Reposted from the web

Summary: Urumqi Hui Muslim Home Cooking: 15 Halal Dishes is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: My mother-in-law came to Beijing in March and made us 15 Urumqi Hui Muslim dishes: big plate chicken with belt noodles (dapanji pidaimian), lamb hand-torn noodle soup (yangrou jiupianzi), Xinjiang meatball soup. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslim Food, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

My mother-in-law came to Beijing in March and made us 15 Urumqi Hui Muslim dishes: big plate chicken with belt noodles (dapanji pidaimian), lamb hand-torn noodle soup (yangrou jiupianzi), Xinjiang meatball soup (xinjiang wanzitang), dry-mixed noodles with lamb bean paste (yangrou zhajiang ganbanmian), lamb sour soup wontons (yangrou suantang huntun), Jingzhe oil tea eggs (jingzhe youcha dan), thin-skinned buns (baopi baozi), lamb vermicelli soup (yangrou fentang), cold-dressed chicken (liangban ji), diced stir-fried noodles (dingding chaomian), sour soup noodles with minced meat (suantang saozi mian), fragrant bean flower rolls (xiangdou huajuan), plate noodles (panzi mian), flavored fried starch jelly (fengwei zha menzi), and lamb and celery dumplings (yangrou qincai jiaozi). Since the official account can only insert 10 video channel clips, I will share the first 8 this time.

1. Big plate chicken with belt noodles (dapanji pidaimian)

My mother-in-law brought free-range chicken all the way from Urumqi. First, stir-fry the chicken with plenty of oil. Add chicken pieces, dried chili skins (lapizi), and ginger slices to the pot. Then add salt, Sichuan peppercorn powder, black pepper powder, tomato paste, bean paste, green onions, and garlic. Stir-fry until the blood is gone, then add soy sauce. Next, stew the chicken in a pressure cooker, adding water, the chicken, and potato chunks. After opening the pot, take out the potatoes, then add green onions, garlic, and vinegar.

Once finished, stretch the belt noodles; they taste best soaked in the big plate chicken broth.







2. Lamb hand-torn noodle soup (yangrou jiupianzi)

First, stir-fry lamb slices with tomatoes (yangshizi), green onions, and garlic. Add soy sauce and stir-fried potato slices, then add water. Stretch the dough and tear off small pieces into the pot. Finally, add black pepper powder and cilantro, and finish with a splash of vinegar.







3. Xinjiang meatball soup (xinjiang wanzitang)

For the Iftar meal, my mother-in-law made this Xinjiang specialty meatball soup using meat ground fresh at the Ma family shop in Douban Alley. The secret to the fried meatballs is pouring hot oil over the black pepper powder while mixing the filling. The best base for the meatball soup is broth made from beef marrow bones. You can add side dishes like spinach, king oyster mushrooms, tofu, carrots, or wood ear mushrooms.















4. Dry-mixed noodles with lamb bean paste (yangrou zhajiang ganbanmian)

Zainab said Urumqi has its own local version of bean paste noodles. I had never noticed it before and was very curious, so I finally got to eat it this time. These are hand-rolled cut noodles; our cutting board is still not quite big enough. Besides lamb, the bean paste sauce includes potatoes, carrots, and celery. It uses Pixian bean paste, so the flavor is completely different from Beijing-style bean paste noodles.

















5. Lamb sour soup wontons (yangrou suantang huntun)

I especially love the stewed lamb sour soup wontons (hong dong) made by Xinjiang Hui Muslims. After the lamb is stewed, add tomatoes, spinach, scallions, and cilantro. The wontons have the classic lamb and onion (piyazi) filling.













6. Jingzhe oil tea eggs (jingzhe youcha dan)

March 5th is the Awakening of Insects (Jingzhe), when all things come back to life. In the morning, we ate this seasonal Xinjiang Hui Muslim delicacy, Jingzhe oil tea eggs. Stir-fry eggs with dried fruits like raisins and walnut kernels, then pour in brewed brick tea and add rock sugar. Traditional oil tea with egg (youcha dan) must be stir-fried with mutton fat, but we use olive oil.













7. Thin-skinned steamed buns (baopi baozi)

Thin-skinned steamed buns (manti) filled with mutton and onions. Manti is a classic Silk Road snack. It spread to Central and West Asia with Turkic soldiers during the Mongol conquests and was later spread further by the Ottoman Empire. The word manti comes from mantou. Even today, the Wu dialect uses mantou to refer to meat-filled flour dishes. In 1330, the first year of the Zhishun era of the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial physician Hu Sihui wrote the Principles of Correct Diet (Yinshan Zhengyao). It records many ways to make mantou, all using mutton, mutton fat, green onions, dried tangerine peel, and salt for the filling. It even mentions the term thin-skinned mantou.











8. Mutton noodle soup (yangrou fentang)

This is the festive noodle soup made during the Mawlid (Zhuo Bailati). First, braise the mutton, then stir the pea starch and let it sit overnight before cutting it into starch blocks. Next, make a topping with cabbage, small radishes, mutton slices, and tomatoes. When you eat it, soak some fried dough (youxiang) in the soup. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Ili to Turpan — Chagatai Khanate Tombs and Muslim History is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: In the 61st Regiment of Huocheng County in Yili and Aiding Lake Town in the Gaochang District of Turpan, you can find the tombs of Tughlugh Timur, the founding khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, and Khizr Khoja, the. The account keeps its focus on Chagatai Khanate, Muslim History, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

In the 61st Regiment of Huocheng County in Yili and Aiding Lake Town in the Gaochang District of Turpan, you can find the tombs of Tughlugh Timur, the founding khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, and Khizr Khoja, the third khan. These are the only two remaining royal tombs from the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. I have visited both of these tombs, and I want to use them to give you a brief introduction to the early history of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.



The Tughlugh Timur tomb (mazar) in Yili.



The Khizr Khoja tomb (mazar) in Turpan.

The Chagatai Khanate was formed in 1225 after Genghis Khan conquered the Western Liao Dynasty during his western campaign and divided the vast lands north and south of the Tianshan Mountains among his second son, Chagatai. Chagatai's royal court was located near Almaliq in Yili, which served as the center of the entire khanate.

After the 14th century, the Chagatai Mongols who had long lived in the Transoxiana region grew accustomed to settled city life and converted to the faith. This created growing conflict with the Chagatai Mongols in the eastern grasslands who insisted on a nomadic lifestyle. Eventually, the eastern Chagatai Mongol nobles killed the khan who had settled in the west to protect their traditions, causing the Chagatai Khanate to split into eastern and western parts. In 1348, the Dughlat tribe, which ruled the southern Xinjiang region, installed Tughlugh Timur, a descendant of Chagatai Khan, as the khan. He became the founding khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

After taking the throne, Khan Tughlugh Timur ordered all Chagatai Mongols in the Eastern Chagatai Khanate to convert to the faith. He later unified the entire khanate through two western campaigns, but the khanate fell back into chaos shortly after his death.

In 1368, the Dughlat noble Qamar ud-Din massacred almost all of Khan Tughlugh Timur's descendants. Only the khan's infant son, Khizr Khoja, was hidden away.

In 1370, the Chagatai noble Amir Timur unified the Western Chagatai Khanate. He established the Timurid Dynasty with a Chagatai khan as his puppet and became known to later generations as Timur the Great.

It was not until 1389, after Qamar ud-Din was completely defeated by Timur the Great, that Khizr Khoja, who had been in hiding for years, was able to take the throne as the third khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. After Khizr Khoja took the throne, Timur the Great marched east and captured the city of Almaliq. Khizr Khoja had to move his court east to Turpan, where he eventually passed away.

In the late 15th century, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate split again into eastern and western parts. In 1514, Said Khan, a descendant of Khan Tughlugh Timur, made Yarkand his capital and ruled the entire southern Xinjiang region. This is known in history as the Yarkand Khanate.



The map of the Chagatai Khanate's territory is based on the Historical Atlas of China, which primarily relies on the Jingshi Dadian from 1330-31 and the Appendix on Northwest Geography in the History of Yuan.

1. Traveling to the Tughlugh Timur tomb (mazar).

In the midsummer of 2016, I set off from the Yili Prefecture Passenger Transport Center on Jiefang West Road in Yining and first took a bus to Qingshuihe Town in Huocheng County. After leaving the Qingshuihe bus station, I crossed the street and caught a small car to the 61st Regiment at the northwest corner of the intersection. The "Big Mazar" was actually 3 kilometers away from the 61st Regiment base. When the driver heard I wanted to see it, he drove me straight to the gate and waited for me to finish my visit before taking me back to Qingshuihe Town.

