Kashgar Livestock Market, Kashgar, China

It was Travis who was very keen on visiting Kashgar.  When faced with our dilemma leaving Kyrgyzstan, I suggested travelling straight to Urumqi and perhaps giving the inconveniently located Kashgar a miss (I’d heard the city was no longer quite the Silk Road trading hub it used to be due to massive Chinese development). That would have been a mistake, and I’m glad my stubborn significant other insisted, one of the reasons being the livestock market (the others being the most enjoyable Uighur street food and fascinating night market).

Any traveller wishing to visit Kashgar should make sure their trip runs over a Sunday, as it is early morning on this day each week the local Kashgari men bundle their most valued livestock and display it for sale. The massive market, located about ten minutes from town comprises of sections for cows, sheep, goats (including a particularly favourite billy goat area), donkeys and horses. There were animals everywhere. I tried to avoid thinking about their fate. It was smelly, dirty and overwhelming, yet wonderfully intriguing to watch the interactions – a local Uighur man inspecting a potential purchase by squeezing the udders of a goat and finally, when the sale was made – the respectful handshakes between buyer and seller.

The bustling Kashgar livestock market
Cow and calf at Kashgar livestock market
Plenty of Uyghur men and livestock
Cows ready to be sold at the Kashgar livestock market
A not so happy bull
Cattle at the livestock market
Uighur men chatting around a cow
Plenty of cows at the Kashgar livestock market
Cows being unloaded from a truck
A Uighur men and his two goats
A Uighur men and his goats
Goats lined up at the Kashgar livestock market
Goats lined up at the Kashgar livestock market
Two men with donkeys chatting
A Uighur man and his donkeys
A donkey at the Kashgar livestock market
A boy looking after a lively donkey
Two men bartering over a donkey
Donkeys tied up at the Kashgar livestock market
A young happy billy goat
A billy goat between men
A young billy goat
Men bartering around the goats
A Uyghur men inspecting a billy goat
Transporting a goat at the Kashgar livestock market
A ute full of goats at the Kashgar livestock market