Thoughts on Xinjiang people in China

So I’ve been in China for a year and a half now. It’s both an interesting and intriguing country, especially for business.

One thing I’ve noticed is the Xinjiang restaurants that are almost on every street and how these are different from the regular noodle place.

Where is Xinjiang?

First lets put Xinjiang on the map, it’s the biggest province in China and borders with Russia, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. This gives the region a quite interesting landscape. They also have many different minority groups as well as China’s largest natural gas-producing region.

Delicious food

Back to the Xinjiang restaurants, these are often muslim, halal shops that all have green interior and often the same menu. They make their own home made pasta that’s a bliss to see being prepared. With their white flat hats they throw the white pasta dough before cutting it and put it to prepare to boil.

It’s one of the first restaurants I went to when moving to Shanghai and the food is delicious! To describe it I would say it’s a Chinese version of Tex Mex. Lamb, rice, noodles, fried potaoes, tomates, eggs, beans and onions are common ingredients. They always serve this delicious chicken stock to all the dishes and all for less than $3.

Different spirit

Whilst going to these restaurants I couldn’t help observing them. Xinjiang people seem so different from the other Chinese people I meet here. Not only they have this beautiful oriental mixed look but there is something about their energy too. If I go to a normal noodle shop, the volume is often quite loud and it’s a bit messy. In a Xinjiang restaurant it’s often calm and I have never heard them scream or raise their voices the same way I hear Chinese do sometimes.

Same when I meet them in the street. In Shanghai you can often see Xinjiang people with a trolley full of nuts and dried fruits. They are delicious and often at a good price too. The other day I met one and nope, there was no hazzle, no trying to sell this or that. Just silent, calm and it was a great experience.

Maybe not all are that way but I’ve notice there is this something about Xinjiang people. This is something I’ve never heard about whilst living in the West. We see Chinese fusion restaurant but don’t really have access to these tresors of the land in the east.

So next time you are in China, try a Xinjiang restaurant! See if you notice any difference in their appeareance or language (that’s totally different from Mandarin).