Looking from a distance, the gate of the mazar was tightly shut. When I walked up, I found an old man sleeping in the ticket office. After I woke him up, he gave me a large ring of keys. He told me which one was for the main gate, which was for the Big Mazar, and which was for the Small Mazar. Then he collected the ticket fee and let me go in with the keys.

The Tughlugh Timur mazar is the only remaining Yuan Dynasty royal tomb building in Xinjiang. It is also the only surviving ground-level ruin of the Chagatai Khanate's capital, Almaliq, making it extremely valuable.

Standing in front of the tomb is truly moving. I take out the key to open the gate of the shrine (mazar), and it feels like I have stepped back into the Chagatai Khanate from over 600 years ago.











Taken by a Russian in 1904.













Next to the shrine (mazar) of Tughluq Timur is the shrine said to belong to his sister.







I lock the door and return to the real world.



2. The diverse city of Almaliq.

To the west of Tughluq Timur's shrine lies Almaliq, the capital of the Chagatai Khanate. Almaliq gets its name from the word for apple, and it first rose to prominence due to the Northern Silk Road during the Tang Dynasty. A Sogdian document unearthed at Mount Mug in the early 8th century already mentions the name Almaliq.

During the Western Liao period, Almaliq was ruled by the Muslim Karluks (a Western Turkic tribe known as Geluolu in the Tang Dynasty), and history refers to it as the Kingdom of Almaliq. In 1211, Kuchlug, a prince of the Turkic Naiman tribe, seized power in the Western Liao with the help of the Khwarazmian Empire and then repeatedly besieged Almaliq. To defend against Kuchlug's attacks, the Karluk leader Ozar Khan chose to submit to Genghis Khan.

In 1214, Ozar Khan was captured by Kuchlug's soldiers while out hunting. Kuchlug's soldiers chained Ozar Khan and brought him to the gates of Almaliq, but the city's defenders kept the gates shut. Just then, Kuchlug learned that the Chagatai Khan's army was on its way to Almaliq, so he retreated and killed Ozar Khan along the way.

In 1218, the Mongol army killed Kuchlug, and the Western Liao dynasty fell. Soon after, Genghis Khan divided his lands among his sons, and Almaliq became the location of the Chagatai Ulus's main camp (khan court).



At that time, the city of Almaliq was home to Han Chinese, Mongols, and Uyghurs, as well as Muslims, Christians, and even Taoists. The Taoist master Qiu Chuji passed through Almaliq on his way west to Afghanistan to meet Genghis Khan in 1220, and again on his return east in 1222. The Travels of Master Changchun records:

After another stage, we arrived at Almaliq on the 27th day of the ninth month... and stayed in the western fruit orchard. The locals call fruit 'alima,' and because there are many fruit trees, the city is named after them.

When Qiu Chuji returned east, he met a master craftsman named Zhang who was building bridges and roads for Chagatai. Zhang invited Qiu Chuji to his home and told him that he was also a Taoist, with three altars and over 400 followers in Almaliq who practiced morning and evening prayers.

Yelü Chucai also lived in Almaliq for a period of time. He wrote in his Record of a Journey to the West:

Westerners call apples 'almaliq,' and the city is surrounded by apple orchards, which is why it is named so.

At the same time, the Yuan Dynasty city of Almalik was a center for Nestorian Christianity in Central Asia. Archaeologists found over ten Nestorian gravestones with Syriac inscriptions in the city, and their style matches other Nestorian stones found in the Seven Rivers region. Additionally, seven 13th to 14th-century Nestorian epitaphs in Syriac were found in the Seven Rivers region, all noting that the deceased came from Almalik.

On December 31, 2016, at the Ili Grassland Culture Exhibition held at the Zhenjiang Museum, I was lucky enough to see one of the Almalik Nestorian gravestones from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Museum collection. The owner of this gravestone was named Georges, who died in 1362 or 1365, during the period of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.



3. Settled or Nomadic?

Two cultural systems existed within the Chagatai Khanate: the western Transoxiana region followed the Islamic faith and lived in cities, while the eastern Moghulistan region kept its nomadic traditions. After the 14th century, the conflict between settled and nomadic life grew, making the split of the khanate inevitable.



The base map comes from the Historical Atlas of China, which is mainly based on the 1330-31 Compendium of Governance (Jingshi Dadian) and the Geography Section of the History of Yuan (Yuan Shi).

In 1331, the Muslim Chagatai Khan Tarmashirin took the throne. He kept promoting the Islamic faith among the Chagatai Mongols in Transoxiana, but the Chagatai Mongols in the eastern Ili River valley stuck to their traditions.

Tarmashirin loved the city life of Transoxiana so much that he even stopped the tradition of traveling to Almalik every year. Because of this, the Chagatai Mongol nobles living in Almalik grew to oppose Tarmashirin, believing he had abandoned Mongol traditions and the roots of the Chagatai Khanate—Almalik.

In 1334, Tarmashirin’s nephew Buzan, who lived in the east, killed Tarmashirin near Samarkand to protect Mongol traditions. Historians believe the death of Tarmashirin was a major turning point in the decline of the Chagatai Khanate.

In 1343, the last Chagatai Khan, Qazan Sultan, took the throne. Qazan Sultan was cruel and killed many innocent people, leading to rebellions across the khanate. In 1346, Qazan Sultan was killed by Qazghan, the leader of the Barlas tribe—the most powerful Chagatai Mongol tribe at the time and the tribe of Tamerlane—and the Chagatai Khanate fell into division.

4. Establishing the Eastern Chagatai Khanate

1. Tughluq Timur becomes Khan

After Qazan Sultan died, every powerful Chagatai Mongol tribe in Transoxiana chose a descendant of the Chagatai Khan to be their own khan. This period is known as the era of the tribal kings (muluk-i tavaif) of the Chagatai Khanate.

In 1346, amid the trend of tribes searching for Chagatai descendants, Bulaji, the leader of the Dughlat tribe that ruled Aksu, Kashgar, Yarkand, and Hotan, did not want to be left behind. He claimed to have found Tughluq Timur, the 16-year-old grandson of the Great Khan D'ua. In 1348, Tughluq Timur was made khan in Aksu, establishing the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

2. The Eastern Chagatai Mongols convert to the Islamic faith

The most detailed account of Tughluq Timur leading the Chagatai Mongols to convert to the Islamic faith is in the Tarikh-i-Rashidi. However, as a descendant of Tughluq Timur, the author included many legends and stories when telling his ancestor's history.

The first chapter of the Tarikh-i-Rashidi begins with the scene of Tughluq Timur meeting his Islamic teacher, Shaikh Jamal al-Din.

One day, while Tughluq Timur Khan was feeding pork to his dogs, an attendant brought Shaikh Jamal al-Din to meet him. The Khan asked the Shaikh, "Are you better than this dog? Or is this dog better than you?" The Shaikh replied, "If I believe in Allah, then I am certainly better; if I do not believe in Allah, then this dog is better than me." The Khan was deeply moved by these words, and a love for Islam grew in his heart.

According to the Tarikh-i-Rashidi, the ancestors of Shaikh Jamal al-Din were Sufi sages from Bukhara in Central Asia. After Genghis Khan conquered Bukhara, they moved around and eventually settled in the city of Katak near Lop Nur. Regarding Jamal al-Din's journey to Aksu to meet Tughluq Timur, the Tarikh-i-Rashidi records:

After a Friday Jumu'ah prayer, Jamal al-Din told everyone he had received a revelation from Allah that the city of Katak would face a disaster, so he had to leave immediately. The muezzin responsible for the call to prayer (adhan) at the mosque begged Jamal al-Din to take him along, and Jamal al-Din agreed. After traveling for a while, the muezzin said he had something to do and wanted to return to the city. Once back, he climbed the minaret of the mosque and gave the call to prayer one last time. Just as he finished the call, sand fell from the sky and buried the entire town, leaving only the top of the minaret visible above the sand dunes. Terrified, the muezzin chased after Jamal al-Din through the night to tell him what had happened to Katak. Upon hearing this, Jamal al-Din hurried on until he reached the area near the city of Aksu.

At that time, eighteen-year-old Tughluq Timur was hunting outside Aksu. His men reported that someone was hiding nearby, so Tughluq Timur sent them to bring the person before him, which led to the meeting mentioned earlier. Jamal al-Din explained the teachings of Islam to Tughluq Timur, and Tughluq Timur promised that once he became the Great Khan, he would convert to the faith. This story is recorded in the Tarikh-i-Rashidi as follows:

When he came to the Khan, he saw the Khan standing alone in a quiet place with a sad expression on his face. The Khan asked the Shaikh, "What must a person have to be better than a dog? The Shaikh replied, "Faith." Then, the Shaikh explained to the Khan what faith is and the various duties of a Muslim. The Khan wept bitterly right there and said, "If I become Khan and hold supreme power, you must come to me. I promise you that I will convert to Islam."

