Kashgar Old City

Near the Id Kah Mosque, there is the famous Kashgar old city, which has as long as 2000 years of history. It is the ancient Shule described by Zhang Qian, was an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the Han Dynasty, and represents the ancient Kashgar.



Kashgar old city had been the location for ancient Shule’s palace. In tenth century AD, Karahan Kingdom built palace here.



Kashgar Old City covers an area of about two square kilometers, with more than 20 streets, over two thousand households, and more than ten thousand population. All are Uighur residents, and it is currently the only labyrinth city block well preserved in Islamic culture features.



The houses in the old city are almost rammed with yellow mud, which are cool in summer and warm in winter. These buildings have a typical Islamic style, especially the ones such as some buildings distinctive with ethnic handicrafts, ancient houses and mosque building, as well as the unique buildings which cannot be seen in other places.



In order to develop tourism, the local government has developed a number of tourist visiting households, where visitors can witness the traditional and authentic Uighur resident family life, as well as enjoy the hand embroidery, cross stitch, flower hat making, handmade musical instruments and other ethnic handicrafts, also enjoy the national diet and snacks such as the pilaf, mutton, roast lamb, thin-skinned dumplings, noodles, etc.