When you come to southern Xinjiang and see the customs in Kashgar, in addition to the old city of Kashgar that you must go to, you should not miss the Fragrant Concubine Garden and the Id Kah Mosque. They are all well-known scenic spots in Kashgar, with history, stories, and distinctive style buildings. , There are local folk customs.
kashgar street view
We stayed at Atour Hotel on West Renmin Road, Kashi.
In the room facing south of the hotel, outside the window are undulating buildings, which are continuous and featureless.
The rooms facing the north and facing the street of the hotel have a panoramic view of the old city of Kashgar.
Looking down, you can see Renmin West Road, a main street that runs through the city from east to west.
The Kashgar Commercial Pedestrian Street on the west side of the hotel is obviously just a building with a curved corridor. I don't know why it is called a pedestrian street?
After the first night of stay, get up early and walk along Renmin West Road, which should be a main street in Kashgar City. The street trees are lush with green leaves, and red lanterns hang high all over the street, creating a festive atmosphere. Continue eastward, cross the north-south Jiefang Road, which is Renmin East Road, and go further to Kashgar People's Square.
There is a pedestrian crossing bridge not far from the east of the hotel. Standing on the bridge and looking at both sides, there are many high-rise buildings and clean streets, just like a modern city. After more than ten days in Xinjiang, I walked through several cities, big and small, and felt that the municipal construction was very good. The streets were wide and the trees were tall, far beyond my previous imagination.
Across the pedestrian crossing bridge, there is a street leading to the ancient city. There is a huge copper pot sculpture on both sides of the street.
This street is called Kumederwaza Street, which directly enters the Kashgar Old City Scenic Area, and can go all the way to the famous century-old teahouse. This place is actually a corner of the old city of Kashgar, but it is only on the edge. Although it is not the main street of the city, it is still neat and clean, with green shades covering the sun, and every household hangs the national flag.
The surrounding buildings are very distinctive, regardless of height, the walls are covered with decorations and carvings, and are dotted with flowers and green plants. There are sculptures full of life in the open space: plucked musical instruments, baked pancakes, showing the local people's happiness, Peaceful daily life.
Painted gourds, colorful, a common handicraft in Xinjiang. In addition to painting, gourd production also includes cutting, engraving, ironing and other techniques. Red, grass green, earthy yellow, and blue are commonly used colors, and geometric patterns are commonly used decorative patterns.
Looking around, it exudes a fresher atmosphere of life, more vivid regional customs, Uighur aunts and old men, breakfast shops that are open, all kinds of roasted naan, large pieces of cooked meat.
At the community health service station in Kumiderwaza Street, many residents sat in an orderly manner, probably waiting for nucleic acid testing.
Fragrant Concubine Garden
There have always been different opinions about the legend of Xiangfei, and the stories are wonderful and charming. It is said that she "beautiful beauty is not close, the fragrance is striking, neither floral nor powdery, there is a unique fragrance, refreshing". One is said to be the princess of Huo Jizhan, the chief of the Hui tribe in Xinjiang. The Hui tribe rebelled, and Huo Jizhan was killed by the Qing court. General Zhaohui captured Concubine Xiang alive and sent him to Qianlong. However, Concubine Xiang harbored the ambition of "destroying the country and family, and would rather die", so she never followed Qianlong, and was finally bestowed to death by the Queen Mother. After his death, he was transported back to his hometown for burial, so there is a tomb of Xiangfei in Kashgar, Xinjiang. However, no matter how bizarre the legend is, it is still a legend, which is far from the historical facts.
According to textual research, she is the Uighur concubine of Emperor Qianlong - Concubine Rong, whose hometown is Kashgar. Biography of Empress Concubine in "Drafts of Qing History": "Concubine Rong, Hezhuo family, Huibu Taiji and Zhalai daughters. First entered the palace, named nobleman. Progressively became concubine." Xiangfei's uncle and elder brother put down the rebellion in Xinjiang during the Qing Dynasty She made great contributions in the war, and was conferred the titles of Fuguogong and First-Class Taiji respectively, and was recruited to live in the capital. It was during this period that Concubine Xiang became Qianlong's concubine. Apparently, this was the political need of Emperor Qianlong's implementation of "regulation according to customs" after the unification of Xinjiang, that is, political marriage. Qianlong trusted Concubine Xiang and her family very much. Concubine Xiang's elder brother continued to increase his rank and rank, and later became a Duke of the State. Concubine Xiang's status continued to rise, ranking second among many concubines. Southern tour. Concubine Rong died at the age of 55 and was buried in the Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty in Zunhua County, Hebei.
After buying tickets at the visitor center, follow a commentator holding a small flag to enter the scenic spot for sightseeing.