However, Jamal al-Din passed away shortly after. Before he died, Jamal al-Din instructed his son, Arshad al-Din, to fulfill his final wish: to help Tughluq Timur convert to the faith once he became the Great Khan. He told his son that before meeting Tughluq Timur, he had a dream where Arshad al-Din carried a lamp to the top of a mountain, and the light made the entire East shine brightly.

In 1348, Tughluq Timur officially took the throne. In 1456, Arshad al-Din traveled from Aksu to the Khan's royal court (ordu) near the city of Almalik to try and meet the Great Khan. The royal court was heavily guarded, and Arshad al-Din could not get in. He began calling the call to prayer (adhan) loudly every morning at dawn. The Great Khan finally heard the call, and the two were able to meet.

That very morning, Arshad al-Din led the conversion ceremony for Great Khan Tughluq Timur. He then met with the royal ministers one by one. 160,000 Chagatai Mongols converted to the faith, which became a major turning point for the eastern Chagatai Mongols.

5. The Final Unification of the Khanate

By 1360, the Chagatai Mongol tribes in the Transoxiana region had been fighting each other for over a decade. To end the chaos, Great Khan Tughluq Timur decided to lead a large army west to unify the Chagatai Khanate. In March 1360, the army marched all the way to the city of Kesh (located in southern Uzbekistan). A young noble commander (amir) named Timur (Amir Timur, the future Timur the Great) from the Barlas tribe, which had lived in Kesh for generations, surrendered to the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. He was granted Kesh and the surrounding territory, and Great Khan Tughluq Timur returned home victorious.

Not long after the Great Khan left, the eastern generals left in charge of Transoxiana argued with the local generals. Timur fled north of the Amu Darya river and gathered an army.

In 1361, Great Khan Tughluq Timur led a second western campaign, and the Chagatai generals in Transoxiana surrendered one after another. To ease the tension between the eastern and western generals, Great Khan Tughluq Timur negotiated with Timur again and appointed him as the governor of Kesh and the surrounding area.

After fully controlling Transoxiana and reunifying the entire Chagatai Khanate, Great Khan Tughluq Timur left his son Ilyas Khoja to rule Transoxiana while he returned to the east.

After the Great Khan left, Timur had a falling out with the commander left in charge. He fled to the upper reaches of the Amu Darya to join his brother-in-law, Amir Husayn, and gathered another army. In the famous Battle of the Stone Bridge, Timur used a smaller force to defeat the Eastern Chagatai army and retook Kesh.





After the Timurid Empire was established, Timur renamed his hometown of Kesh to Shahrisabz.

6. The Death of the Great Khan

1. Ilyas Khoja Takes the Throne

In 1363, Timur and Prince Ilyas Khoja prepared for a decisive battle just outside Kesh. Just then, news arrived that Great Khan Tughluq Timur had passed away. The Eastern Chagatai generals urged the prince to return to Almalik quickly to take the throne, but Timur's army was already close, so the battle had to go on.

The battle began with deafening war cries. Prince Ilyas Khoja led his cavalry in an attack, but they were driven back by Timur's archers. The Eastern Chagatai army was completely defeated. The prince fled back to Almalik to take the throne, and Timur occupied a large part of Transoxiana.

In 1364, all the Chagatai generals in Transoxiana held a meeting and decided to name Khabul Shah, a descendant of the Chagatai Khan, as the Western Chagatai Khan. With this, the Chagatai Khanate, once unified by Tughluq Timur Khan, split apart again. Soon after, the vast Timurid Empire would rise from the ruins of the Western Chagatai Khanate.

2. Battle of the Muddy Swamp

In 1364, Prince Ilyas Khoja returned to Almalik to take the throne as the second Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

In May 1365, Ilyas Khoja fought another major battle against the allied forces of Timur and Amir Husayn near the Syr Darya River. Just as the decisive battle began, a sudden downpour turned the ground into a quagmire, trapping the horses in deep mud. This is why later generations call it the Battle of the Muddy Swamp (ni zhao zhi zhan).

Timur's army could not move in the mud. Ilyas Khoja was prepared; his Eastern Chagatai troops covered themselves with felt blankets and waited for Timur's men to charge before throwing them off to fight. Countless soldiers died in the mud.

The Tarikh-i-Rashidi (Rashide Shi) describes this scene vividly:

Although the sun was still in the position of the Orion constellation, the sky suddenly filled with dark clouds, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed. Wind and rain rushed into the sky from their hiding places. The heavens echoed with continuous thunder, and within the clouds brewing with lightning, thousands of golden rays shot out like arrows of light. The rain poured down, and the raindrops whistled as they cut through the air. It was as if the god of fate had once again fallen ill and decided to stir up trouble. The stars shed so many tears that it seemed the great floods of the primordial age were about to return. People heard Nuh (Noah) once again offering a dua for the rain to stop.

The livestock on the battlefield seemed to float in the air like fish. The horses' feet sank so deep into the mud that their bellies touched the ground, and the dampness made them look thin and bony. They became weak and emaciated, paralyzed, and their bones felt loose. The feathers on the arrow shafts fell off, and the nocks dropped away. Clothes and equipment became heavy from the rain, making it difficult for both infantry and cavalry to move. Because of this, our army (Timur's) lost confidence and courage, but the enemy remained in place, covering themselves with felt to keep their clothes and weapons dry. When our army reached them, they threw off the felt covers and entered the battle with energetic horses and dry weapons, and so the fighting officially began.

Timur defeated the Eastern Chagatai army with a brave attack, but the victory caused a conflict between Timur and his brother-in-law, Husayn. The next morning, the Eastern Chagatai army turned defeat into victory, killing tens of thousands of Timur's soldiers.

After the Battle of the Muddy Swamp, the Western Chagatai lords retreated south of the Amu Darya River, and Ilyas Khoja began to besiege Samarkand. Just as the city-defending army was struggling, a plague broke out in the East Chagatai army. Most of the horses died from the sickness, and Ilyas Khoja was forced to return to Almaliq.

In 1370, Timur unified the entire Western Chagatai Khanate. He established the Timurid Empire as the protector of the Chagatai Khan and became known to later generations as Timur the Great.



Timur the Great holds a grand feast in Samarkand, painted by Sharuf ad-din Ali Yesdy in 1628.

7. The succession of Khizr Khoja

1. The Khan's entire family is killed

Tughluq Timur Khan was originally placed on the throne by Bulaji, the leader of the Dughlat tribe. After Bulaji passed away, the Khan wanted to weaken the power of the Dughlat tribe. Instead of following tradition and letting Bulaji's brother succeed him, he let Bulaji's 6-year-old son, Khudaidad, take the position. This caused dissatisfaction among Bulaji's brothers, especially the third brother, Qamar ud-Din, who held a grudge.

After returning to Almaliq, Ilyas Khoja lost his authority because of the defeat. In 1368, Qamar ud-Din started a rebellion. He killed Ilyas Khoja while he was sleeping and slaughtered almost all members of the royal family. Only Tughluq Timur Khan's youngest son, Khizr Khoja, was hidden by Khudaidad and his mother. They moved around to hide in places like the Pamir Mountains, the Kunlun Mountains, and Lop Nur.

After Qamar ud-Din ruled the East Chagatai Khanate, Timur launched six wars against it, historically known as the Eastern Expeditions against Chagatai. In 1389, Qamar ud-Din was finally completely defeated. His subordinates hid him deep in the dense forests by the Irtysh River, and his whereabouts became unknown.

2. The succession of Khizr Khoja

In 1389, the 16-year-old prince Khizr Khoja took the throne with the help of Khudaidad, becoming the third Great Khan of the Chagatai Khanate.

Hearing that Khizr Khoja had succeeded to the throne, Timur immediately led his army to fight a decisive battle. He defeated the East Chagatai army in one strike, looted a large number of subjects and livestock from the East Chagatai Khanate, and completely destroyed the city of Almaliq. Because the Timurids in the west were too powerful, Khizr Khoja chose to conquer Turpan around 1392 and moved the Khan's court to Anle City in Turpan. Khizr Khoja promoted Islam in Turpan, which gradually made Turpan a cultural center for Islam.

During the reign of Khizr Khoja, the East Chagatai Khanate finally regained stability. The Tarikh-i-Rashidi states:

At the time of his accession, because Qamar ud-Din had usurped the throne and the Emir Timur was aggressive, the state was on the verge of collapse, but it became strong and consolidated again. Old systems that had been abandoned were restored, and the administration of the Khan's court and the affairs of the nobles were back on track.

3. Anle City in Turpan

Anle City is located south of the Emin Minaret (Sugong Ta). It is 300 meters wide from north to south and 700 meters long from east to west, with a karez well (kan'erjing) running underground through the city. The south of the city rises 8 to 10 meters above the ground, and every courtyard or house inside the city has storage pits and water wells.

