As I was walking down the street

I can't tell if this curtain between us and the sun is smog, sand storms off the desert, both, or something else.  I have seen very little sunshine since being here.  There is a sort of yellow tinge to the overcast, and there is a coating of sand or grime of some sort on everything.  I saw a taxi driver cleaning his car windshield with a paint brush in the morning.  There are street sweepers/trash pickers on every major street, but still there is a layer of grit on everything.  This town is surrounded by desert so I would imagine that is a lot of it.

As I walked, I heard hammers and power tools on Saturday and Sunday. There are a lot of new buildings under construction, most of them 20 or more stories, and they seem to work seven days a week. I see a lot of not quite finished buildings, but have not seen a completed one yet. What is sad is the displacement of the traditional buildings and neighborhoods of the Uyghurs that are being destroyed to make way for the new high rises-almost systematically it seems.  Everywhere I look, I see the remains of the old sitting decrepit next to the new, and I wonder where those people went.

The police presence is palpable here.  I have seen several police actions in progress since being here.  They have huge armored vehicles that look like tanks, just on wheels.  They even have the openings in the top where you often see a couple of soldiers/officers with machine guns.There are big military style trucks that are constantly transporting personnel through town, and they have smaller installations all over downtown.  They stand guard in threes, with their backs making the inside of a triangle, with machine guns of some sort (I do not know guns), shields such as those used for riot protection, and various other weapons.  All of them seem to be 20 years old.  It feels more like an occupying army than a police force.  I suppose in this area of China that is what it is in many ways.  Apparently the Uyghurs, or some portion of them, are actively resisting.  Of course, we will never really know.

Needless to say, security is big business here. Hard to imagine what is spent on all this. I can't recall if I told you about the police officer I met at the airport in Hotan.  We had landed and I was waiting for my bag, and a man walked up and started talking to me in very good English.  He was friendly, and helpful too, but I can't help wondering if he wasn't also trying to assess whether I was a security threat.  He told me that terrorism is a big issue here in Hotan, and that he and nine other officers were just flying in for a short term special assignment to help the local police. He gave me his phone number in case I had an issue while in Hotan, which was very nice to have as a sort of emergency option, but the police never approached me, they just stared like everyone else.

And still, the little children play, things are bought and sold, lovers walk together, and life carries on.

I saw a tag today that said "100% silk" and right below that "100% wool".  I wondered about that.  Silk is big here because it is claimed that silk was first produced in this area of China.  It is also a big area for mining jade, and it is sold everywhere.  I know nothing about jade, unfortunately for those on my souvenir list.

Crossing the street is a pleasure akin to playing foosball, one lane at a time, and irrespective of the traffic signals.