24 of 100: Urumqi

Sixteen years ago today we arrived in Urumqi, Xinjiang Province, Uighur Autonomous Region, en route to a total eclipse of the sun. I took some photos that day. Here they are (in random order), complete with Flickr captions. (Click on images to see them larger.)

The green area on the upper left is the People's Park that we strolled
through enthralled by—well, the people, out enjoying a lovely Sunday
afternoon. They were playing traditional Chinese and not so traditional
(accordion, violin) instruments and singing, playing in the water,
playing cards, flying kites, fishing, getting fortunes told. Just out
for the afternoon, enjoying life. We were captivated. When we left
that park, we encountered the pools along the highway—
very popular. But we were actually in search of Hongshan Park,
which happened to be across the superhighway—and eventually we found it. 

Hongshan Park: Nice light and shadows.

People's Park: Lots of floral and cloth sculptures,
most of them kind of silly. I would say like this one.
Pink and green penguins?

Buying a song: There was so much music going on
in the park today, and if someone came along and wanted
to take part, all they had to do was go to this woman,
and she was ready to sell them the sheet music to whatever tune
they had in mind. What a deal! 

An old man in People's Park, watching the goings-on.

It was the year of the Olympics in Beijing. This is
Hongshan Park. Note the ferris wheel above the trees.

A fanciful bird, made entirely out of teacups,
soup spoons, and small porcelain dishes

Balloons at Hongshan Park

Strictly prohibit from abandoning stones bottles of wine and minglement.

A barbecue stand: shishkebab, Uighur style.

Fisherwoman.

July 27: We arrived in Urumqi, Xinjiang Province, at 2 p.m.
(Beijing time--which is China time--but locally that would
have been about noon, if you're paying attention to the sun).
After getting our rooms and cooling down a bit, we ventured out
into Urumqi. It's a refreshing place, after the hustle and bustle
of Shanghai. Plenty of bustle still, but we felt less conspicuous—
even though we were the only European types around. Maybe it's
because there are a lot of different ethnic groups here. Maybe
because it's more Muslim. I don't know. Anyway, we enjoyed
strolling through the streets, not being hassled, and enjoying the
sights and sounds. And whoa, once we arrived at People's Park,
it was the sounds that overwhelmed us. The first group we
stumbled on was dancers, doing Zorba the Greek sorts of moves
to recorded music. But then we came upon gathering after
gathering of folks playing both native instruments and Western
ones (accordion, violin), all accompanied by singing. With sheet
music sold nearby. It was sort of a cross between Irish get-together-
at-the-pub-whoever-shows-up-and-let's-play-together and karaoke.
Microphones in some cases. The whole works. Beautiful to see,
even if the the sound wasn't what my Western ear was used to.
Makes me wish we had more of a musical tradition in my land.
It's a lovely way to blend together, if briefly.

A kite flyer in People's Park.

Runnin' runnin', can't stop!