In 1422, the East Chagatai Great Khan Uwais Khan defeated the Oirats and reoccupied Anle City. He used Anle City as his main residence, and since then, Anle City has been an important city of the East Chagatai Khanate.

In the second half of the 15th century, the East Chagatai Khanate split again. Ahmad Alaq (reigned 1487–1503) ruled the eastern part of the Khanate with Anle City as the center. It is called the Turpan Khanate in the History of Ming, and Anle City was later replaced by the name Turpan.

In 1514, Sultan Said Khan founded the Yarkent Khanate, while his older brother, Mansur Khan (reigned 1503–1543), continued to rule the eastern part of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate with Turpan as his capital. In 1570, the army of the Yarkent Khanate invaded Turpan, captured Muhammad Khan, the last ruler of the Turpan Khanate, and brought the khanate to an end.

In 1679, Galdan, the leader of the Dzungar Khanate, occupied Turpan. After years of fighting between the Dzungars and the Qing Dynasty, the region was finally incorporated into the Qing Empire in 1755. In 1780, the Qing government built Guang'an City northwest of Anle City. The administrative center of Turpan moved to Guang'an City (the current urban area of Turpan), and Anle City was gradually abandoned.















I picked some incredibly sweet mulberries at the ancient city of Anle! They tasted just like honey. May is truly the season for mulberries.









The Emin Minaret (Sugong Ta) is located just north of the ancient city of Anle.



8. Visiting the Mazar of Khizr Khoja

Khizr Khoja passed away in Turpan between 1402 and 1404. In 1415, Chen Cheng, an envoy sent by the Ming Dynasty to the Western Regions, wrote in his Record of Mountains, Rivers, and Customs of the Western Regions:

There are two high mounds in the city, surrounded by trees and enclosed by walls. These are the tombs of the former king, Khizr Khoja, and his wife. Near the tombs is a small mound, said to be where his favorite minister was buried with him.

Even locals might not know this place well. When using navigation, you can search for 'Xie'erniji,' and the mazar is in the southeast of the village.















A prayer rug used when visiting the graves.









When visiting the graves, people tie triangular flags to the tree branches. Some scholars believe this is a remnant of shamanic customs.



9. Further Reading

The historical information in this article mainly comes from several books: History of the Mughals in Central Asia: Tarikh-i-Rashidi, A Brief History of the Islamic Khanates in Xinjiang, Research on the History of the Chagatai Khanate, Research on the Silk Road and the History of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, and History of Islam in China's Xinjiang Region.



History of the Mughals in Central Asia: Tarikh-i-Rashidi (Volume 1)

Mirza Muhammad Haidar / 1985 / Xinjiang People's Publishing House



Research on the History of the Chagatai Khanate

Liu Yingsheng / 2006 / Shanghai Classics Publishing House



Research on the Silk Road and the History of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate

Tian Weijiang / 1999 / Xinjiang People's Publishing House view all

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Summary: Urumqi Hui Muslim Home Cooking: 15 Halal Dishes is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: My mother-in-law came to Beijing in March and made us 15 Urumqi Hui Muslim dishes. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslim Food, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

My mother-in-law came to Beijing in March and made us 15 Urumqi Hui Muslim dishes. They are big plate chicken with belt noodles (dapanji pidaimian), lamb hand-torn noodles (yangrou jiupianzi), Xinjiang meatball soup (Xinjiang wanzi tang), dry-mixed noodles with lamb bean sauce (yangrou zhajiang ganbanmian), lamb sour soup wontons (yangrou suantang huntun), Jingzhe oil tea eggs (Jingzhe youcha dan), thin-skinned buns (baopi baozi), lamb vermicelli soup (yangrou fentang), cold shredded chicken (liangban ji), diced stir-fried noodles (dingding chaomian), sour soup minced meat noodles (suantang saozi mian), fragrant bean flour rolls (xiangdou huajuan), plate noodles (panzi mian), flavored fried starch jelly (fengwei zha menzi), and lamb and celery dumplings (yangrou qincai jiaozi). Yesterday I shared the first 8 dishes in '15 Urumqi Hui Muslim Dishes Made by My Mother-in-law (Part 1)', and today I will continue with the remaining 7.

9. Cold shredded chicken (liangban ji)

The cold shredded chicken made in Xinjiang Hui Muslim homes is actually the same as the pepper-numbing chicken (jiaoma ji) in restaurants, but it is not as salty or heavy. First, you must choose free-range chicken, not yellow-feathered broiler chicken (sanhuang ji). You should buy a whole chicken, stew it, and tear it by hand, but I went to the market and had the butcher chop it for me, haha. When stewing the chicken, you must add chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, and when making the dressing, you must also fry Sichuan peppercorn oil first.







I bought the chicken at the Dazhang Halal Free-range Chicken specialty store in Changying Market.



10. Diced stir-fried noodles (dingding chaomian)

For these classic diced stir-fried noodles, we usually don't use tomato paste at home, just fresh tomatoes.









11. Sour soup minced meat noodles (suantang saozi mian)

The Urumqi Hui Muslim version of sour soup minced meat noodles also uses hand-rolled cut noodles.









12. Fragrant bean flour rolls (xiangdou huajuan)

These are steamed rolls made with fragrant bean flour (xiangdou fen) and rapeseed oil. It is hard to buy fragrant bean flour in Beijing, so I bought it online specifically.









Steamed rolls served with shredded potatoes and corn grits are a classic Urumqi Hui Muslim breakfast.



13. Plate noodles (panzi mian)

Xinjiang pulled noodles (latiaozi) come in two types: plate noodles and stretched noodles (zhangzi mian); plate noodles are chewier than stretched noodles.







They are served with bamboo shoots and meat, or bok choy and meat; it seems rare to find these two types of Xinjiang mixed noodles in local Xinjiang restaurants.





14. Flavored fried starch jelly (fengwei zha menzi)

Flavored fried starch jelly is a banquet dish for Xinjiang Hui Muslims; the last time I ate it was at my engagement banquet with Zainab.

The starch jelly (menzi) is made with minced beef. When mixing the filling, you must beat it repeatedly, then shape it into a cylinder, pinch the top to look like a fence, pour egg into the center, and steam it. Once steamed, slice the jelly, coat it in egg wash, and fry it. Take it out, sprinkle with cumin, chili powder, and salt, and a delicious plate of flavored fried starch jelly is ready.



















15. Lamb and celery dumplings (jiaozi).

There is a saying that you eat dumplings before a trip and noodles when you return home. My mother-in-law is leaving, so she made us lamb and celery dumplings for her final meal. She added eggs to the dough, which gave it a slightly yellow color.













You have to eat them with chili oil (youpo lazi). view all

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Summary: This travel note introduces Urumqi Night Market Halal Food Guide: Xinjiang Snacks and Local Life (Part 1). It was hard to get a five-day holiday for May Day in 2021, so I went to Urumqi to have a good look around. It is useful for readers interested in Urumqi Night Market, Halal Food, Xinjiang Travel.

It was hard to get a five-day holiday for May Day in 2021, so I went to Urumqi to have a good look around.

April 30

Arrived in Urumqi on the evening of April 30. Iftar (the meal to break the fast) was lamb and green onion huntun (wontons) made by my mother-in-law, braised steak, and steamed eggplant.



















Then I went out to the night market; the nightlife in Urumqi is back!

At Maihualang on Xinhua South Road, I ate baklava, milk rice pudding, and pure suannai-zi (yogurt). Their place is really cheap and has a great atmosphere; it felt like I was back in a Turkish dessert shop for a second!



















Melon stall at the west entrance of Lingguan Lane





Ice cream with fruit jam and iced water from Yizihaier Ice Cream in Lingguan Lane









Night market at the west entrance of Lingguan Lane







Lingguan Lane Night Market





Roasted goose eggs and pomegranate juice on Shengli Road







Hotan suannai zongzi (yogurt sticky rice dumplings) and shaved ice with yogurt syrup on Heba Lane. The taste is a bit different from the shaved ice in Yili, and it feels like Hotan suannai zongzi have become more common in Urumqi again this year.









Chickpeas on Heba Lane, served with the broth from michangzi (rice-stuffed intestines) and mianfeizi (lung-stuffed intestines).







Heba Lane at night



Eating dubao-rou (stomach-wrapped meat) at the night market at the east entrance of Heba Lane. The outside is lamb stomach, and the inside is lamb meat, liver, heart, and kidney; it was delicious. Dubao-rou is more common in Southern Xinjiang, but now you see it often in Urumqi night markets too. Their michangzi, mianfeizi, and chickpeas also looked so good!

















A popular fruit shop on Shengli Road where I ate melon, drank pomegranate juice, and had fruit shaved ice; I've been there several times before.