First take it to a performance venue to watch the performance of Xiangfei welcoming guests. The "building" facing you seems to be specially built for the performance, just like the background curtain of the stage.
Half an hour wait, 15 minutes show. The performance seems to have a story and a plot. It is guessed that it tells the life and experience of Xiangfei. The narrator has long since disappeared, and no one has introduced you, so you are confused. In fact, there is no need to make it so complicated, just a cheerful and enthusiastic Uyghur song and dance to welcome the guests.
Although I was not very interested, I still took a few photos of the performance. After all, it was a beautiful Uighur girl and a handsome boy dancing lightly, and they were dressed in beautiful and eye-catching ethnic costumes, with a strong ethnic style.
More than a hundred years after Concubine Rong's death, a group of literati and writers had a burst of elegance and made a lot of fuss about Concubine Rong, and even made up a story about "Xiang Concubine". With the passage of time, from unofficial history, poetry to the stage, all-round, multi-form, vivid, exaggerated, widely circulated, and it has reached the point where it is difficult to distinguish between true and false.
Xiangfei Garden was built in 1640. It is actually the cemetery of five generations of the Xiangfei family. The highest status is the second generation of Abukhokhoja who once ruled the Yarkand Dynasty, so it was also called the Tomb of Abukhokhoja. . Due to the stories and legends of the concubine Xiang, coupled with the interpretation of the literati, I don’t know when, it has been said to be the cemetery of the concubine Xiang, and it has become one of the famous scenic spots in Kashgar.
The scenic spot was built and upgraded in 2014. The name was changed from Xiangfei Tomb to Xiangfei Garden. The area of the park increased to more than 300 mu. Buildings such as gatehouse, small mosque, large mosque, teaching scripture hall and main tomb were built. National characteristics and modern elements are integrated. In addition, trees, flowers and plants are planted all over the garden, with sculptures and folk exhibitions. The scenic spot calls itself "Happy Fragrant Concubine Garden, Love Check-In Place" by virtue of the story of Xiangfei, attracting the attention of tourists.
A long relief wall tells the legendary story of Concubine Xiang from birth to death, from Kashgar to Beijing, from Princess Xiangxiang to being loved by thousands from three aspects: hometown, former residence and deceased.
Strolling through the scenic area, we are most interested in the large forests, flowers and plants in the park, coupled with Islamic-style buildings, like a large garden full of regional customs.
old tree
Fragrant Concubine Playing Butterfly
Although there are all kinds of legends that are false and true, returning to the objectivity and truth of history, Concubine Rong and her family have made contributions to maintaining national unity and national unity, and it is precisely because of this that she deserves to be respected by people, and the beautiful Concubine Xiang The legend can also be called a moving page in the history of national unity.
The hometown of Xiangfei is the largest existing dome-style building in Xinjiang. It is a typical Islamic-style palace-style mausoleum building. Its exterior walls and roof are all covered with green glazed bricks. tower. On the top of the tower, there is another gilded crescent moon, shining golden light, solemn and solemn, like a magnificent palace.
The whole building consists of five parts: the gate tower, the small mosque, the big mosque, the scripture hall and the main tomb. Tourists who come here come here for the legend of the famous concubine Xiang, some for religious pilgrimage, and more for the artistic style and graceful grace of this building.
In the introduction of the scenic spot, there is no mention of the tomb of Xiangfei, only that it was built in 1640, and there are 58 mausoleums in the building. However, the narrator who led us to visit always insisted that the tomb of Xiangfei was in it, and then asked which one it was? Can't answer again.
A huge brick round tower half-embedded in the wall stands at each of the four corners of the building, and an exquisite cylindrical "Bunker Building" is built on the top of each tower.
Closely connected to the west wall of the hometown is a small mosque, with a high platform covered with a painted ceiling in front and a prayer room in the back.
The tall pillars and roof are carved and decorated with colorful paintings, which are extremely exquisite and complicated, and each pillar is different without repeated samples. It is colorful and can be called a work of art.
After a quick glimpse of the old garden, continue to browse and stroll in the park. The garden-like environment is extremely quiet, making people feel comfortable and comfortable.
The group of sculptures shows that the daily life of the local people and the people's livelihood are vivid.
Various local handicrafts are sold.
Intangible cultural heritage exhibition area, clay pottery, kiln, jewelry workshop....
Also saw a large pot.
Xiangfei Tea House
Xiangfei Gallery
Fragrant Concubine Portrait
Tourist Service Center.
Id Kah Mosque
The Id Kah Mosque is located in the center of the old city of Kashgar. It is the largest mosque in Xinjiang, the largest mosque in the country, and one of the three most influential mosques in Asia. Muslims from all over Xinjiang come to the annual "Gurban" festival. Including local believers, the number of worshipers can reach 20,000 to 30,000.
