Not many Han Chinese live among the nomadic Kazakh communities in the Altay prefecture in northern Xinjiang, and certainly less have written about what it’s like to live there. This book is a hidden gem!
On one hand, there are beautiful mountain ranges topped with snow, herds of sheep, tents that come and go migrating with the herds, kids who ride horses freely on the green grassland near rivers. That image, which I’ve seen bits of when I visited Altay’s touristy areas many years ago, is so so beautiful that you just wish you’re one of them. What a beautiful, freeing, and minimalistic life! On the other hand, there’re the brutally cold winters, dangerously dry and sandy deserts, and lack of progress and education. The nomadic people in Altay live a lifestyle that to many of us seems isolating and lonely, but they’re so happy. They have so little but are always content. That’s fascinating to me.
Li Juan is not a Kazakh, so she’s telling stories from an outsider’s angle. You can tell she had lots of love for Altay and lots of respect and affection for the people who lived in it. The writing is clean and stories are warm and nostalgic. Perfect for bedtime! Reading a few chapters before sleep was so smoothing…