A dazzling array of pottery products full of local cultural color delight visitors at the pottery street in Kashgar, Xinjiang.

From my hotel room window, I have a bird’s-eye view of the city and am amazed at how vast and diverse it is. I also revel in its fascinating modernity that has mingled with the magnificent colors of the surrounding desert. It really is a city that people must see on the Silk Road. To fully understand China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, you have to put the map behind and from a lofty vantage point see the Taklamakan (the second largest desert in the world) in the east, the Kunlun Mountains in the south, the Pamir Plateau in the west, and the Tianshan Mountains in the north.

Visiting the Old City

It is quite a pleasure to lose yourself in a maze of narrow passages, where doors seem to conceal a thousand and one secrets, and a thousand and one legends.

To find this place, you have to travel to the northeastern region of the city. Located some 40 meters above sea level, the old town looks mysterious. Stretching over 900 yards, an entire Uygur agglomeration is aggregated in this tiny space. When you look at this city made of sand, you are astonished that it boasts over 600 years of history, with its flat rooftops, earthen walls, small windows, and square structures. The traditional Uygur houses seen here are typical of those found in Central Asia, exhibiting a typical Islamic architecture that was influenced by Persian and Arabic cultures.

The old town is separated from the modern part of the city by a river. It was around the 9th century that the Uygur s began to settle there. The Uygur community is a constant source of wonder, an ancestral décor that threatens to collapse but where some 640 families live and work (around 3,000 people). It is imperative to have a local guide to lead you around because the alleys seem to stretch endlessly and the maze quickly swallows those who get lost.

Behind the brick walls, the wooden doors covered with fading colors, entire families, but also craftsmen, live peacefully together. It is worth noting that the houses get bigger as families grow, but everyone still lives under the same roof.

This old town is like a huge castle made out of sand. To the northeast, visitors can admire a part of the ancient 500-year-old, 30-foot-high city walls.

Meeting Omar Ali, the Potter-cum-Craftsman

Omar Ali is a pottery craftsman. He welcomes us in his yard and then we sit down to share some tea together, enjoying a time of chit-chat.

Omar began his pottery business after he graduated from college in 1985. He used to make flower pots, but after the arrival of plastic pots, he was forced to overhaul his business model. “Evolving is important. At the start of my career, 80 percent of the pottery I made was everyday utensils, kitchenware. Now most of my products are souvenirs for tourists and decorative items,” he said.

Over the years, Omar has had to reorient his production several times towards more profitable activities in order to make a better living and feed his family. He is now a talented craftsman and produces exquisite decorative items. He believes that tourism is an essential element in promoting the development of the region, because it brings swarms of customers, which are vital for his production. When asked about the future, Omar was quite optimistic and said, “The future is bright. These are handmade objects. Handicrafts are very popular among the tourists who come in droves. In the future, everything will be fine and I am very optimistic. Tourism will continue to develop.”

Omar laments over young people’s lack of interest in learning pottery. “We are the last three remaining craftsmen here. I’m over 40 years old, but I’m the youngest. The oldest is in his 60s,” he said.

Despite this challenge, he has come up with a solution. “I want to introduce mechanized production. This would reduce the time we spend learning skills and increase the interest of apprentices. Because the preparation process takes an awfully long time to complete, few people are eager to learn it.”

In order to improve his skills, he would like to pursue a degree in fine arts. But he does not have time to do it. Being the breadwinner in his family, he cannot afford to leave his workshop. It is like trying to square a circle. However, he is right: young people interested in pottery should be allowed to study degrees in fine arts and work at the same time. Traditional crafts will be the economic cornerstone of the region in the future. It is synonymous with luxury, and it takes time and skills to make them. Each object is unique with its own design and history.

Without knowing it, Omar provides a crucial element to understanding our civilization: quality. Globalization tends to erase singularities: it standardizes visions, thoughts, and tastes; it has its own limits and gnaws away at our sense of humanity.

China shows us how to bring crafts to life, but also testifies to the fact that a return to quality and proximity does not prevent development. We have to find meaning.

Obviously, this old city is fragile, a fact for which there is little comfort. It is a sand fortress that seems to have frozen in time. It stands upright but remains fragile and brittle.

In order not to break the spell, the Chinese government began to implement a colossal renovation project in 2010. More than RMB 7 billion has been allocated to rebuild the old city with all modern conveniences (including drinking water, sewage disposal, electricity). Its architecture integrates the traditional Uygur style while making the houses earthquake resistant.

This old city is fascinating, as everything seems to have come back to life, while craftsmen and sellers are now rubbing shoulders with locals on electric scooters and tourists. Kashgar has been resuscitated as an oasis, a city where you can breathe, wander, get lost, and perhaps discover yourself. 

SONIA BRESSELER is a French author and philosopher.