Day Tour of Kashgar City

February 17, 2018

Kashgar Tours

Our Day Tour of Kashgar City gives you the opportunity to learn about Kashgar’s past and present with the help of professional and knowledgeable Uyghur guides. Our Uyghur guides from Kashgar know their hometown best.

Places to visit today: Id Kah Mosque , Tomb of Apak Hoja , Sunday Bazaar, Kashgar Old Town, Tomb of Yusup Has Hajip

One of our local born guides can take you on a magical tour through the city of Kashgar bringing to life everything you come across on your way.Below is an outline of the highlights of what we will see on a days city tour.

Place & Transport: Kashgar to Karakul lake to KashgarMeals included:Picnic Lunch

Id Kah Mosque

The Id Kah Mosque is the biggest mosque in China, capable of holding 20,000 worshippers at one time.Each Friday more than 10,000 Muslims come to the Mosque to offer their Friday Prayer. At times of festivals, Ramadan and Kurban, more than 100,000 Muslims come to Id Kah Mosque to pray and celebrate. In fact the meaning of Id Kah in our Uyghur language is “place for festival”. At these times traditional Uyghur music sounds from the minarets and you can see dancing performed in front of the mosque. Id Kah Mosque is a magnificant example of Islamic architecture and has been a prominent focal point in the centre of Kashgar for more than 500 years. Id Kah Mosque is the heart of the city for the Uyghur people.

Tomb of Apak Hoja (also known as fragrant concubine)

Apak Hoja tomb also called fragrant concubine tomb (Xingfei in Chinese) is located 5kms northeast of Kashgar City. It is said that, altogether seventy two persons from five generations of the same family were buried in the Apak Hoja mausoleums. it was built around 1640 AD. The Apak Hoja Tomb is a key cultural relic unit under the protection of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.This is a very tranquil place and a beautiful example of Uyghur Islamic architecture.

It is possible to visit the mosque outside times of prayers.?Vistors should dress respectfully, no shorts or short sleaved shirts and women should cover their heads with a scarf.

Sunday Bazaar

Sunday market is renound as the biggest market in Central Asia; a pivotal trading point along the silk road where goods have been traded for more than two thousand years. The Sunday market is actually active everyday but Sunday is the special day for sellers and buyers and the most busy and lively day for a visit. Sunday market is divided into more then 20 sections, with each section specialising in a particular type of goods. There is an idiom about Sunday market, which says “you can find everything you want to buy on Sunday from Sunday market except chicken milk and Cow eggs”.

Within the Sunday Market you can find sections selling headscarfs, Pakistani goods, textiles, dried fruits, shoes for men and shoes for women, spices and medicines, tradional Kashgar and hotan carpets, handicrafts, sweets, stationary, Uyghur knives, Uyghur hats, bags, musical instruments, clothes, building materials, honey, kitchen utensils and so on……..

A few years ago the Government extended and rebuilt the market, at that time they moved the livestock section of the market to a suburb of kashgar. Today the animal market can be found 6kms Southeast of Kashgar City. The animal market is also divided into areas specialising in particular animals including sheep, cattle, donkeys, goat and horses. If you are lucky sometimes you also can see camels and yak being traded, but not every Sunday. In the market you will have free time to take photographs and haggle for some souvenirs.

Kashgar Old Town

Kashgar is famous for the winding narrow streets of its historic old town. Old town demo strates a fascinating architectural style of mud built houses with supporting wooden beams and beautifully carved wooden ceilings. Located in the heart of the city with more than half the cities population living here. The inhabitants of old town are 100% Uyghur’s. Uyghur people have been living in this area since the city of kashgar was formed more than two thousand years ago. Instead of doing research on the net or reading a book about Uyghur culture you can take a walk through Old Town and visit the friendly Uyghur people in their home and experience this culture for yourself first hand.

Some of the houses in old town are more than five hundred years old, this truly is like taking a walk back through time. While you are visiting old town please show respect to the locals who are living here as these are their homes not only a tourist attraction and stay with your tour guide because it is easy to get lost in the multitude of small streets.

Tomb of Yusup Has Hajip

Yusup Has Hajip Tomb is located in the southern newer part of Kashgar city. Yusup Has Hajip is one of the most famous poet, scholar and thinkers of the Uyghur people. One of his most famous publications was the book titled “Wisdom of Happiness”. He was born in 1018 in Balasagun (today located somewhere in Kyrgyzstan) of Karahanilar Dynasty, and later immigrated to Kashgar. Yusup Has Hajip is highly respected by the Uyghur people who visit his tomb to pay their respects. The book “Wisdom of Happiness” is one of the first choices for Uyghur people when giving a gift of a book to their friends.