters that actually exist! Grainy photos have existed for years, but now the huge beasts rumored to live in Kanas Lake near Xinjiang's short border with Russia have been caught on video tape. As described on Xinjiang TV:
Seven Beijing tourists were taking group photos while motorboating on the lake around the Sandaowan of Kanas Lake. Suddenly, they found that at about 200 meters in the front of them, sprays of over two meters high rose from the calm surface. Then, two huge black aquatic animals with the length of more than ten meters sprang out from the surface in succession. After they fell into the water, they swam eastward to the center of the lake. The head of the aquatic animals emerged from the surface from time to time. Seeing this, the tourists got so excited that they hurried to shoot the precious pictures. About two minutes later, the huge aquatic animals disappeared from the lake surface.
Alright, so the video is still grainy, but it does much better than anything else I've ever seen to convince me that something - nay many things - lurk in the waters of Kanas. Take a look at the video for yourself, as shown on CCTV:
There's another video here.
Unfortunately, I'm sure the sighting will once again boost the allure of tourism at Kanas Lake, further pushing it into the third circle of hell in which most Chinese scenic spots are located. What are they gonna do next, build a friggin' airport to shuttle in the laobaixing? Oh, yes:
Construction of Kanas Airport in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region formally began on May 20th, 2006, according to news released by Xinjiang Airport Group on July 12th. The completed investment has so far reached RMB148.27M. The airport's civil engineering work has already been completed. Ancillary facilities, such as runways, navigational lights, communication and navigation facilities, and drainage facilities, as well as the terminal and ancillary buildings, and planting projects will be gradually completed before August 10th. The airport is expected to be completed and begin operation on August 15th.
Sigh. Oh well. I'll always have the photos of my visit to Kanas Lake back in the good ol' days of 2005.
posted July 16, 2007 at 02:59 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (38)
A Lighter Topic: Heavy Food.
I happened to be walking by the office of one of the local Bazhou newspapers the other day with a camera in my pocket. Since Chinese newspapers are displayed for public reading in glass cases next to the sidewalk, I was able to capture the stunning images you see below:
The top photo shows a huge camel kebab that weighed in at 300 kilos. (Yes, those two lumps on the right are camel humps.) The bottom photo is of a huge pot of polo being prepared to feed 10,000 people. That's 300kg of rice, 300kg of mutton, 300kg of carrots, 80kg of oil, 10kg of onion, and 8 kg of salt. Mmmm... greasy!
This grand act of gluttony was performed in honor of the Urumqi Islamic Food Exposition held last week. That place must have reeked of mutton fat!
So pass me a hunk of that camel kaorou, will ya? If you can read Chinese, TianShanNet has an article and more pictures of the event here. Click here for the article translated into English.
Oh yeah... don't make me remind you again to vote for this blog over and over until your index finger bleeds! OK?
posted July 16, 2007 at 10:24 AM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (42)
July 10, 2007
Homeward, Christian Soldiers!
News today via the Christian Newswire that China has expelled more than 100 foreigner missionaries since February, and that more than 60 of them were operating in Xinjiang.
Now I know why short-shorts are popular again in Korla this year! Bring on the hedonism. I mean, missionaries are upstanding citizens and all, but they're downers when it comes time to party.
According to reliable China Aid sources and collaborated reports by at least five different mission agencies, over 100 foreigners accused of being involved in illegal religious activities in China have been expelled or deported this year between April and June. Sources inside the Chinese government informed CAA that the Chinese government launched a massive expulsion campaign of foreign Christians, encoded Typhoon No. 5, in February 2007....
According to an American who had been working in Xinjiang for 10 years and wants to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the topic, over 60 foreign religious workers were expelled from Xinjiang alone. Some of the workers had been serving the local people for 15-18 years before they were asked to leave in the past few months....
This is the largest expulsion of foreign missionaries since 1954 when the Chinese Communist government expelled all foreign religious workers after taking power in 1949.
I'm sure many of you in other parts of China run into missionary types in your day-to-day lives.
That young fresh-faced couple pushing their toddler through the streets of Lanzhou? Missionaries. That American girl you saw with her Chinese friends drinking Coca-Cola while the other foreigners were falling down drunk? Missionary. The owner of the Caravan Cafe in Kashgar who would never talk about his past and has recently been forced to close shop? Ditto! (Can I talk someone over at Sinocidal into writing up a missionary parody?)
