\n<\/p>\n
Abduweli Ayup has not been back<\/b> to Kashgar since 2015, and his chances of doing so anytime soon seem slim. The Chinese government has canceled his passport, he said.<\/p>\n
Sometimes he watches videos on YouTube of his hometown. They do not make him feel better. It feels compulsive, he said, \u201clike eating bad food.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, you want to keep eating it, but afterward your stomach feels upset,\u201d he added. As he watched one video while speaking with a BuzzFeed News reporter, Ayup pointed to a giant sculpture of a traditional stringed instrument by the gates of the city. \u201cSee that, that\u2019s just for tourists,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The city is now full of these sorts of photogenic additions. There are giant teapots at the main junction near the city gate. Elsewhere, murals show maps of Xinjiang or carry slogans such as \u201cXinjiang Impressions\u201d where visitors stop to take holiday snaps. A new entrance has been added to the metalwork market, with a large sign featuring silhouetted figures hammering iron. The anvil statue at the corner now comes with projection-mapped fire, as well as sparks and a piped soundtrack of metal being struck. Camel rides are available too.<\/p>\n
In the videos he has seen, Ayup has also noticed footage of people dancing while wearing traditional Uyghur dress \u2014 costumes that they might have worn more than a century ago. Figures like these can be seen on Chinese state television and at the country\u2019s annual rubber-stamp parliamentary session. \u201cNobody would wear that clothing anymore unless it was for show,\u201d Ayup said.<\/p>\n
Tourism is now booming in Xinjiang. Last year, even as global numbers fell as a consequence of the pandemic, 190 million tourists visited the region \u2014 more than a 20% increase from the previous year. Revenue increased by 43%. As part of its \u201cXinjiang is a wonderful land<\/a>\u201d campaign, the Chinese government has produced English-language videos and held events to promote a vision of the region as peaceful, newly prosperous, and full of dramatic landscapes and rich culture.<\/p>\n Chinese state media has portrayed this as an economic growth engine for Xinjiang natives, too. One article<\/a> described how a former camp detainee named Aliye Ablimit had, upon her release, received hospitality training. \u201cAfter graduation, I became a tour guide for Kashgar Ancient City,\u201d Ablimit said, according to the article. \u201cAnd later, I turned my home into a Bed and Breakfast. Tourists love my house very much because of its Uygur style. All the rooms are fully booked these days. Now I have a monthly income of about 50,000 yuan,” or about $7,475.<\/p>\n The facade holds up less well with Kashgar\u2019s mosques. Many of the smaller neighborhood mosques appear to be out of use, their wooden doors damaged and padlocked shut \u2014 and others have been demolished completely or converted to other uses, including caf\u00e9s and public toilets.<\/p>\n Inside the Id Kah mosque, many of the cameras, including inside the prayer halls, have disappeared. But as might be expected given the past five years, many of the worshippers have disappeared too, down from 4,000\u20135,000 at Friday prayers in 2011<\/a> to just 800 or so today.<\/p>\n The mosque\u2019s imam, Mamat Juma, acknowledged as much in an interview with a vlogger who often produces videos that support Chinese government narratives, posted in April 2021. Speaking through a translator, he is at pains to point out that not all Uyghurs are Muslims and to diminish the role of the religion in Uyghur culture. \u201cI really worry that the number of believers will decrease,\u201d he said, \u201cbut that shouldn’t be a reason to force them to pray here.\u201d \u25cf<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Irene Benedicto<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n