Abak Hoja Mausoleum, Kashgar

These show some of the lovely carved wooden pillars and tiles at the mosque on the Abak Hoja complex. The mausoleum itself had original glazed tiles mainly in shades of green, with some yellow on the minaret, and blue and white near the entrance. They were quite cracked and there were signs to warn us to beware of bits falling off. Islamic decoration is so simple yet beautiful.

After our visit there we had a walk to see an imposing statue of Mao, on ou4 way to the old town, where we went into the mosque. It must be one of the few mosques in the world where you are ordered by the Chinese guards to remove your headscarf. To get in we had to have our bags and cameras put in lockers and get our passports copied, go through a scanner and of course pay.

Lunch was plov and kebab again so I got boiled rice and a very bitter green vegetable. Then we wandered back to the hotel about 3.30pm. Surveillance is everywhere - cameras p, police in riot gear, scanners and police at every underpass and street corner. Apparently there are “re-education” camps some distance away for those who don’t comply with the great Chinese machine. We past some training going on. Every shop and business has to have a nominated person who gets training in case of terrorist attack. This must be the day as we saw a lot of lines of people in civvies going manoeuvres on the pavement, under police instruction.

Tonight we are supposed to be eating at the British High Commission, but who knows. We were to have gone last night but a Chinese delegation were going unexpectedly.

Despite Kashgar being very modern now, and the security issue making for tension, it has been interesting. Just in different ways from what I expected!