Uyghur men in Kashgar souk When I visited Kashgar just over three years ago, I was disappointed at first. The road in from the airport passed concrete roundabouts and boring buildings typical of the modern Han Chinese city. There was even a giant Mao statue close to the bus station. While Kashgar – or Kashi as the Han Chinese call...

The Toronto Star recently listed China’s Urumqi as one of the Top Ten worst places to live in the world. The reason? Pollution. The list prompted my strangely fond memories of coughing and spluttering through winter in Urumqi while teaching English there between 2005 and 2006. By Alison Bate It’s winter in Urumqi and everyone is...