Located in northwest China, in the heart of the Eurasian continent, it is the region farthest from any ocean in the world. The nearest ocean is the Indian Ocean 1,700 km to 3,400 km away. With an area of 1.66 million square km, it is the largest provincial-level administrative division in China, accounting for one sixth of the country's total land area and about four times the size of Japan and over three times the territory of France.

Xinjiang also boasts China's longest land border, approximately 5,700 km, representing a quarter of China's total land boundary length. It borders Mongolia on the northeast; Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the northwest; Afghanistan, Pakistan and India on the southwest. In China, it neighbors Gansu and Qinghai provinces on the southeast and Xizang Autonomous Region on the south. As the saying goes, "You don't know how vast China is until you come to Xinjiang."

The most important feature distinguishing Xinjiang from other provincial-level administrative divisions is that it is a convergence point for China's religious and ethnic cultures. The region experienced waves of Islamic conquest, and Kashi (Kashgar) became a major Islamic center in the East following these conquests.

Xinjiang is home to many ethnic groups, each with a long history and ancient culture. Islam is the most widespread religion in the region with the largest number of adherents. Ethnic groups among which Islam is popular include the Uygur, the largest minority group comprising about 45 percent of Xinjiang's 25.98 million population, the Kazak, the Hui, the Tajik, the Uzbek and the Kirgiz. Other religions too exist in Xinjiang: Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism), Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Shamanism.

Xinjiang is renowned for its unique geographical location, captivating natural landscapes and diverse topography. It features oasis farmlands, vast grasslands, permanently snow-capped peaks, boundless deserts and shimmering lakes. Scattered along the ancient Silk Road are numerous historical cities, such as Kashi, Turpan, Aksu, Hami and Kuche (also spelt Kucha and Kuqa)—ancient towns exuding an aura of civilization and history.

Why Kashi? 

Kashi was a core hub along the Silk Road. This commercial route connected China, India, the Mediterranean and many other regions. For over 2,000 years, this inland oasis city has remained vibrant. When Buddhism spread eastward from India via the Silk Road to China and Japan, Kashi was one of the first areas to embrace it.

In the 13th century, when the famous Italian traveler Marco Polo journeyed to China along the Silk Road, Kashi was his first stop in China. Here he began his 17-year journey through the East. The Travels of Marco Polo says Kashi was a large and beautiful city. It was covered with vast orchards and extensive cotton fields, brimming with prosperity. Many merchants used this place as a starting point for traveling the world, the book adds. Thus, long before the formation of modern nations, Kashi was already an international trade center.

This is the area with a large population of Uygurs who practice Islam. It is dotted with mosques, and the old city and its eastern and western outskirts preserve numerous Islamic cultural relics. Since ancient times, Kashi has been known as the "land of song and dance," with Shule music and Uygur traditional dances circulating in the Central Plains, a vast area covering the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the heartland of ancient China, 1,000 years ago.

It is precisely based on Kashi's unique historical status, cultural heritage and Islamic civilizational characteristics that I chose it as the starting and ending point of my journey. History is the key to understanding Chinese culture; everything in China begins with history. Those scholars who call China a "historian's paradise" are absolutely correct.

The evolution of Kashi 

The Tarim Basin is a depression covering most of the southern part of Xinjiang, with an area of 530,000 square km. Most of the basin is occupied by the Taklimakan Desert, which means "the desert you can enter but cannot leave" in Uygur, surrounded by a ring of oases. Kashi is the historical name of the western part of the Tarim Basin, situated between the Tianshan Mountains, the Pamir Plateau and the Kunlun Mountains. Kashi City, capital of Kashi Prefecture, covers 1,529 square km and is about 1,400 km from the regional capital, Urumqi. The whole prefecture covers an area of 162,000 square km.

Kashi's topography, ethnicity, language and religion align closely with the neighboring former Soviet republics, or perhaps closely resemble north Pakistan. In ancient times, the central authorities placed great importance on frontier defense, with Kashi acting as the "guardian" along the Silk Road. The history of the Tarim region is filled with disputes and conflicts between the Central Plains dynasties and nomadic tribes.

During the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), the Kingdom of Shule, one of the 36 states of the Western Regions, was located in what is now the Kashi area. Senior official Ban Chao was sent to the Western Regions, using Shule as his main base, and remained stationed there for more than 30 years.

However, nomadic tribes successively controlled the prosperous oases along the Silk Road, including Kashi. In China's long history, there were periods when small kingdoms existed in the Central Plains in different periods; similarly, Xinjiang also underwent periods when local regimes divided the region. Nevertheless, no matter how long these regimes existed, the region was ultimately united.

From the Han Dynasty, the name "Shule" was consistently used here, before gradually evolving into "Kashi." In several local languages, "Kashi" means "city of colored glazed tiles" or "land of abundance." This name perfectly matched the city's splendor—under the sunlight, the colored glazed tiles covering the city walls shimmered brilliantly.

The author is head of the Chinese Language Department of Al-Azhar University in Egypt 

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