Not much fiction set in Xinjiang being published these days, but Dara Passano, who has worked in human rights and international aid for more than 20 years, relates: Six months from now I’ll be publishing a novel I started writing in 2003, when I was living on two dollars a day in western China and … Continue reading Dara Passano: Wrong Muslims, Wrong Place?
A novel with donkeys as heroes? Unlikely as it sounds, The Audible Annals of Abudan is a great read. Comic, but with very dark undertones, this is a satire about a side of China (or at least its far-western fringes) that will be unfamiliar to readers, and an eye-opener. The translation is lively and the narrative is … Continue reading “Audible Annals” — Quick Takes
As part of the global One Belt, One Road publicity campaign, China's media is publishing a bevy of articles introducing major oasis cities along the ancient Silk Road, including this one focusing on Xinjiang's Aksu (一带一路上的阿克苏: 新型全球化的城市样本). Here's a pic from the article, showing modern-day Aksu residents dancing.
“Among the Emperor Qianlong’s trophies from his conquest of Xinjiang was a girl called Iparhan. She was a beautiful Kashgari whose body was said to give off an intoxicating scent without any help from ointments…the abduction of Iparhan became for the Chinese a symbol of the annexation of the western lands which they had … Continue reading Book Review: “English” by Wang Gang, or Growing up Han in Fictional Xinjiang
Altaic Storytelling 