A supermarket on Xinhua South Road, it's really great.







May 1

Because I'm traveling today, I paused my Suiyeye (a personal practice), and in the morning at a Kazakh restaurant by the Xinjiang University subway station, I had milk tea, horse meat sausage, and baursak (fried dough), along with side dishes with yellow carrots. I ate at their main branch in Dawan last year; it was excellent. There are more Uyghur customers at this branch, so it doesn't feel as intense as the main branch, but the baursak with raspberry jam, cherry jam, yogurt, and butter was just too good.

















For lunch, I ate at the Xibe restaurant Ani Mother's Dishes in the New District; this is a quite famous place in Urumqi. I ate Xibe-style flatbread with chive chili sauce, Xibe fighting chicken, stir-fried lamb offal, and milk tea with milk skin. I originally thought the Xibe flatbread was just regular leavened bread, but after actually eating it, I found it so delicious! The texture was just right! With the chili sauce, I could eat a whole piece in one go. The Xibe fighting chicken meat was particularly chewy, much better than regular Dapanji (big plate chicken), and the stir-fried lamb offal was quite spicy but very satisfying. The milk tea had that authentic Yili taste, no doubt about it.



















In the afternoon, I visited the Urumqi Gaotai Art Center, saw the Swiss contemporary photography exhibition, and bought magnets of jiuwan sanxingzi (nine bowls in three rows) and laghman (hand-pulled noodles), as well as portrait photography of Xinjiang people by photographer Ma Hailun. She will also be conducting a Urumqi portrait photography project at Gaotai on May 7. Gaotai Art Center is the only modern art center in Urumqi, and they organized the Dos Xinjiang Art Festival held in Beijing during the 2021 May Day holiday.

















May 2

Ate zhuafan (pilaf), michangzi, mianfeizi, and pilahong (salad of skin, chili, and red onion) at home in the morning, then set off for Turpan.





May 4

On the morning of May 4, I ate Wuwuzi lamb meat with sanpaotai (a traditional tea with eight ingredients) in Shanxi Lane. The lamb was very tender and fragrant, and the piyazi (onions) were sweet.

In 1907, a Hui Muslim named Li Shenghua (Li Liushizi) started carrying a shoulder pole to sell lamb meat at the South Gate of Dihua. Later, his fifth son, Li Zhanshou (Wuwuzi), took over, and the name Wuwuzi Lamb Meat gradually became well-known. After the 1980s, Wuwuzi rented a storefront in Shanxi Lane. It has now been passed down for four generations and is an autonomous region-level intangible cultural heritage.

Wuwuzi Lamb Meat, along with the Shaanxi Great Mosque, the Laofang Mosque, and others, forms an important cultural symbol of the Hui Muslim historical district outside the South Gate of Urumqi. It is well worth a try for friends visiting Urumqi.













Erkin's musical instrument shop at the International Grand Bazaar; he is an inheritor of the autonomous region-level intangible cultural heritage of Uyghur musical instrument making. This is the only place worth visiting in the International Grand Bazaar besides the Kazakh photography yurt.







Ate almond ice cream at Alman Supermarket in Lingguan Lane; the ice cream had a very rich milky flavor.







Bought Yili suannai gedada (dried yogurt balls), traditional Yili ice cream, and creamy yogurt at the entrance of Alman Supermarket.













Ate homemade banmian (mixed noodles) at Benbang Bense Hand-Pulled Noodles in Lingguan Lane. I often pass by the hand-pulled noodles but this was my first time eating them; before, I always went straight for the meat naan. The hand-pulled noodles feel a bit firmer than regular noodles, and the texture is indeed different.









Ate naan-pit roasted meat at Yikelamu Food next door. Their environment is very nice and they have mint tea, which is quite suitable for resting.











Bought bahali (a traditional Tatar cake) at the Tatar pastry shop in Lingguan Lane; I bought a Tatar cake from them when I got married last year.









Lingguan Lane



Bought fresh camel milk at a Kazakh food shop at Heping Bridge. I drank mare's milk there last year, but it's not available until the end of May; it's not the season yet, so there was only camel milk.





After buying it, I sat in a pavilion, basking in the sun while eating suannai gedada, fresh camel milk, and bahali; a very pleasant afternoon.







In the evening, I ate at Pang Laohan, a famous Hui Muslim restaurant in Urumqi. Pang Laohan's real name is Jin Fengchang, a Hui Muslim from Hutubi. In 1995, he gave up his restaurant in Hutubi to try his luck in Urumqi, riding a tricycle to sell jiaoma-ji (spicy numbing chicken) at the Railway Bureau night market, and it became more and more popular. In 2001, he opened a specialty store, and later more and more branches were opened; now there are even stores in Chengdu.

I ordered their signature jiaoma-ji, lamb neck, sauced jiesha (a traditional dish made of tofu skin and meat), sweet and sour pork tenderloin, mixed wild sand leeks, fried wudaohai (a type of fish), scallion pancakes, and so on, and finally packed up some sesame steamed bread. Their food is really quite delicious. The jiaoma-ji was quite numbing, so I couldn't eat too much, but the flavor was great. The lamb neck dipped in sauce was especially fragrant, and the jiesha was served with sauce and had a crispy outer skin, different from the softer skin of braised jiesha. The sweet and sour pork tenderloin was unexpectedly delicious! It was much more fragrant than the ones in Beijing restaurants. The bones of the wudaohai were fried until crispy; I ate almost half a plate, one bite at a time. view all

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Summary: This travel note introduces Urumqi Night Market Halal Food Guide: Xinjiang Snacks and Local Life (Part 2). Passing by Heping Bridge in the evening, I discovered a newly opened Kazakh food shop. I bought sour camel milk, handmade yogurt, and non-sour suannai geda (dried yogurt balls). They really have a lot of good things. It is useful for readers interested in Urumqi Night Market, Halal Food, Xinjiang Travel.











Passing by Heping Bridge in the evening, I discovered a newly opened Kazakh food shop. I bought sour camel milk, handmade yogurt, and non-sour suannai geda (dried yogurt balls). They really have a lot of good things.













The milk-based carbonated drink 'Tan' from Yili; I hope it gets introduced to Beijing soon.







May 5th

Returned to Beijing today and resumed Siyam (fasting). For Suhoor (pre-dawn meal), I had the red-billed goose my mother-in-law made. This is a specialty of Miquan, which I had a relative from Miquan buy for me a few days ago. Dapan Hongzuiyan (large plate of red-billed goose) is also best served with belt noodles, and the meat of the goose is more tender than chicken; it is even more delicious than Dapanji (large plate chicken).















Urumqi is a city where you can see snow-capped mountains right outside your window. It is a pity that the five-day holiday has ended just like that. view all

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Summary: This travel note introduces Turpan Halal Travel Guide in May: Ancient Sites and Uyghur Food (Part 1). During the 2021 May Day holiday, I returned to Urumqi with Zaynab, and we used two of those days for a family road trip to Turpan to look around. It is useful for readers interested in Turpan Travel, Uyghur Food, Xinjiang Travel.

During the 2021 May Day holiday, I returned to Urumqi with Zaynab, and we used two of those days for a family road trip to Turpan to look around. This was my third time visiting Turpan, and I visited several historical sites I had not been to before.

We set off from Urumqi to Turpan in the morning, but we ran into a level-12 gale in the Thirty-Mile Wind Zone, causing all expressways and national highways to close. We took a provincial road as a detour instead, which actually allowed us to see scenery we couldn't see on the expressway: snow-capped mountains, meadows, and wilderness on the Tianshan Mountains.











We took a detour through Toksun County, which was the perfect opportunity to try authentic Toksun banmian (hand-pulled noodles). The most popular spot in Toksun County is this place called Lao Sihao; it was packed at mealtime, with locals as well as people who had come specifically from Turpan. Their specialty is black goat guoyourou banmian (hand-pulled noodles with oil-fried meat). Black goats are a local specialty that live on the cliffs of the Tianshan Mountains; they are much more expensive than regular lamb, but the taste and texture are truly different from regular lamb, and I think they are much more delicious.











Continuing from Toksun toward Turpan, we first arrived at Aydingkol Town, where there are two ancient mazar (shrines). The first is the Andijan Khoja Mazar, from the Qing Dynasty. Andijan is located in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan. The entire building is constructed of raw mud bricks, with the outer walls plastered with mud and straw. In the past, every Thursday was the day to visit the mazar, and everyone would come here to make dua and pray for various wishes.



















Then we went to the Khizr Khoja Mazar in Aydingkol Town, which is the highest-ranking mausoleum in the Turpan area.

