Region, City, Town

Downtown (from my compound)

The bridge to downtown

A park in my compound

This introduction to the area will be brief, for two reasons. One, my knowledge of this area does not extend pass brevity. And two, if you're actually interested in more detail, you can always google it (which is what I'm doing).

But first (because 20 minutes is 19 minutes too long to spend on photo captions) in case this final attempt is equally unsuccessful: The pictures above (hopefully above) are: 1. A view of downtown from my compound, 2. the bridge to downtown, and 3. a park close to my apartment.

So, briefly then:

The Xinjiang Autonomous Region is in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It's huge. In land mass, it accounts for one-sixth of China. It borders Tibet, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgzstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Maybe more (countries are changing quicker than maps these days).

Xinjiang has the dubious distinction of boasting the farthest spot in the world from an ocean. It also has the second largest desert in the world, the Taklamakan, the fringes of which are not too far from my city. I forsee a sand-blown camel ride in my future.

The region is home to a large number of minorities (non-Han Chinese), which include Uygur, Kazak, Hui, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Tajik, Tatar, Uzbek, Daur, and other nationalities. There has been unrest among the minority groups, but I haven't been here long enough to assess the issues or to know how deep the unrest is.

Korla is the name of the city I live in. For thousands of years it has existed as a community along the famed Silk Road trade route. Officially though, it became a county in 1940, a prefecture in 1954, a part of the Bayin Guoleng Mongolia Autonomous prefecture in 1960, and was approved as a city in 1979.

The population, depending on what source you quote, is between 300,000 and 400,000. This is small by Chinese city standards, but relatively large for this area. Abundant farming land has always made the area a settlement, and the discovery of oil in the Taklamakan Desert has significantly increased the population (and Beijing's interest).

The city is roughly half Han Chinese, and half minorities (primarily Uygur).

Korla is known for its 'fragrant pears.' Every city in China seems to be known for something .... Don't sneer, you out there in the Land of Famous Potatoes.

I live inside a compound, which is basically a city within a city. There are approximately 5,000 inhabitants who work for the Tarim Petroleum Country (which oversees the school I work for). The school is in the compound, as are banks, restaurants, stores, police stations, parks, playgrounds and other things I haven't discovered yet.

A river runs through Korla, and it creates a border between my compound and the downtown area. Still, it's only a 10 minute walk to the bridge, and another 5 minutes into downtown.

In another direction, it's a ten-minute walk to a Uygur community with shops, restaurants and outdoor stalls. If I want to buy chicken (let's say for an innocuous, gentle stir fry), I am required to point to the live bird I desire and they will kill, chop and package it for me.

Where's the beef?

My apartment is a nice set-up; bedroom, kitchen, livingroom, bathroom and computer room. It came furnished, including a washing machine, television and computer. For complimentary housing, I can't complain.

Speaking of, when I was staying at a hotel in Urumxi, the towels were labeled 'uncomplimentary' (which I assumed refered to their possesion as opposed to their use).