Karghalik

Karghalik is the name of a small town, located on the Yarkand River in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Karghalik or Chinese Yecheng is a county in Kashgar district, bordered on the Taklimakan Desert. Its population is about 370,000. The total area is 26,600 km2.

The people are engaged in traditional activities for Uyghur: agriculture and animal husbandry; they also grow various fruits there. Yecheng is considered one of the youngest cities in Xinjiang. It was founded in 1883, shortly after the annexation of East Turkestan to China and formation of Xinjiang as western province of the Chinese Empire.

The precincts are of great interest for lovers of nature. Karghalik lies not far from the Yarkand River, which together with Hotan and Aksu Rivers forms one of the China’s largest waterways - the Tarim River, along which the ancient routes of the Great Silk Road ran in the I millennium BC.

In spite of the lack of reliable information on the existence of an earlier settlement on site of Yecheng, it is a fair assumption to say that once, thousand years ago, huge caravans loaded with jewels and oriental spices, crossed through this area on their way to Europe.

To date, the city is one of the centers of agriculture in the territory of the Taklimakan Desert. It is inhabited mostly by Uyghur. Many families there still lead a traditional way of life, so the tourists coming to Karghalik will have an opportunity not only to learn the history of the settlement, but also observe the colorful everyday life of local Uyghur.