Khizr Khoja was the youngest son of Tughlugh Timur, the founding Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, and the third Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. After Khan Tughlugh Timur passed away, the Dughlat noble Qamar ud-Din massacred almost all of the Khan's descendants in 1368, with only the infant youngest son, Khizr Khoja, being hidden away. It was not until 1389, after Qamar ud-Din was completely defeated by Tamerlane the Great, that Khizr Khoja, who had been in hiding for many years, was able to ascend the throne as the third Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

Because Tamerlane in the west was too powerful, Khizr Khoja chose to conquer eastward, taking the two towns of Qara-Khoja (the ancient city of Gaochang) and Turpan (the ancient city of Anle), and moved the Khan's court to Turpan.

Between 1402 and 1404, Khizr Khoja passed away in Turpan. Chen Cheng, an envoy sent to the Western Regions during the Ming Dynasty, wrote in his 1415 'Record of the Mountains, Rivers, and Customs of the Western Regions': 'In the city, there are two high mounds, surrounded by trees and enclosed by walls; these are the graves of the former King Khizr Khoja and his wife. Near the graves, there is a small mound, said to be where his favorite minister was buried with him.' ”



















After leaving Aydingkol, we went to visit the Karez Well scenic area, but it was developed in a way that felt a bit too commercial, so I didn't take many photos, and then we went to the Turpan Hui Muslim city. The Turpan Hui Muslim city is also called the New City; it was built in 1871 by the forces of Yaqub Beg. The main residents were Hui Muslims and Uyghurs, with most of the Hui Muslims having ancestral roots in Shaanxi and Gansu.

The Turpan East Mosque is located inside the Turpan Hui Muslim city. It is a Hui mosque, originally built in 1871 and renovated in 1911. Because the weather in Turpan is hot, the mosque expanded the traditional front porch into an 'outer hall' used for outdoor prayer in the summer. The outer hall has a ridge-roofed xieshan (hip-and-gable) roof, a beam-lifting wooden structure, and is supported by 32 pillars.

The mosque gate features authentic Shaanxi-style calligraphy brick carvings, and there is a minaret similar to the Emin Minaret inside the mosque, though unfortunately, the upper part has collapsed. This type of minaret is extremely rare in Hui Muslim mosques.



















The Turpan West Mosque was originally built in 1859 and is the oldest among the Hui Muslim mosques in Turpan.





During the Republic of China era, the Turpan Hui Muslim city (New City) was filled with shops and was bustling and prosperous; today, many historical buildings are still preserved.





























This used to be an old hardware company.





A post office from over sixty years ago.







In the evening, we ate qorqur (dumplings) with onions and beans, and barbecue across from the Turpan Museum, and then we had lamb-braised youtazi (steamed twisted rolls). This is quite rare; here in the eastern part of Xinjiang, it is usually lamb-braised flatbread.



















Turpan Night Market.





The next morning, we ate the incredibly popular Koshimaklar baked buns at the Turpan Museum. When I visited Turpan in the past, their shop was the 'Twin Baked Buns' stall at the entrance of the Big Cross Bazaar, but this time I found they had moved to their current location. We arrived at 8:30 in the morning to catch the first batch, and we even had to get a queue card when buying; there were many people lined up behind us.

However, their baked buns are indeed very delicious. First of all, they are baked over charcoal, which is hard to find in Urumqi. Also, the filling inside isn't too fatty and has plenty of meat. Freshly baked buns paired with fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice are truly refreshing.



















I highly recommend breakfast at the Bayawan Food Hall on Old City East Road in Turpan! The variety is very rich, and it is semi-self-service where you pick your own food and pay at the end. We ate pilaf, steamed buns with thin skins, milk tea with thick milk skin, bone soup, a platter of side dishes, and a fruit platter. Eating well gives you a good mood for the whole day.



















After breakfast, we went to visit the Emin Minaret. The Emin Minaret, also known as the 'Emin Tower,' was built in 1778 by the Turpan Prince Emin Khoja and his son Suleiman. It is the tallest historical minaret building in Xinjiang. Emin Khoja came from a religious family in Turpan. After the Qing Dynasty entered Turpan in 1720, Emin Khoja led his people to submit to them. He subsequently performed many military feats, and in 1756, the Qing Dynasty handed over the rule of Turpan to Emin Khoja. In 1759, Emin Khoja made a great contribution to the Qing Dynasty's pacification of the rebellion of the two Khojas and was granted the title of Prince.

In 1772, Emin Khoja returned to his hometown of Turpan. In his later years, he used 7,000 taels of silver and ordered his son Suleiman to build a mosque. In 1777, before the mosque was completed, Emin Khoja returned to Allah. Afterward, Suleiman inherited the title of Prince and completed the construction of the mosque in 1778. Because the mosque has a tall minaret, it is called the Emin Minaret Mosque.



The mosque gate is built with heavy raw mud walls, and the facade is composed of recessed niches, creating a strong sense of shadow.





The main hall is rectangular and divided into three parts: the front hall, the prayer hall, and the rear hall. The prayer hall consists of a colonnade of 32 wooden pillars. It has no ridge and no tiles, using wooden rafters, branches, and mud to make the roof, which is the traditional flat-roof architectural style of Turpan. The roof has high windows and light wells for lighting and ventilation. The front hall and the rear hall are built with large raw mud domes using the corbeling method.









On both sides of the main hall, there are madrasas (Islamic schools), with each of the twenty small rooms having a small dome and holes for ventilation and lighting.



The minaret is 44 meters high and is built of bricks using the corbeling method. The tower body has 15 different geometric patterns, such as waves, diamonds, and floral designs. Inside the tower, there are 72 spiral stairs, and at the top of the tower, there is a pavilion with windows where you can look out into the distance. The top of the tower originally had eaves, but after the Turpan earthquake in 1916, the top was destroyed, and local craftsmen subsequently changed it to a dome.



The ancient city of Anle is located south of the Emin Minaret, 300 meters wide from north to south and 700 meters long from east to west, with a Karez well running underground through the city. The south side of the city rises 8 to 10 meters above the ground, and every courtyard or house in the city has storage pits and wells.

In 1389, after the 16-year-old prince of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, Khizr Khoja, proclaimed himself Khan, Tamerlane the Great immediately led his army to fight a decisive battle, defeating the army of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate in one fell swoop and plundering a large number of subjects and livestock. Because the Timurid Empire in the west was too powerful, Khizr Khoja chose to conquer the city of Anle in Turpan around 1392. Khizr Khoja promoted Islam in Turpan, making the city of Anle gradually become a center of Islamic culture.

In 1422, the Eastern Chagatai Khan, Uwais Khan, defeated the Oirats and reoccupied the city of Anle, using it as his main residence. Since then, the city of Anle has been an important city of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

In the second half of the 15th century, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate split again. Ahmad Alaq (reigned 1487–1503) ruled the eastern part of the Khanate with the city of Anle as the center. In the 'History of Ming,' it is called the 'Turpan Khanate,' and the city of Anle was subsequently replaced by the name Turpan.

In 1514, Sultan Said Khan founded the Yarkand Khanate, and his elder brother, Mansur Khan (reigned 1503–1543), continued to rule the eastern part of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate with Turpan as his capital. In 1570, the army of the Yarkand Khanate invaded Turpan, and the last Khan of the 'Turpan Khanate,' Muhammad Khan, was captured, leading to the fall of the Turpan Khanate.

In 1679, Turpan was occupied by Galdan, the Khan of the Dzungar Khanate. After that, it was repeatedly contested with the Qing Dynasty until it was finally incorporated into the Qing Dynasty in 1755. In 1780, the Qing Dynasty built the city of Guang'an northwest of the city of Anle. The administrative center of Turpan was subsequently moved to the city of Guang'an (the current urban area of Turpan), and the city of Anle was gradually abandoned.



















I picked some incredibly sweet mulberries in the ancient city! It was like eating honey. May is truly the season for mulberries.











The entrance to the Emin Minaret is also full of people selling mulberries.









From the Emin Minaret, we headed east to Huoyanshan Town, where the Turpan Prince's Tomb is located in Sanbao Township, right on the west side of the ancient city of Gaochang. view all

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Summary: This travel note introduces Turpan Halal Travel Guide in May: Ancient Sites and Uyghur Food (Part 2). At noon, we ate huangmian kaorou (yellow noodles with grilled meat) in Huoyanshan Town. It is useful for readers interested in Turpan Travel, Uyghur Food, Xinjiang Travel.





At noon, we ate huangmian kaorou (yellow noodles with grilled meat) in Huoyanshan Town. Huoyanshan Town is famous for its huangmian kaorou, and the whole street is filled with shops selling it. The most famous one is called 'Huoyanshan Famous Huangmian Kaorou Restaurant,' but it was fully booked when we arrived, so we ate at the place across the street. We ordered a mix of yellow noodles and liangpi (cold starch noodles). After the grilled meat was cooked, it was taken off the skewers and placed on top of the yellow noodles. It was so refreshing to eat in the summer, and it felt really suitable for the climate of the Flaming Mountains. We also had grilled fish, and everyone agreed that the meat was very fresh, tender, and delicious.

