Why do you missionaries even try to convert people in Xinjiang? You can forget about preaching the gospel to most Uyghurs, who as proud Muslims would rather open your throat than have their sons and daughters become kaper (infidels). Don't you know that the Xinjiang PSB can smell you a mile away? Don't think that you blend in... this is not the place for you, and you're screwing it up for us regular folks.
Even Mormons ― the reigning world champions of evangelism for about 150 years now ― ban their own latter-day saints from going on missions in China. Why? Because it's forbidden by the Chinese government.
Get a clue, wayward Christian soldiers! China doesn't want you, Xinjiang doesn't want you, and I want to get drunk without your scornful sidelong glances. Zaijian!
Over 100 Foreign Missionaries Expelled by Chinese Government Secret Campaign
Contact: Bob Fu, China Aid Association, Inc., 267-205-5210, info@ChinaAid.org; www.chinaaid.org, www.monitorchina.org
MIDLAND, Texas, July 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- China Aid Association confirms that a central government-directed campaign to expel suspected foreign missionaries has been ongoing since February 2007.
Typhoon No. 5 Campaign
According to reliable China Aid sources and collaborated reports by at least five different mission agencies, over 100 foreigners accused of being involved in illegal religious activities in China have been expelled or deported this year between April and June. Sources inside the Chinese government informed CAA that the Chinese government launched a massive expulsion campaign of foreign Christians, encoded Typhoon No. 5, in February 2007. This campaign is believed to be part of the "anti-infiltration" efforts to prevent foreign Christians from engaging in mission activities before the Beijing Olympics next year.
Citizens from six countries working in Xinjiang, Beijing and Tibet targeted
Most of those expelled are citizens from the United States, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Australia, and Israel. They were expelled when they were either working or visiting in Xinjiang, Beijing, Tibet, or Shandong.
According to an American who had been working in Xinjiang for 10 years and wants to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the topic, over 60 foreign religious workers were expelled from Xinjiang alone. Some of the workers had been serving the local people for 15-18 years before they were asked to leave in the past few months. At least 15 Christian couples from the United States and other countries were expelled from Beijing in the month of May. Two American English teachers sent by the English Language Institute/China (ELIC) were expelled from Tibet. ELIC (www.elic.org), a California based Christian organization, is the largest English teacher-sending organization to China and has trained thousands of Chinese college and high school students since the 1990s.
On May 31, 2007, one Israeli Jewish Christian and an American were arrested and expelled from Linyi City, Shandong province when they worshiped together with 70 House Church leaders. Only July 1, three American Christians from Indiana were detained in Beijing and then forced to leave China after their US passports were taken away for 3 to 5 days by Chinese security agents.
Consulate Protection Rights Violated
According to CAA's private interviews with some of the expelled Americans, the Chinese PSB confiscated their passports for 2-7 days and treated them professionally while they were interrogated. They were not allowed to have access to US Embassy in Beijing, a direct violation of US-China consulate protection agreements. Some will not be allowed to return to China for 5 years.
This is the largest expulsion of foreign missionaries since 1954 when the Chinese Communist government expelled all foreign religious workers after taking power in 1949. The Chinese government refuses to recognize foreign missionary status in China so many missionaries choose to work in the education or business sectors as ways to stay in China.
"Given the significant contribution to the Chinese people made by those expelled foreigners, this campaign is certainly misguided and counter-productive," said Bob Fu, President of CAA. "We call upon the Chinese government to correct this wrong by allowing these selfless good-hearted people of faith back into China."
Issued by CAA on July 10, 2007.
posted July 10, 2007 at 03:37 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (94)
July 06, 2007
Come Together
I'm moving beyond mere "word blogging" where I tell you what to think, albeit in a deceptively humorous fashion. Now I'm "picture blogging"... take a look at the images below and come to your own conclusions! That is, if there are any to come to.
Fairly random shots from my visit to Urumqi two weeks ago:
Can you find the common thread? Now you're getting the picture. Get it? Picture is a double entendre. I love italics. Hah! I kill me.
P.S. Check out this gem of a photo showing Uncle Kurban Turum recalling his famous meeting with Mao. Most posed photo ever!
posted July 06, 2007 at 03:07 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (37)
Vote for Me
You've all got eyes and brains, right?
Well, let me point out to you the 2007 China Blog Awards nominee plaque I've just added in the sidebar to the left. Click on it (or click here) to go to this site's page over at Chinalyst, where a simple click on the "+" will bring me one step closer to eternal glory!
I've taken an early lead in the "News" section of the awards. Only YOU can make sure that my present advantage doesn't slip away. So, vote now and vote often. The contest ends July 31st.
posted July 06, 2007 at 09:34 AM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (36)