The Quiet Undercurrents of South Xinjiang

A photographer documents the daily lives — from the mundane to the invasive — of northwestern China’s Uyghur ethnic minority.

Sun Junbin
Feb 03, 2017

To the outside world, the south of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is known as part of the historical Silk Road, the route through which China traded with Central Asia and beyond — but it’s also been branded by the central government as an unstable region that breeds religious extremism.

The area is home to many Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority who speak a Turkic language and have, on occasion, had strained relations with Chinese authorities.

Students hold the Chinese flag under a banner that reads ‘Ceremony for thousands of school principals to vow to prevent the infiltration of religion on campuses,’ Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Oct. 27, 2014. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

My project, “Calm and Quiet Southern Xinjiang,” juxtaposes the mundane daily life of the region’s people with the tensions that exist between them and an increasingly strict government.

Specifically, I focused on Langan, a small village about 10 kilometers from Kashgar, the largest city in the area. The inhabitants of Langan often bear the brunt of a government wary of religious activities. According to Chinese officials, Langan sees relatively more religious conflicts than elsewhere in the region, to the extent that households are classified into different security categories according to each family’s perceived religious devotion. Villagers from so-called special-attention families are required to meet with government officials three times a week.

Members of the neighborhood patrol hold batons as they sit on a bench in Kashgar’s Duolaitebage Township, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Oct. 29, 2014. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

In November 2014, I joined some local officials on a visit to one of these special-attention families and captured a portrait of Mekrem, a woman whose husband had been detained for unapproved religious activities four months earlier. When I visited again a year later, he was still one year away from being released.

Members of the neighborhood patrol hold batons as they sit on a bench in Kashgar’s Duolaitebage Township, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Oct. 29, 2014. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

Officials organize educational meetings every Friday afternoon, aiming to encourage residents to live more secular lives. Local religious policies have the same goal: Mekrem, for example, can receive a 180-yuan ($26) monthly subsidy if she abstains from wearing a black veil over her face.

The place looks peaceful and harmonious most of the time, but you can feel the undercurrents of unease just below the surface.

Ezizi Osman, Party secretary of Langan Village, stands in a conference hall in front of portraits of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, and Mao Zedong, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 4, 2015. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

Leaders of No. 17 Village Deng Yong, Alimjan Mijiti, and Chen Ping (back row from right) pose for a photo with Rozi Perhat’s family in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 4, 2015. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

An arrest warrant is seen posted to the gate of a villager’s home in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 7, 2015. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

The child of two factory workers in Poskam County, Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 11, 2015. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

A martial arts teacher trains students on the playground of an elementary school in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 10, 2015. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

A woman and a man with a donkey cart stand on the side of a road in Makit County, Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 13, 2015. In April 2016, about 35,000 people went into the Taklamakan Desert to plant more trees. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

The leader of Poskam County, Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 8, 2015. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

A Uyghur woman comforts her child at a women’s workshop in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 5, 2014. The two-week workshops aim to educate women about ‘correct religious values’ and proper dress. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

Three Uyghur women sit at a scenic point by the desert in Hotan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, July 12, 2016. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

A man stands outside a home for the elderly in Poskam County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 3, 2014. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

A Uyghur vendor in Ostagboyi Koqisi, a street in the old town of Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Oct. 30, 2015. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

A child falls asleep in his grandmother’s arms as the family drives through the desert between Minfeng and Korla, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, July 15, 2016. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone

Villagers attend a lecture about ‘eliminating religious extremism through dress’ at a cultural plaza in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nov. 4, 2015. Sun Junbin for Sixth Tone