The beef head meat had a great texture from the gelatin, and the portion was very large. We also drank a fermented beverage made from raisins and dried apricots, which is a specialty of Huoyanshan Town; it is richer than kvass.













We also drank date water from the street, which was cool and thirst-quenching.







Stewed meat and corn nang (flatbread) on the streets of Huoyanshan Town.









After lunch, we headed to Tuyugou. We bought dried mulberries and sorghum nang in Tuyugou. The prices here are very cheap and definitely not tourist prices.





Dried cantaloupe is not often seen.







The sorghum nang was made by this young woman herself.





Tuyugou Mazar Aldi Village means 'in front of the cemetery'. Above Mazar Village is the famous Al-Sahab Kahfi Mazar, commonly known as the 'Holy Tomb'. I visited the Mazar in 2013, but unfortunately, it is no longer open for visits.

The traditional houses in Mazar Village are made of raw earth architecture. The walls are built with mud bricks or rammed earth. When laying the bricks, no mortar is used; instead, the moisture of the mud bricks themselves is used for adhesion, and the walls are covered with fine mud after being built. The roofs are divided into two types: wooden ribbed flat roofs and earthen arched roofs. The wooden ribbed flat roof is made by placing multiple thin wooden beams on the walls, covering the beams with reed mats, and then covering them with fine mud. Most of the wood used is local fast-growing poplar. The earthen arched roofs are made entirely of raw earth, and some roofs are plastered with straw-mud to serve as drying platforms for raisins. Because they have received charity from Muslims visiting the Mazar for generations, most villagers in Mazar Village only grow grapes and not crops, and raisins are also the main income for Mazar Village.



















Tuyugou Grand Canyon and the Mazar. view all

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Summary: This travel note introduces Urumqi Hui Muslim Home Cooking Guide: Everyday Halal Food in Xinjiang (Part 1). On January 22, 2020, Zainab and I returned to Urumqi, where she had lived until she was 18, in a residential compound with over sixty years of history. It is useful for readers interested in Urumqi Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel.

On January 22, 2020, Zainab and I returned to Urumqi, where she had lived until she was 18, in a residential compound with over sixty years of history. We originally planned to have a good time in Urumqi, but then Xinjiang launched a Level 1 emergency response on January 25. All restaurants closed, and the residential compound was semi-locked down, so we had to stay at home. During these days of staying at home, my mother-in-law made us delicious food with great variety every day, and we were able to taste all kinds of authentic Hui Muslim home-cooked dishes from Urumqi (Part 1).





The menu of what we ate these past few days is as follows:

January 22

Lunch: Four types of banmian (hand-pulled noodles with toppings): celery and meat, pickled cabbage and meat, eggplant and meat, and onion and cherry radish with meat.

Afternoon: Tangfan (noodle soup).

January 23

Morning: Milk tea with shredded potatoes, dried chili peppers, and meat.

January 27

Morning: Tangningningzi (a type of fried dough twist) soaked in milk.

Lunch: Shredded potato and guoyourou (oil-seared meat) banmian.

Afternoon: Fentang (starch noodle soup).

January 28

Lunch: Baobaozi (steamed buns with thin skin).

Afternoon: Bantang (a thick noodle soup).

January 29

Lunch: Lamb leg zhuafan (pilaf).

Afternoon: Tangfan with nang (flatbread).

January 30

Lunch: Mayezi (fried sesame dough crisps) and egg sanzi (deep-fried dough twists).

Afternoon: Chive pockets and homemade yogurt.

January 31

Afternoon: Fried menzi (steamed meat paste) and pickled cabbage with vermicelli.

February 1

Afternoon: Dapanji (big plate chicken).

February 2nd

Morning: Milk tea with soaked nang and steamed youxiang (fried dough).

Afternoon: Onion and lamb fat meat dumplings.

January 22

The first meal back in Urumqi, four types of banmian: celery and meat, onion and cherry radish, eggplant and meat, and pickled cabbage and meat—delicious. This time, the latiaozi (hand-pulled noodles) were made using the 'panzi mian' method, where the dough is rolled out and then coiled to rest.













The tangfan we had in the afternoon was made with mianqizi (small square dough pieces), not hand-torn dough pieces, so it was quite simple.



January 23

Woke up in the morning to boil milk tea using special brick tea, served with shredded potatoes, dried chili peppers, meat, and steamed buns.









January 27

Breakfast included milk, jiaomaji (peppery chicken), steamed youxiang, and tianpanzi (sweet dish). A particularly tasty way to eat is soaking tangningningzi in milk.



At noon, my mother-in-law taught me how to make latiaozi. Urumqi Hui Muslims make latiaozi in two ways: 'panzi mian' and 'zhangzi mian'. Panzi mian is the coiled method like the Uyghurs use, while this time we made the simpler zhangzi mian.

First, knead the dough.



Knead the dough to this consistency; you have to judge how much water to add by feel, don't add too much at once.



Cover the dough with a basin to let it rest. After resting for a while, the outside will become smooth, and then you start kneading it again. Kneading needs to be done three times, with about ten minutes of resting in between, until the surface is completely smooth. You can prepare the banmian toppings while the dough rests. Next is rolling the dough, roll it to the thickness of a finger, then brush with oil, and cover with the basin again.









Wait until the banmian toppings are ready before cutting the dough; cut only as much as you will eat. After cutting, roll it thin, stretch it out, slap it on the cutting board, and finally toss it into the pot. A dish of Xinjiang zhangzi mian is finished.





We ate two types of banmian: guoyourou and shredded potatoes. The guoyourou is a home version, not the restaurant version. First sear the meat in oil, then add chili peppers, then onions, and you can also add cabbage. For the shredded potatoes, you must add meat, dried chili peppers, and tomatoes; the tomatoes eventually melt into a sauce and disappear.



















We had fentang for dinner. The first step is to stir-fry the meat slices, then add garlic, then green onions, dried chili peppers, and tomatoes, then add various vegetables; you can mix and match vegetables as you like. Next, add the lamb broth that was previously stewed and frozen. After the broth melts, add pea starch jelly cubes, then add the large chunks of previously stewed lamb, and finally add pepper and cilantro for flavor. The most classic pairing for fentang is youxiang. After eating the lamb, break open the youxiang and soak it in the fentang; that is the authentic Urumqi Hui Muslim lifestyle.



















January 28

Woke up in the morning and had a bowl of fentang with youxiang, very delicious.



At noon, we made baobaozi with onion and meat filling, and finally sprinkled with pepper powder.













In the evening, we had bantang. The method is similar to tangfan, but instead of tearing dough pieces, you just rub the dough with your hands and drop it into the pot. Also, anything liquid can be soaked with nang!







January 29

We were having zhuafan for lunch, so I went out in the morning to buy front leg meat at the entrance of the compound. Nowadays, front legs come with ribs attached; you can't buy just the front leg. Some shops have very fatty ribs, so you have to choose carefully.







Then I also bought dried chili peppers; Xinjiang home cooking basically requires them.



This is the most expensive kind.



This is the cheapest kind.



Went home and cut the front leg and ribs.





First fry the onions, and after the onions are charred, sprinkle with large-grain salt, then add the meat. After the meat darkens in color, use another pot to stir-fry the carrots and yellow carrots. After the carrots and meat are charred, spread the meat over the carrots, add sugar, then spread the rice over the meat (we had too much meat this time, so it wasn't spread perfectly), cover and simmer for forty minutes, and it's done.



















January 30

A new day starts with a pot of milk tea.



On the left is the dough made with eggs for egg sanzi, and on the right is the dough made with sesame for mayezi.



For egg sanzi, first knead the dough with eggs, let it rest, roll it thin with a large rolling pin, then use a 'gong-gong-zi' (a special grooved rolling tool) to cut it into strips, coiling them as you cut. After cutting, deep-fry in oil, and sprinkle with granulated sugar when finished.



















Urumqi Hui Muslim version of mayezi: knead the dough with sesame, roll it thin with a rolling pin, use a 'gong-gong-zi' to cut into quadrilaterals, and deep-fry in oil.















Fresh milk bought at the compound entrance; drink the milk skin first, and scoop out a portion of the milk below to make yogurt.



The milk is from cows raised by Hui Muslims in Cangfanggou, Urumqi. The Uyghur uncle at the compound entrance sells both milk and nang.





The starter is Xiyuchun brand old yogurt; when eating, I sprinkled it with dried mulberries and raisins.









Urumqi Hui Muslim version of chive pockets, with chives, dried shrimp, ginger, and scrambled eggs as the filling. Using an electric griddle makes it a bit dry.















