Getting from here to there

The author in Rivertown, whose name I can't recall just now, describes his experience living in rural/small town China for a year.  He talks about how people were slow to warm up to him and his family. A lot of it is different cultural expectations and practices.

And here in Hotan, there is not just the Chinese way, but also the Uyghur way, and both are foreign to me.  It is perfectly ok here to cut in line, or push someone else out of line, or bump people as you walk.  Spitting is big business, you hear it constantly, the snort, the hawking and then the spit.  While some of the young children and the teenage girls smiled at me, very few adults seem to smile.

Hotan is a mixture of Han Chinese imported and settled here by the Chinese government, and the longer term inhabitants, the Uyghur people.  It is a collision of two different cultures to be sure. It seems like the center of town has a stronger Han influence.  But as you move even a block away, especially east, there are whole neighborhoods of people living a life that seems to ignore the fact that they are in China.

Away from the center is heavily Muslim and this shows particularly in the way women dress.  All wear head coverings, mostly scarves, and long skirts with leggings under them.  Some cover all but their eyes, but most leave their entire face uncovered, with all hair, ears and neck fully veiled. The variety of styles is impressive.  I do not get a sense of suppression or sadness in these women generally that I have seen in some Islamic countries.  They drive scooters, go to work and seem to have some say in their destinies.The men wear a sort of skull cap that has four squared off corners, dark green in color mostly, with gold or white embroidered designs. I thought about buying a cap as a souvenir, but it seemed disrespectful or somehow inappropriate.  You see women in the long chadors, and fully scarved, in heels and driving a scooter, or talking on a cell phone.  Or both.

Other women, either more progressive Uyghur or some other background, dress in knee length suits, very nicely turned out, still with a scarf, but less fully covered, usually dark or black tights.  These too you see driving scooters a lot.

Whole families travel on scooters, much like in Central or South America. The most I have seen is a woman with four young children on one.  Often a child of about two stands in the area between the seat and the steering wheel, bounded by the legs and knees of the driver.  Sometimes even younger children are sitting in that same area.  I have not seen anyone fall, although they perch so casually, without holding on, even when holding an infant.