Devon Winrick

December 5th - Korla, Xinjiang

The next day we flew to see my in-laws in Korla, Xinjiang. This is a VERY interesting place, for some sad reasons.

First we start in the airport leaving Beijing. See the high curved ceilings. Also note the number of people.

The airport has a lot of automation however we couldn't use it as our packages were too heavy. There was no sign warning us of this so we waited in line for quite a while for the machine only to have it reject us.

It wasn't all bad though. Talking to a person meant we could ask to sit next to each other and they obliged!

Bags finally checked in we began the hunt for breakfast. This was my first experience of fast food in China. I'm really quite jealous because the good fast food we have here they also have - and the chains with bad/mediocre food in the US that have made it into China actually have good menus.

For example: KFC. KFC in my opinion is not that great in the US. Their "bowl" is ok. The chicken is "ok". But if you order the hottest thing on the KFC menu in the US it will hardly make your tongue tingle, not so in China.

If it's not obvious - we got KFC. I got a breakfast sandwich, egg tart, and some coffee. The egg tarts were so good that I'd be on the lookout for KFCs for the rest of my trip. I think the sandwich and coffee was good too but didn't leave the same impression.

Our flight to Korla was delayed by over an hour so I read a lot of Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Black Book.

Eventually we got on our plane, not before having to stand outside in the cold wind. It was really unfortunate that happened because later I got the flu, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was due to standing in the cold. There is lots to talk about with getting sick in China but we're not quite there yet - we're still on the plane.

After landing in Xinjiang there were a lot of emotions. I didn't take any pictures. This was my wife's first time seeing her parents for five years. They waited for us outside the gate of the tiny Korla airport and we took off in their Mitsubishi Pajero.

We walked around where my wife grew up and they showed us their office. One interesting thing is that they don't pay for the office space for their business.

Her parents used to work for the Government and as part of being laid off during downsizing they were given the option to either take money or access to property (office, storage space) for free.

The buildings the offices are in are pretty run-down, but they work. They have power and heating, however a lot of the lights are burnt out/don't work. At night you'd have to navigate the stair wells with only the exit signs for illumination.

I think they are pretty grateful for what they have, so I'm trying to ensure it doesn't sound like they are complaining because they have never once complained about it.

Some plumbing which I guess was fixed recently.

I didn't want to take many pictures of their office space, and I feel bad that they're not very flattering. Anyway, from there we went on to eat.

I have to say, where we ate next was awesome. I wish we had lamb for breakfast in the US because man was it good.

We talked for quite a while at that place, it was really nice. My father-in-law wanted to show us all the great food in Xinjiang so he took us to a market.

One the way I took this, which is what the police stations look like in Korla. If you're there you'll notice that there are police stations on almost every block. This is due to terrorist attacks in the region. So Korla is VERY locked down security wise. I saw the most security cameras and officers there by far compared to the other Chinese cities we visited. If you want to go to a public place like the mall you'll find a camera at eye-level to take a picture of the occupants in your car before you enter the lot. So, I felt safe. I'll talk more about the security in Korla later.

So we arrived at the market. We looked at two major things - fruit and seeds/tea. Korla is known for their pears. These are not even remotely comparable to pears in the West. You can buy them sometimes from Chinese markets in the US, but some of the flavor/texture is gone after shipping.

Biting into a pear grown in Xinjiang is like biting into a fruity water balloon. They're very good. My father in law bought us two boxes of them...

My new found parents were very nice, trying to buy me food left and right. Here's a seeds/tea shop.

If I looked even remotely interested in something her dad would quickly try to buy it for me.

Want to make your own herbal tea? Take a scoop.

From there we headed over to the free storage facility and I got to look at some of the equipment that they base their business around.

On the way home we got to drive through the city and see some buildings covered in LED lighting.

My in-laws were really nice as usual and tried to give me a bunch of stuff (thermoses branded from their suppliers, and a battery pack that'd end up being very useful).

As the night came to an end we tried some of the seeds we picked up from the market. I think they gave me these as a joke and I highly do not recommend. They leave a bitter taste in your mouth and drinking water will only make it worse.