In front of the mosque is the spacious Id Kah Square.
The buildings around the Tourist Service Center are full of regional characteristics, and they are Islamic-style buildings.
The Id Kah Mosque has a long history. In 1442, the Kashgar Dynasty established a mosque here. After that, it has been expanded and remodeled many times until it reaches today's scale. More importantly, this is the gathering center of Muslim believers in Xinjiang. Muslims in Xinjiang are willing to come here to worship and listen to the preaching of the imam. Especially on some specific days, believers gather inside and outside the temple, and thousands of people pray, listen to scriptures, and express their piety.
The Id Kah Mosque is an ancient building complex with a strong ethnic style and religious color. It has a light yellow exterior wall and a minaret on both sides of the gate. The cylindrical shape has soft lines and the body of the tower is made of carved tiles. A colorful and delicate pattern.
The entire mosque covers a total area of 16,800 square meters, 140 meters long from north to south, and 120 meters wide from east to west. Minaret" and "Gate" and other seven parts.
After entering the gate, there is a huge tree-lined courtyard with a spacious sidewalk in the middle, and there are flowers, trees and pools in the courtyard. There are a total of 36 scripture halls in a row beside the north and south walls.
In the courtyard leading to the main hall, there is a "summoning attic" on the left and right.
The chapel is on a high platform in the west of the temple. It is divided into inner hall and outer hall corridor, which can accommodate 6000 to 7000 people to worship at the same time.
The promenade of the outer hall is very spacious, with 122 green carved wooden pillars. If you look carefully, you can see that the patterns and sizes of each pillar are slightly different.
The top of the corridor is painted flowers or geometric figures, which are exquisitely made and colorful.
The main hall is 36.5 meters long, 10.5 meters wide, and 8.1 meters high. There are 18 columns in total. Like the outer hall, the decorations on these columns are all the same.
In the center of the front wall of the cella is a deep arched niche, in which a stepped bridge-like throne is placed. Every time of worship, the clergy stand in the altar to receive scriptures, and on Fridays or festivals, they also stand on the steps of the throne to preach and preach.
On the wall of the main hall is a rectangular woolen tapestry standing upright, embroidered with 56 flowers in total, which symbolizes the family of 56 ethnic groups in the country and the great unity of all ethnic groups in the country. It is said that it took 18 months for the two old ladies in Hotan to weave it by hand. The pomegranate flower is embroidered in the middle of the tapestry, because pomegranate is the specialty fruit of Kashgar.
Some articles mentioned: There is a huge beige Persian carpet hanging on the wall of the main hall, which was presented by the then Iranian President Khomeini when he visited the Id Kah Mosque in 1998.
early morning
In the early morning of July 1st, as always, I got up and took a walk around the hotel.
The commercial pedestrian street next to the hotel is full of various commercial signs.
All the way to the east is the People's Square of Kashgar City, which is also the seat of the city government.
Kashi People's Square is located in the city center, along Renmin East Road in the north and People's Park in the south, covering an area of 12 hectares.
People's Square was built in 1952, and has undergone three expansions and renovations in history, among which the renovation in 1997 was the largest.
Against the backdrop of the morning glow, a tall statue of Chairman Mao stands on the square, with a stalwart figure and a raised right arm. Seeing the statue of Chairman Mao on the western frontier of the motherland is very cordial, and it evokes our long-lasting and unforgettable memories.
The statue of Chairman Mao is 12.26 meters high, and the base is 11.74 meters high. "Spring Snow" is gold-plated indentation and inlaid in the center.
To the south of the square, behind the dense forest is Kashgar People's Park.
On the east and west sides of the square are a pair of symmetrical white marble watches, 8 meters high, white and solemn, elegant and sacred.
Today is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Standing in front of the statue of Chairman Mao when the red sun is rising, I feel deeply attached to it.
I didn't pay attention to what day it is today, and I didn't know that there was a statue of Chairman Mao in the square. It was purely a coincidence, and I felt very lucky.
What can comfort the old people is that when the great party was born for a hundred years, our motherland has become more prosperous and powerful, standing majestically in the east of the world.
Street slogans, flower beds, red lanterns, full of festive atmosphere, celebrating the centenary of the great Communist Party of China.
The trip to Kashgar was wonderful, and I stayed for 3 nights before and after, and I still feel unsatisfied. Kashgar is a magical and beautiful place. It once had the glory of the pearl of the ancient Silk Road, and it is a place where Eastern and Western civilizations meet. As the only national historical and cultural city in Xinjiang, it embodies the characteristics and essence of Uyghur folk customs, culture and art, architectural style and traditional economy. When you come to Xinjiang, you must come to Kashgar.