Ate using a family heirloom porcelain plate made in Ukraine in 1926, instantly transported back to a Hui Muslim home in the southern gate of Dihua city a hundred years ago.



Served with corn grits added with crushed walnuts.



January 31

Urumqi Hui Muslim banquet dish 'Fish Drilling Through the Net', which is fried menzi.

Bought meat at the market near home before the New Year and had it ground into filling. The filling for menzi needs to go through the meat grinder twice, finer than that for meatballs. After returning home, steam the filling into menzi, then slice it. When cooking, coat the menzi with egg and starch, deep-fry it, and finally sprinkle with cumin, chili powder, and salt.

















Pickled cabbage and vermicelli made with homemade pickled cabbage.





February 1

Preparation for dapanji: thaw and cut the chicken, add green onion segments, ginger slices, and garlic; knead the dough, roll it out, and brush with oil; peel potatoes and soak dried chili peppers in water.













Stir-fry the cleaned chicken in a pot, adding salt, Sichuan peppercorn powder, seasonings, soy sauce, tomato paste, dried chili peppers, garlic, and potatoes in order. Because we bought a layer hen, we had to use a pressure cooker after stir-frying; if it were a young chicken, it wouldn't be necessary. Put eight spoonfuls of water in the pressure cooker, taking eighteen minutes. After eating the chicken for a while, add the 'belt noodles' (wide hand-pulled noodles), which should soak up the dapanji sauce.

The secret to our family's dapanji is the seasoning made from over ten types of spices, a recipe left by Zainab's great-uncle. After making it, the dapanji absolutely has no raw taste, only fragrance. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This travel note introduces Urumqi Hui Muslim Home Cooking Guide: Everyday Halal Food in Xinjiang (Part 2). A new day begins with milk tea soaked with nang (flatbread). It is useful for readers interested in Urumqi Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel.







February 2nd

A new day begins with milk tea soaked with nang (flatbread).



The picture below shows steamed youxiang (fried dough), though we usually make the steamed version when there is no feast; like the fried version, it must be broken by hand to be eaten.



There is a saying: 'dumplings for departure, noodles for return,' and today we are making dumplings with piyazi (onion) and meat.



Rendering lamb tail fat, and once it is ready, adding it into the filling.







Then I used the lamb tail fat to make chili oil, a delicious companion for the dumplings.



I made three kinds: celery, lentils, and cabbage; the meat is a mix of lamb and beef, and every filling has piyazi and lamb fat in it.











Appendix: A century-old Soviet porcelain plate.

With the help of my neighbors, I found out the origin of the few porcelain plates left behind by Grandma Zainab! It turns out they were produced by the Budyansky Faience Factory in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, between 1926 and 1928, so they are nearly 100 years old now. Grandma was born in 1928, so these plates were likely bought by her father in Urumqi back then; they can be considered a witness to the history of Urumqi. I have been using these plates to eat for the past few days, and now I feel a bit differently about them.









The stone-lens glasses left behind by Grandpa Zainab.



I am heading back to Beijing, and I will always miss my home in Urumqi. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This travel note introduces Urumqi Hui Muslim Banquet: Xinjiang Halal Food and Local Muslim Culture. On January 24, 2020, I attended a welcome banquet at Zainab's home in Urumqi and met her extended family. Next, I will share with everyone what we ate at this banquet. It is useful for readers interested in Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel.

On January 24, 2020, I attended a welcome banquet at Zainab's home in Urumqi and met her extended family. Next, I will share with everyone what we ate at this banquet.

The food at the banquet was divided into two categories. Before eating the main meal, thirteen small plates were placed on the table containing various dried fruits and snacks, which are called 'thirteen little plates'. After everyone finished chatting, the plates were cleared and replaced with the main courses. Thirteen dishes were served in order, making a total of twenty-six types of food.

Thirteen little plates

The pronunciation here is die-die-zi, which is also a common tone combination in the Xinjiang dialect.

First, the list: dried figs, Medina dates mixed with dried apricots (hen), Tatar pastries, Hui Muslim Ma-style snacks, Kazakh kurt (dried yogurt balls), candied walnuts, pistachios, almonds, cashews, melon seeds, dried apricot (hen) skins mixed with tangningningzi (fried dough twists), raisins, and loose sugar.



On the morning of the banquet, the plates were arranged in a room, which is called 'setting the little plates'.



This is what it looked like after being set.









Candied walnuts made by my mother-in-law; they are sweet.





The dried apricot (hen) skins and tangningningzi were also made by my mother-in-law. Tangningningzi is what Xinjiang Hui Muslims call them; the general term is youguozi (fried dough snacks).





The figs in Xinjiang are truly incredibly delicious, but fresh ones are only available in the summer. Most of the time, we eat dried figs, which really feel like candy inside.





Zainab and I bought Tatar-style cream cakes and walnut pie at the Marhaba Tatar Pastry Shop on Linguan Lane, Heba Third Alley.

The Tatar ethnic group is the smallest ethnic group in China, with only about 3,000 people. Most of the Tatar people in China come from the Kazan Tatars. From the 19th century to the early 20th century, they moved successively from Kazan on the banks of the Volga River to settle in Urumqi, Yining, and Tacheng in Xinjiang. At that time, most of the Tatar people were intellectuals or merchants, and they played an important role in promoting the establishment of modern education in Xinjiang.

Today, many Tatar people in Xinjiang have moved abroad. The places where you can most intuitively experience their culture are the Tatar embroidery shops in Yining and the Tatar pastry shops in Urumqi.

The Tatar pastry shop in Urumqi is located on the site of a former Russian trading port. 100 years ago, this was a place where Russians, Tatars, and various Central Asian merchants traded, somewhat similar to Sanlitun in Beijing. The Tatar pastry shop is also a witness to this history.

Their most classic cake consists of six layers of dough with six layers of cream. The dough is made of milk, eggs, ghee, and honey, without adding water, and it tastes especially fragrant.



















Ma-style snacks is one of the most famous traditional Hui Muslim snack shops in Urumqi, and it has been open for over a decade. Zainab's mother also used molds to make them herself when she was a child, but now fewer and fewer Hui Muslims in Urumqi make them themselves.



2. Thirteen dishes

Meat dishes: braised beef ribs, clear-stewed mutton, fish-drilling-net (fried meat jelly), braised meatballs, cold-dressed chicken, steamed fish

Hot dishes: pickled cabbage with meat, daylily with wood ear mushrooms, celery with lily bulbs, garlic sprouts with meat

Cold dishes: sweet platter, lotus root with wood ear mushrooms (lotus pond moonlight), bean curd skin with red chili

The staple foods were fried youxiang (leavened flatbread), momo (steamed buns), and rice.

The presentation looked like this:





1. Braised beef ribs

First, blanch the beef ribs. After they turn white, take them out. Heat oil, add the meat, ginger, a little cinnamon, star anise, and bean paste. Stir-fry for a while, then add fresh chili peppers. After the meat dries out, put it in a pressure cooker and stew for 25 minutes.











2. Clear-stewed mutton

First, skim off the blood foam, then stew. When serving, sprinkle a little raw onion on top.











Braised meatballs

The beef for the meatballs and the meat jelly was bought at a Uyghur shop in the market across from our residential compound.





The night before the banquet, we fried the meatballs, and on the morning of the banquet, we braised them.





This is what it looked like after being braised the next day.



Fish-drilling-net (fried meat jelly)

'Fish-drilling-net' is just fried meat jelly. When buying the meat, have the Uyghur uncle grind it into mince (xuanzi). The mince for the meat jelly needs to be finer than that for the meatballs; it must go through the meat grinder twice. The night before the banquet, steam the mince into meat jelly, then slice it. On the morning of the banquet, coat the slices in egg and starch and fry them in a pan. Finally, sprinkle with cumin, chili, and salt.













Cold-dressed chicken

The cold-dressed chicken was stewed the day before and placed on the windowsill, then dressed on the morning of the banquet. Cold-dressed chicken is actually chicken without the numbing pepper flavor of jiaoma chicken.



The chicken feet and gizzards were picked out and eaten beforehand.



The next morning, cut the chicken, add green onions, onions, and chili, then pour chicken broth over it to finish.





Pickled cabbage with meat

The pickled cabbage was made at home.





Sweet platter

The sweet platter was made the night before and wrapped up, then sprinkled with sugar syrup the next morning.







The next morning, boil the sugar syrup and pour it over.



Fried youxiang

To fry youxiang, first knead the dough.





Zainab and I went out shopping while they were being fried, and they were already done when we returned. Youxiang must be eaten by breaking it apart; you cannot eat it whole. After the banquet, if there is any left over, it can be soaked in various soups, rice noodles, or noodle soups. view all