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I Come from Xinjiang 我从新疆来
The book tells the experience of a Xinjiang people but describes the stories of each Chinese. It records the photographer Ku Er Banjiang•Sai Maiti with other 100 Xinjiang people who lives and works inland.
这本书说的是新疆人的经历，讲的是每一个中国人的故事。它记录了摄影师本人库尔班江•赛买提和100个在内地工作和生活的新疆人。
这本书说的是新疆人的经历，讲的是每一个中国人的故事。它记录了摄影师本人库尔班江•赛买提和100个在内地工作和生活的新疆人。
375 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2014
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March 21, 2021
Update: I really wonder what the author has to say about the recent news of Uyghur concentration camps in China.
First of all, this book is written in simplified Chinese. Secondly, it's a collection of 100 stories of Xinjiang people, who live and work in the large Chinese mega-cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and others. The style is somewhat reminiscent of "Humans of New York" (photo + story). Thirdly, because most stories are told by Uighurs and other minority groups, their Chinese level isn't too complicated. Most stories are told in a simple, yet heart-warming way. Unfortunately, I don't think an English version of this book exists yet. Once I started reading this, it became quite clear that it targets the average Han Chinese reader. The book wants to showcase Xinjiang people in a positive light, especially portraying them as hard-working, intelligent and filial people. It is frustrating that many coastal Chinese have a negative view on people from Xinjiang (lazy scammers, terrorists). The author wanted to rectify that. Stories that I enjoyed in particular were:
- 希望儿子早日康复 / hoping my son will quickly recover: story of a Uighur kebab-seller whose son has brain paralysis.
- 等待落叶归根 / waiting for a falling leaf to return to the roots (meaning an immigrant returns to their place of origin): story of a Uighur businessman in Shanghai, who cannot bring his daughter to study in Shanghai, because of the hukou issue.
- 飞遍全中国 / flying all over China: incredible story of a Uighur man in Guangzhou, who worked a variety of jobs (dancer, model, choreographer, soldier...) to finally achieve his dream of becoming a pilot.
- 新疆，“那里夏丽”的缩影 / Xinjiang, the miniature of "Na Li Xia Li": story of a Han Chinese man, who starts his own restaurant chain that promotes diversity and he finds peace of mind in prayers, which led to his conversion to Islam. Love this quote: 毕竟信仰是我私人的事情 / after all, faith is my own personal matter.
- 中国合伙人 / China's partners: story of two Uighur traders, one who trades in Afghanistan and realizes how lucky the people and children in Xinjiang and China are, while the other explains the difficulty of having a dot in between their names (normally, Chinese people have two to three character names, however for Uighurs, their names are often transliterated into more than 3 three characters and because they have "two names" (first name and father's name) a dot is often added in between. This makes it very difficult for them to undergo formal registration in China, because the system does not recognize the dot in between their two names). Ridiculous that a state does not even recognize its minorities.
- 立足广州 / To establish oneself in Guangzhou: story of an Uighur woman, who establishes her own life in Guangzhou, where she feels free and has been fortunate to be respected by the people around her. She also talks about the difficulty of being independent as a Uighur woman, because their traditions are still very strong and women are often expected to marry and start a family, instead of leading an independent career life.
- 和平的梦想和自由的代价 / dream of peace and the price of freedom: story of a Uighur English teacher, who had to pose as a half-Canadian for his English school to operate in Eastern China. Despite the success of the school, he feels guilty to cheat the people around him and it cost him his relationship with his wife and family back in Xinjiang. I particularly liked this story, because it also showcases how difficult it is for minorities to be accepted in mainstream Chinese society.
- 想会新疆当老师 / Want to go back to Xinjiang to become a teacher: another story of an independent Uighur woman in Eastern China. She initially wanted to be a teacher in Xinjiang, but she was appalled by the teaching methods and got into conflict with colleagues for her "modern" teaching style, even though her students proved to be the smartest in the school. She eventually moved to Zhuhai, where she works for a foreign company and is often praised for being very trustworthy. However, she still hopes to return to Xinjiang to become a teacher and maybe found her own school. She also talks about the pressure of getting married.
