End of the Silk Road for historic trading hub of Kashgar

End of the Silk Road for historic trading hub of Kashgar
Demolition workers in Kashgar

(Jane Macartney)

Bulldozers are already knocking down centuries-old homes in Kashgar
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Jane Macartney in Kashgar

Today is the last day for residents of one of the last surviving ancient cities in China to claim a bonus for agreeing to move out to make way for the wrecking ball.

After the offer expires, the only inducement may be force.

Bulldozers are already crashing through the packed-mud walls of centuries-old homes. Yellow-helmeted workers toss bricks into wheelbarrows as they clear the rubble.

The demolition of swaths of the Old Town of Kashgar is being carried out in the name of modernisation and safety. The famed trading hub on the Silk Road, on which caravans carrying silk and jade from China crossed with merchants from Central Asia bringing furs and spices, will effectively disappear.


Walls throughout the town are stencilled with signs exhorting residents to support the makeover to prevent the damage wrought by last year’s massive earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province that killed 90,000 people.

Many residents of the old quarter, members of the Muslim Uighur minority, are unconvinced.

One old man, his beard white, taps a mud-and-straw wall. “These houses have withstood earthquakes for 2,000 years. They have wood inside to absorb the shock.” He gestures to a renovated building next door. “People are supposed to use these hard bricks. But look at the cement. There are gaps and it’s poor quality. Maybe this would fall more quickly.”

City authorities have decided that most of these one and two-storey buildings must be razed. A small area visited by tourists seeking a flavour of Kashgar’s rich history will be preserved. Uighur residents, already distrustful of a Government that many regard as an occupation force, even doubt that.

An elderly businessman, who refused to be identified for fear of retribution, said: “They don’t tell us anything. We don’t understand why they do this. Anyway, I don’t believe anything they say.” He is too frightened even to say who “they” are. He uses two letters, “GV ". He means the Government.

Residents of the old city are reluctant to talk. Their fear is palpable. One gestures down the street. “The police are here. We must be careful.” In a house destined to disappear, a young girl slams the door into her rose-filled courtyard on visitors who ask about her home.

The Government plans to spend $440 million (£270 million) to move 65,000 Uighur households – about 220,000 people – into modern housing. The aim is safer housing but other factors are at work.

With a huge government stimulus package to boost the economy, authorities now have the money to tear down a warren of narrow alleys in which they fear Muslim Uighurs could foment separatist unrest. Days before last year’s Olympics two Uighurs rammed a lorry into a group of young police officers on a morning jog and then leapt out and attacked them with knives, killing 17. This month officials said that they had wrapped up seven terrorist cells in Kashgar.

Non-governmental organisations are anxious that yet another remnant of China’s rapidly disappearing past is to vanish. The Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Centre has issued an appeal to save the Old Town, saying that the threat to Kashgar is more serious even than that to the Chinese capital’s old alleyways or to Lhasa.

It said: “Primarily due to its relatively distant location, information… is very hard to come by, hence so little monitoring and criticism on the poor preservation work of the local government.”

Wu Dianting, a Beijing professor of regional planning who has studied the city, says that such large-scale raw-earth towns are now rare anywhere in the world. He describes them as well adapted for the desert region, being warm in winter and cool in summer. He has asked city authorities to reconsider. “Demolition would be a terrible pity.”

Families are less concerned about their cultural heritage than about having a roof over their heads, and one under which they have sheltered for generations.

Those who can afford to strengthen their existing homes and add a second storey may stay. The elderly businessman said: “Most people don’t agree. But they are poor. They have to move.”

The extent of resistance is reflected in the forest of banners and wall slogans exhorting support for the improvements. One offered a bonus of 200 yuan (£20) a square metre for those who left by June 6; those staying until June 18 will be eligible for only 100 yuan. After that they will get nothing.

Not all are opposed. One elderly Muslim merchant in an embroidered skullcap chatted between stalls selling grilled mutton kebabs as flat bread baked in earthen ovens and artisans beat copper pots. He said: “The new houses are much cleaner. They have a bathroom and a kitchen. It’s good to have proper sanitation.”

He will still come down to the Old Town to gossip with friends around the main Id Kah Mosque. His son shrugs about the prospect of life in a block of flats. “What can you do? What can you do? We have no choice.”

* Have your say

This would be a terrible mistake. I have been in Kaskgar twice over the last eight years and have seen things changing. The old town is one of the main tourist attractions in Kashgar and I think quite unique in the world. I am really shocked reading this piece of news.

Ann, Nanjing, China

A substantial part of China's GDP rests on construction (having knocked something down first). That has helped to boost the economy to 7% growth this year (World Bank forecast). It's ruthless growth. Someone has to pay. Out of the ashes, the phoenix flies? Not one entirely to my liking

ed, london,

Developing countries are not museums for other peoples satisfaction. The residents will get new properties and sanitaion - would you like to live in a mud brick home?

Dan Lee , Melbourne , Australia