The Han Chinese usually cremate their dead, but Uyghurs are buried. The Uyghur graveyard on the edge of Korla is a pretty cool place. They sure know how to decorate a grave.

Poor Uyghurs get mounds of dirts with a little fence and some tufts of animal hair for a grave. The wealthier ones build more impressive structures.

Imagine my surprise when two Italians, Mario and Luigi, showed up at Circle English looking for a place to crash in Korla. They were flat broke, so we let them sleep on our couches for the night. We (Daniel and myself) also gave them an excellent tour around Korla.

Korla's unimpressive civilian airport.

Way out on the edge of town they're getting ready to build the new parts of Korla. The infrastructure is there, but there's nothing else.

As long as I've been in Korla there's been construction on both sides of my current apartment building.

A daytime panorama of Korla, Xinjiang's skyline.

A nightime panorama of Korla's skyline.

Kerryn Cockcroft (New Zealand), Jan (Carrie's Dutch boyfriend), and Carrie enjoy a beer by the river. Jan and Carrie had just returned from a mountain adventure in southwestern Xinjiang.

This statue of an "H" and an "S" intertwined stands in front of the school at which I currently teach, Hua Shan Middle School.

There are lots of students at Hua Shan. This picture reminds me of the "penguins climbing stairs and sliding down slides" toy I had as a child.

I'm teaching primary school students, and they go nuts when they see me in the hallway.

My young students perform their daily morning exercise routine.

Simon went away for a week to fetch his wife, so I covered some classes for him at Hua Shan High School. I took this panorama shot of their awesomely gigantic morning exercises.

Lincoln, looking like a cross between Jim Morrisson and, well, Lincoln.