Kashgar Travel Guide

Kashgar is called Kashi in Chinese, it’s covered an area is 141,600 square kilometers, located between the latitude of 3520′ to 4018′ north and longitude 7320′ to 7957′ east located in southern part of Xinjiang.

The city of Kashgar is a place of strategic importance in south Xinjiang, has an area of fifteen square kilometers with an average elevation of 1289.5 meters. The city of kashgar is an administration centre of kashgar prefecture.

It is located between latitude 3925′ to 3935′ north and longitude 7556′ to 7604′ east. Kashgar is 1,473 kilometers to Urumqi which is capital city of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Kashgar is known as “the Pearl on the Silk Road “, because of its strategic location. Kashgar is bordering with Taklimakan Dessert to the east, Karakoram Mountain to the south, the Pamir Plateau to the west. Kashgar also neighbors with Kirghizstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. That is why Kashgar is a state level historical and cultural city in China.

Administrative Division

Kashgar is prefecture, it has one city (which is kashgar city) and eleven counties. They are Tokkuzak or Shufu, Yinggixe or Shufu, Yinggisa or Yingjixa, , Yopurga or Yuepuhu , Paizawat or Jiashi, Yarkant or shache, Poskam or Zepu, Kagilik or Yecheng, Makit or maigaiti, Maralbeshi or Bachu, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County under its jurisdiction. There are twenty-six towns and sub district offices, 134 townships, 2,310 villagers’ committees and 96 neighborhood committees in Kashgar prefecture.

Population and Nationalities

Kashgar Prefecture has over 3.5 million people, among which the Uyghur’s consist of 92.92 percent, the Han consist of 5.6 percent, the Tajik consist of 1.03 percent, and the other consist of 0.45 percent which is Hui, Kirgiz, Ozbek, Kazak, Manchu, Xibe, Mongol, Tatar and Daur nationalities.

The city of Kashgar has a population of 200,000, 74.62 percent which is Uyghur, and 24.32 percent of which is Han Chinese and other minorities.

History

Kashgar is an important hub on the ancient Silk Road, and a vibrant Islamic centre within Chinese territory. It is the largest oasis city in Chinese Central Asia and 92 percent of its population is consisting of Uyghur people. Kashgar is an important derives from its strategic position and located on the foot of Pamir Mountain, commanding access to the highest glacial pass on the ancient Silk Road into Central Asia, India and Persia. The weary trade caravans plodding west on the northern and southern routes merged in Kashgar. Merchants bound for China thawed out after descending to Kashgar from the Pamir Plateau or the Karakorum, and exchanged their stolid yaks and exhausted packhorses to camel’s to convey their merchandise into Inner part of China.

Kashgar has a history of more than 2’000 years old. The earliest reference appeared in Persian documents referring to an alliance of Tushlan Tribes, who founded their capital in Kashgar . Kashgar was the first Buddhist kingdom place on the Tarim basin. In second century AD, Hinayana part of Buddhism flourished to kashgar and continued to do it until end of ninth or beginning of tenth century. During this period of time, Indian’s and Persian’s cultural influences were strong in kashgar.

Economy

Agriculture is main industry of Kashgar. People in Kashgar mainly grow wheat, corn, rice, cotton, milt, barley, and so on…… Kashgar also known as land of fruit., such as pomegranate, grape, apple, pear, apricot, almond, fig, peach, nectarine, walnut, water melon and sweet melon. Kashgar Prefecture has 415,620 hectares of cultivated land, 1.33 million hectares of reclaimable land and 2.26 million hectares of pastureland.

According to rapid economic development of Kashgar, various industrial systems have been completed, such as electric power, cement, coal, building materials, chemistry, farming machinery, textiles, leather products, ceramics, paper-making and food processing industries. Cotton printing and dyeing, cement producing, and hydropower are the key industrial enterprises of Kashgar.

Scenic Spots

Kashgar is endowed by nature with desert, glacier and mountains. Kashgar attracts lots of domestic and oversea tourists all the year around with its historical and natural sites. They are Idkagh Mosque, Tomb of Apak Hoja (also known as Tomb of Xiangfei or fragrant concubine), Old town, Sunday market and livestock market, Handicraft street, Tomb of Yusup Has Hajip, Tomb of Mehmod Kashgari, Karakul lake, Muztagh Ata mountain (meaning is father of ice mountain), Stone city or stone castle, Oytagh forest Park, Golden Grave yard 0r tomb of Aman Nisahan, Dawakul dessert, Mor Pagoda, San Shan Dong or three caves, and Shifton’s Arch (pierced stone in Uyghur).

Kashgar Weather

Kashgar is located in the temperate zone of a continental climate. The climate of Kashgar is varies greatly because of the varied topography. Specifically, Kashgar climate can be divided into zones plain climate, desert climate, mountain climate, and Pamir Plateau climate.

In plain climate zone, the four seasons for the year is very clear, people called it that it has a long summer and a short winter. The annual mean temperature is 11.7 C, the lowest temperature for the year is -24.4° C which is in January, and the highest temperature for the year is 40.1°C which is in July. Averages frost free period is 215 days, and the annual mean precipitation is 27 millimeters.

Kashgar Yearly Average Temperature by Month
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average Maximum Temperature (ºC)	0.2	4.7	13.9	22.1	26.5	30.3	32.1	30.8	26.2	19.7	10.1	1.5
Average Temperature(ºC)	-5.6	-1.2	7.7	15.5	19.9	23.6	25.7	24.4	19.4	12.3	3.7	-3.9
Average Minimum Temperature (ºC)	-10.7	-6.5	1.6	8.6	12.8	16.0	18.6	17.4	12.0	4.7	-1.9	-8.1
Rainfall (mm)	2.5	5.5	5.8	5.5	11.4	6.5	7.5	8.3	5.9	2.5	1.9	1.2