Getting ready for the city of Urumqi

Under Chinese rule

This morning, we wake up early to get our bags ready and drive towards Urumchi. We take our time, since we’ll be leaving by car and not by train so we’re not rushed by a departure schedule. We have to work on the photo captions, but we still hurry to have our things ready quickly. This trip isn’t only about discoveries and adventure, it’s also work. We each sit in front of a computer and begin to write. It’s 10am Xinjiang time, that is, 12pm Beijing time when Yang Dong advises us to check out of our rooms. Dad asks me what time it is since he doesn’t have a watch and when I tell him the time, he says: “we still have two hours.” So we keep on writing. I help them make a shortcut of a Zip file to compress the documents that will be sent. Our work finally finished, we pack the last few things that remain. It’s 12:25, Xinjiang time. We go downstairs and dad says that normally everywhere in the world, they charge a fee if someone checks out after 12:00 and with the little time we exceeded, the hotel should be lenient towards us. But downstairs, the lady behind the front desk tells us that we’ll have to pay an extra 100 Yuan for each room. Dad isn’t happy about that, and since he knows that in China the important aspect of each decision is its “leader”, dad asks for him. Then, when “leader” arrives, dad explains to him the problem. The young woman wants him to pay half the room’s fee when we have only exceeded the checkout time by 25 minutes. The leader looks at his watch and says: “you mean by 2 hours and 25 minutes.” That’s when we understand that he works according to Beijing time. What gets to me, it’s that the Chinese invaded the Ouigour people’s lands while trying everything to keep its culture prisoner, like change the alphabet so that no one else could understand it afterwards. They are supposed to respect minorities, but they force them to speak Chinese when they all speak Ouigour and have no need to speak Mandarin. They classify them as being what they call an “ethnic minority”, as though they were the absolute majority and the best in the world. And finally, there’s an hour in Xinjiang’s time zone that isn’t even recognized since it’s not used in the entire administration. In the end, dad leaves by paying 30 Yuan. After that annoying episode, we can take the car. The man who’ll take us to Urumchi is a friend of Harkin and his name is Alem. He’s a rather short man and wears a beret. He looks like a caricature of a French man. After driving for an hour, we arrive in the city of Dabanchi where, according to a song, there are the most beautiful women in China. I don’t think so. We stop in a small restaurant with only three tables. Mom calls us to let us know that the editor had sent the contract to do a book. I’m happy, but she also tells me that the top story in French newspapers is a rumor that Ouigour activists will do an act of terror in Beijing. I think it’s another attempt from the Chinese government to tarnish the image of the Ouigour people. But dad reminds me also that for security reasons surrounding the Olympic games, and with the cameras we have, we can expect to be arrested which I don’t find reassuring. But I don’t care: it might be a good experience. At that moment, a green khaki truck filled with soldiers stations itself in front of the restaurant. They observe us. After watching us and exchanging looks with me for a few minutes, they leave. That’s when a large chicken dish we ordered arrives and we eat. I even eat the chicken’s foot. It’s so good! A man comes to ask for money and we understand that it’s to build a mosque. Alem's phone rings for the tenth time, that’s why we call him “mister the Prime Minister.” To finish the meal, we ask to have the water they used to cook the noodles they served with the chicken because in China, instead of throwing it out, they drink it. During the meal, I peel garlic for dad and when mom hears of that she says: “Oh no!” since dad eats a large quantity of it and if I start it won’t smell very nice in the house. I reassure her by telling her that it’s for dad and if I eat some, it’s to avoid smelling dad’s breath when he calls her. After paying, dad goes to a hairdresser since I told him it would take only 5 minutes.