Kashgar Sunday Bazaar

Kashgar's Sunday Bazaar has attracted farmers and tradesmen from all over northwest China for many centuries and is one of the most colourful spectacles in the region.  In the days when the Silk Road flourished, camel caravans laden with Chinese silk, spice and porcelain would arrive having crossed the forbidding Taklamakan Desert and often decided to settle in Kashgar instead of continuing their arduous journey westwards.  The goods on sale today may be a little more prosaic but the variety is incredible.  Mountains of freshly-baked bread, local products such as raisins, grapes, figs and almonds - the unique 2,000 year old irrigation system (or karez) has made the region a true oasis in the desert - spices, meats, and fish are found in abundance.  Clothes, shoes, electrical goods, in fact just about anything you might need, are all to be found here. There is also a thriving livestock market (below) where horses, sheep, goats and cattle are paraded before potential buyers. The market goes on all day...