Silk Road 2013
Shanghai, China: looking across the Huangpu River at brilliantly lit Pudong.
Xi Tang, China
Lake Karakul, China: with a Bactrian camel and its driver in the foreground, the slopes of 24,747 foot Mustagh Ata in the background
Old Town, Kashgar, China
Old Town, Kashgar, China
Old Town, Kashgar, China
Old Town, Kashgar, China
Old Town, Kashgar, China: looking from a home in Old Town to the rapidly growing modern part of Kashgar.
Old Town, Kashgar, China: a shrinking Old Town is crowded by new construction.
Livestock Market, Kashgar, China: the Kurban Muslim holiday is in two days; each devout Muslim family is required to sacrifice a sheep on that day, so the Livestock Market is attracting many sheep sellers.
Livestock Market, Kashgar, China
Livestock Market, Kashgar, China
Livestock Market, Kashgar, China
Livestock Market, Kashgar, China: a Muslim family that buys a sheep today will need to feed it in the interim before it is sacrificed in two days as part of the Kurban celebration.
Livestock Market, Kashgar, China
Opal Village, near Kashgar, China
Opal Village, near Kashgar, China
Opal Village, near Kashgar, China: sacrificing a sheep requires a sharp knife; on this day before the Kurban holiday, the customer on the left provides power to the grinding wheel as a knife is sharpened.
Opal Village, near Kashgar, China
Opal Village, near Kashgar, China
Opal Village, near Kashgar, China
East Gate Bazaar, Kashgar, China: overflowing with shoppers two days before the Kurban holiday. Uyghur men like this one often pack a knife at their waist.
East Gate Bazaar, Kashgar, China
Kashgar, China
Tuyuk Village, Turpan, China: On the other side of the Flaming Mountains from Turpan, this small village is called "Little Mecca" because five visits to the mosque in the background is considered equivalent to the once-in-a-lifetime Mecca hajj to which most Muslims aspire. In the foreground is a raisin drying hut.
Tuyuk Village, Turpan, China: a traditional adobe mud house, but with a washer/dryer and modern baby stroller in the yard
Emin Minaret and Mosque, Turpan, China; with the distinctive Uyghur style of cemetary in the foreground
Flaming Mountains, near Turpan, China: a camel-mounted tourist is silhouetted against the setting sun.
Flaming Mountains, near Turpan, China: a Uyghur camel driver enjoys end of day peace.