Kashgar Ancient City (Old Town)
One of the largest surviving raw-earth architectural complexes in the world; the Uyghur-inhabited old town has carried on since Shule City of the Han dynasty
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- All day (east gate city-opening ceremony approx. 10:30)
- Ticket
- Free (city-opening ceremony, etc.)
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
One of the largest surviving raw-earth architectural complexes in the world, the Uyghur-inhabited old town has carried on since Shule City of the Han dynasty. Every morning, the "city-opening ceremony" at the ancient city's east gate welcomes visitors with song and dance; inside, the flower-hat bazaar, the copperware bazaar, and century-old teahouses (where elders play the dutar and sing to the rawap) form a living street scene. The adjacent High Platform Homes (Gaotai Minju), "Kuoziquya Beixi Lane", have stacked up the earthen cliff for 600 years, with some sections restored and opened; the film The Kite Runner was shot here, bringing Kashgar's old town to screens worldwide.
Getting there: Downtown, on foot
Photos
More in Kashgar
- Id Kah Mosque
One of the largest mosques in China, founded in 1442, facing east at the heart of the Old City; its yellow-brick gateway and flanking minarets form the iconic portrait of Kashgar
- Fragrant Concubine Garden (Apak Hoja Tomb)
The "Fragrant Concubine's Tomb" is in fact the family mausoleum of Apak Hoja, 17th-century leader of the Islamic White Mountain sect; built around 1670, its dome of green glazed bricks rises dozens of meters—the largest surviving domed mausoleum in Xinjiang
- Kashgar Prefecture Museum
Systematic displays trace the civilizational thread of the Kashgar region from prehistory through the Ming and Qing: Han-Tang documents and coins attest its status as a key town on the southern Silk Road, Gandhara-style Buddhist statues show traces of Hellenistic art spreading eastward, and Wei-Jin brick-chamber tomb artifacts and Silk Road ethnic costumes share the hall—a primer for understanding the "five ports…
- Pantuo City (Ban Chao Memorial Park)
The base camp of Eastern Han general Ban Chao in administering the Western Regions: from 73 CE onward Ban Chao ranged across the Western Regions with 36 men, garrisoning here for more than ten years
- East Bazaar (Central and West Asia International Trade Market)
One of the largest bazaars in Central Asia, with over 2,000 stalls displaying dried fruits, Atlas silk, Yengisar knives, copper pots, carpets, and medicinal herbs
- Gongmei Arts & Crafts Lane · Pottery Workshops
A handicraft lane in the Old City: the molded pottery of the Gaotai Dwellings is a national-level Uyghur intangible cultural heritage, and inheritor workshops still throw pots on the wheel and carve and glaze patterns