- 在羽毛上跳舞的姑娘 / the lady dancing on the feather: yet another story of an independent Uighur woman in southern China. She has her own light factory and is respected by her employees and foreign customers. She also talks about the pressure of getting married and how relatives back in Xinjiang gossip about an unmarried woman, who does business in China.
- 见证北京“新疆村” / witnessing Beijing's Little Xinjiang: story of a Uighur man, who after high school goes straight into the work force in Beijing and faces a lot of obstacles.
- 在变化中学会包容和冷静 / learning tolerance and being cool-headed amidst change: story of a young Uighur writer, who lived in Xinjiang, Beijing and Sydney. He recalls an incident when as a little boy, he and his family traveled to Beijing, but had difficulties finding accommodation, because they are Uighurs. He also recalls how as a young boy, he was easily stirred up by government propaganda and what was taught in history class. The older he becomes, the more he realizes the importance of being cool-headed and looking at thing objectively. He doesn't engage in online debates anymore.
- 站在父亲的肩膀上走到北京 / standing on father's shoulder to reach Beijing: amazing story of a young Tajik guy, who grew up in a remote corner in Western China. His village was so far away from civilization. He grew up speaking Tajik (which shouldn't be confused with the Tajik from Tajikistan. This one is closely related to Persian and does not have any script) and later learned Uighur and then Chinese. In middle school, his father would travel with him for several days to reach the next nearest town that had a secondary school. He managed to finish high school and even enrolled into the National Minorities University in Beijing. He is studying Persian now to find work as a translator in Beijing.
- 不服输的梦想 / a dream of not admitting defeat: story of a young Kazakh lad, whose parents passed away and he seeks his dream of becoming a musician in Beijing.
- 何处安放的青春 / where to place youth: story of a young Kazakh cameraman, who wants to start working in Shanghai instead of returning to Xinjiang. He laments that a lot of talented and educated youth from Xinjiang are seeking opportunities on the Eastern coast, because Xinjiang does not allow them to develop their potentials. China's policies towards minorities and minority regions still have a long way to go.
Of course I would have enjoyed it more if this book also included stories of Xinjiang people in Xinjiang, people who are not able to transcend the obstacles of establishing a life in Eastern Han China. I bet their views and experiences are completely different from the people recorded here. The stories in this book are very exceptional and probably the success stories of a few. However, there are cracks everywhere that bring show the difficulties minorities face in China.
First of all, this book is written in simplified Chinese. Secondly, it's a collection of 100 stories of Xinjiang people, who live and work in the large Chinese mega-cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and others. The style is somewhat reminiscent of "Humans of New York" (photo + story). Thirdly, because most stories are told by Uighurs and other minority groups, their Chinese level isn't too complicated. Most stories are told in a simple, yet heart-warming way. Unfortunately, I don't think an English version of this book exists yet. Once I started reading this, it became quite clear that it targets the average Han Chinese reader. The book wants to showcase Xinjiang people in a positive light, especially portraying them as hard-working, intelligent and filial people. It is frustrating that many coastal Chinese have a negative view on people from Xinjiang (lazy scammers, terrorists). The author wanted to rectify that. Stories that I enjoyed in particular were:
- 希望儿子早日康复 / hoping my son will quickly recover: story of a Uighur kebab-seller whose son has brain paralysis.
- 等待落叶归根 / waiting for a falling leaf to return to the roots (meaning an immigrant returns to their place of origin): story of a Uighur businessman in Shanghai, who cannot bring his daughter to study in Shanghai, because of the hukou issue.
- 飞遍全中国 / flying all over China: incredible story of a Uighur man in Guangzhou, who worked a variety of jobs (dancer, model, choreographer, soldier...) to finally achieve his dream of becoming a pilot.
- 新疆，“那里夏丽”的缩影 / Xinjiang, the miniature of "Na Li Xia Li": story of a Han Chinese man, who starts his own restaurant chain that promotes diversity and he finds peace of mind in prayers, which led to his conversion to Islam. Love this quote: 毕竟信仰是我私人的事情 / after all, faith is my own personal matter.
