Pulitzer Center Untold Stories

Unrest in China's Wild West

Ryan Anson, for the Pulitzer Center

Like many of China’s inland waterways, the Yurungkax River in Xinjiang Province is filled with waste. Tailings from local jade and coal mines have turned this tributary into a channel of thick grey sludge that oozes out of the icy Kunlun mountains and meanders toward the desert floodplain. Closer to the Silk Road city of Hotan where security has been tight following a spate of violence in this remote northwestern region, bulldozers drained part of the river so that residents could dig for jade stones.

China: My Washington Post Photo

Ryan Anson, for the Pulitzer Center

I wasn’t sure if I could cough up any editorial interest in my Uyghur photographs before coming to Xinjiang.  Dozens of journalists had rushed out to Kasghar the day after the Aug. 4th attack to try to cover the China's Islamic separatists, or so they thought.  I didn’t even get my visa to China till Aug. 14th so was a little late in the game even though I had been wanting to go there since 2004.

China: Wedding Drums and Uyghur Hospitality

Ryan Anson, for the Pulitzer Center

Before heading out to Xinjiang, a western journalist told me that Uyghurs would hold off on getting married until the security situation improved. Large group gatherings tended to arouse curious eyes. With fewer eyes on people’s homes, the safer Chinese Muslims felt.

The first night of my arrival revealed a different story. In fact, noone concealed that they had just gotten hitched. On the contrary, wedding season on China’s Silk Road was in full swing. Pick-up trucks ferried musicians around town who beat drums and played trumpets in the back of flatbeds to announce the newly-wed couples to the town of Kashgar. These trucks, all of whom carried a videographer making probably $0.50/hour, led motorcades of five or six vehicles long, and circled parts of this 2000 year old city for hours and hours until the bride was ready to be dropped off at her man’s home. (During the 12 days I stayed in Kasghar, I probably saw more than 15 of these joyful caravans).

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China: The Water Terrorist

Ryan Anson, for the Pulitzer Center

I thought it was only the US that was still paranoid about water on airplanes. Apparently, China is even more afraid of liquid bombs than George Bush.

I got a pretty nerve-wracking introduction to the consequences of breaking the rigid rules of Chinese security on my flight to Kashgar.

China: The Olympics and Checkpoints in China (plus slideshow)

Ryan Anson, for the Pulitzer Center

Since the August 4th attack in Kashgar that killed 16 Chinese police officers, officials have intensified security measures all over Xinjiang Province. Militia and troops from the People's Liberation Army man checkpoints on all major roads in and out of Kashgar.  Passengers in both private and public vehicles must disembark from their cars or buses, walk through the checkpoint, show their identity cards or passports which are all scanned electronically, and pass through another blockade of sandbags and gates before getting back on the road. 

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Kashgar, China: Business as Usual on the Silk Road (plus slideshow)

Ryan Anson, for the Pulitzer Center

Kashgar’s claim to fame is its spot on the Silk Road.  Some of the first settlers built their clay homes along this major caravan route more than 2000 years ago.   It is, and has been a major trading post connecting the Western world with Central Asia and the Far East even if carpets are now sold off the back of trucks rather than camels. Silk, woven goods, exotic fruits, jade, and probably a little opium turned Kasghar into one of the more powerful Turkic kingdoms up through the 17th.century and later transformed this desert oasis town into one of Asia’s  major commercial powerhouses. 

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China: Discontent on the Eve of the Olympics

Ryan Anson, for the Pulitzer Center

Like the city’s pervasive smog, Olympics paraphernalia covers Beijing. Flags bearing the Olympic rings, banners that read Beijing 2008, and “I love China” stickers smooshed on kids’ faces flaunt the country’s national pride in itself as host of the world famous Games.  Millions were spent on dazzling athletic advertisements along with billions more on new subway lines and buildings. For a town that needs to cut down on both its greenhouse gas and waste–be it paper, plastic or coal–there are definitely one too many posters and electric lights conspicuously lining the sides of Tiananmen Square.  The traffic is not as bad though-at least until the last day of competition.

One week after the impressive opening ceremonies in China’s new multi-billion dollar stadium, the Games are in full swing.  But so is concern about a simmering instability in a distant part of the country.  The months, weeks, and days leading up to opening ceremony on Aug. 8 were not entirely placid.  In April, riots exploded in Tibet and an earthquake struck Sichuan Province a month later, killing more than 70,000 people.  What didn’t make the headlines were a series of demonstrations, arrests and disappearances in the far reaches of northwestern China where separatist sensibilities have been simmering for generations.