- 中国合伙人 / China's partners: story of two Uighur traders, one who trades in Afghanistan and realizes how lucky the people and children in Xinjiang and China are, while the other explains the difficulty of having a dot in between their names (normally, Chinese people have two to three character names, however for Uighurs, their names are often transliterated into more than 3 three characters and because they have "two names" (first name and father's name) a dot is often added in between. This makes it very difficult for them to undergo formal registration in China, because the system does not recognize the dot in between their two names). Ridiculous that a state does not even recognize its minorities.
- 立足广州 / To establish oneself in Guangzhou: story of an Uighur woman, who establishes her own life in Guangzhou, where she feels free and has been fortunate to be respected by the people around her. She also talks about the difficulty of being independent as a Uighur woman, because their traditions are still very strong and women are often expected to marry and start a family, instead of leading an independent career life.
- 和平的梦想和自由的代价 / dream of peace and the price of freedom: story of a Uighur English teacher, who had to pose as a half-Canadian for his English school to operate in Eastern China. Despite the success of the school, he feels guilty to cheat the people around him and it cost him his relationship with his wife and family back in Xinjiang. I particularly liked this story, because it also showcases how difficult it is for minorities to be accepted in mainstream Chinese society.
- 想会新疆当老师 / Want to go back to Xinjiang to become a teacher: another story of an independent Uighur woman in Eastern China. She initially wanted to be a teacher in Xinjiang, but she was appalled by the teaching methods and got into conflict with colleagues for her "modern" teaching style, even though her students proved to be the smartest in the school. She eventually moved to Zhuhai, where she works for a foreign company and is often praised for being very trustworthy. However, she still hopes to return to Xinjiang to become a teacher and maybe found her own school. She also talks about the pressure of getting married.
- 在羽毛上跳舞的姑娘 / the lady dancing on the feather: yet another story of an independent Uighur woman in southern China. She has her own light factory and is respected by her employees and foreign customers. She also talks about the pressure of getting married and how relatives back in Xinjiang gossip about an unmarried woman, who does business in China.
- 见证北京“新疆村” / witnessing Beijing's Little Xinjiang: story of a Uighur man, who after high school goes straight into the work force in Beijing and faces a lot of obstacles.
- 在变化中学会包容和冷静 / learning tolerance and being cool-headed amidst change: story of a young Uighur writer, who lived in Xinjiang, Beijing and Sydney. He recalls an incident when as a little boy, he and his family traveled to Beijing, but had difficulties finding accommodation, because they are Uighurs. He also recalls how as a young boy, he was easily stirred up by government propaganda and what was taught in history class. The older he becomes, the more he realizes the importance of being cool-headed and looking at thing objectively. He doesn't engage in online debates anymore.
- 站在父亲的肩膀上走到北京 / standing on father's shoulder to reach Beijing: amazing story of a young Tajik guy, who grew up in a remote corner in Western China. His village was so far away from civilization. He grew up speaking Tajik (which shouldn't be confused with the Tajik from Tajikistan. This one is closely related to Persian and does not have any script) and later learned Uighur and then Chinese. In middle school, his father would travel with him for several days to reach the next nearest town that had a secondary school. He managed to finish high school and even enrolled into the National Minorities University in Beijing. He is studying Persian now to find work as a translator in Beijing.
- 不服输的梦想 / a dream of not admitting defeat: story of a young Kazakh lad, whose parents passed away and he seeks his dream of becoming a musician in Beijing.
- 何处安放的青春 / where to place youth: story of a young Kazakh cameraman, who wants to start working in Shanghai instead of returning to Xinjiang. He laments that a lot of talented and educated youth from Xinjiang are seeking opportunities on the Eastern coast, because Xinjiang does not allow them to develop their potentials. China's policies towards minorities and minority regions still have a long way to go.
Of course I would have enjoyed it more if this book also included stories of Xinjiang people in Xinjiang, people who are not able to transcend the obstacles of establishing a life in Eastern Han China. I bet their views and experiences are completely different from the people recorded here. The stories in this book are very exceptional and probably the success stories of a few. However, there are cracks everywhere that bring show the difficulties minorities face in China.
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