The biggest Kazakh diaspora is domiciled in China. Of course, Kazakhs in China are different from Kazakhs in Kazakhstan. A famous Kazakh journalist and travel-blogger Madina Ashilova paid a visit to Xingjian and produced a detailed log of her journey, posting it on Facebook.
“Uss” and Chopsticks
“We are making a documentary about the life of Kazakhs in Xingjian, which fact explains the trajectory of our journey – Kazakh settlements. Those settlements are, first of all, in the Kunes Precinct of the Ili-Kazakh Autonomous District, where there are 300 thousand dwellers, out of which population 150 thousand are Kazakhs. That is a the most dense concentration of Kazakhs in Xingjian.
After Kunes, we visited Nylky, Togyztarau, Almaly, Karasu and Narat, as well as a myriad of minor locales, the names of which I did not manage to keep in mind. We also visited Kulja and Horgos.
What can I say…Kazakhs there make one big difference from our people.
A couple of words about the general situation, to start with…
Kazakhs in China constitute the biggest Kazakh community outside of Kazakhstan. Some 1.6 million Kazakhs live here. Considering the population of Chine, those 1.6 million Kazakhs are not that numerous – they feature 16th among peoples that live in China.
Kazakhs here are mainly from the Naiman Federation of Tribes, particularly the Kyzai Tribe. We also met Kereis, Uaks, Suans and Albans.
What were the differences we observed?
Every time, they would say to us – We Are All Kazakhs! (бәріміз қазақпыз ғой!) It really is so – just like us, they speak Kazakh and follow many traditions and customs. Sometimes, we, with unconcealed humor, looked at things that China Kazakhs call “Kazakh”, but what is not really Kazakh, to our mind. There are some differences we observed in their household culture and habits.
Now, let me report things that surprised me most:
One day, a Karasu Settlement Kazakh family with 7 daughters invited us to their place. They all craft Kazakh ornaments and various souvenirs, some of them being Korzhins (beverage vessels), as wedding gifts. When we came, women made a big festive Dastarkhan (table). They cooked a sheep “Uss” (Besh-Parmak), which was, by the way, the only occasion, when we were treated to Uss in Xingjian. Things looked more or less habitual to us…unless we started eating that Uss. They brought several big dishes and suddenly the Aksakal and the Apa (old man and his spouse) took Chinese Chopsticks, showing high level of chopstick mastery. We were abashed! We just sat there watching them eat that traditional Kazakh dish with Chinese chopsticks.
It was for the first time in my life, that I saw Kazakhs eat Uss with chopsticks!!!
The hosts were surprised to learn that we eat Uss with our hands. They said – “Oh, you do so? Well, we mainly use forks”.
Tea with Salt
To me it was a torture, that Otken-Chai. Every place we visited, would generously inject tea with cream and killer-dose of salt into our organisms!
Honestly, I do not remember a single case, when Kazakhs in Kazakhstan would treat guests to tea with salt. May be some of them do, but that is not widely spread. That is a characteristic feature of the Uyghur hospitality. But in Xingjian, Otken-Chai is a habitual attribute of the Kazakh household. I felt awkward, asking hosts to give me regular tea, but…Otken-Chai is one trial! I asked for whatever was available – milk, water with honey, other types of tea, juices, beverages made of herbs and flowers…but not that tea with salt!
Their cuisine is multi-national. In addition to traditional Kazakh courses, we saw Chinese salads of all sorts, Uyghur Lagman and bread. Generally speaking, our cuisine is as much malti-national, but theirs is way too spicy and the multiplicity of herbs they add is astonishing!
One day, they brought us breakfast, inclusive of: a bowl of garlic, Chimchi (Korean course), a bowl of Doufu (Chinese spice), a bowl of various spicy salads, Mantys with Jusai (meat dumplings with specific Central Asian herb). The first impression was that they brought us yesterday’s dinner, very spicy and very salty! How can you eat that for breakfast???
Good news was eggs, without salt, all eaten with great appetite.
It would be not very right for me to eat everything, for allergy considerations and other consequences, but I decided to try a bit of everything. I tell you – to 90%, Xingjian cuisine is delicious. I do not even know all the names of mushrooms and herbs I tried. They tasted nice.
10% of that cuisine is something tough …
Arab Ligature and Beijing Time
When we came to Nilki-Town, there were old ladies there, meeting us with Shashoo (special welcome ritual, when hosts intersperse candies in front of the guests) and young Kazakh girls dressed in beautiful dresses. I started video-recording them dance and to my great surprise, I saw mature and elderly women dancing in bright dresses. Because our mature and elderly women wear Kemesheks (special hats for married women). Their women had bright dresses and feathered hats on – just like young women. Wow, was that a cultural shock! Our women consider such outfits inconvenient, I would say…not up to the age. Of course, we did not mention that to them.
Xingjian Kazakhs measure time against time in Beijing. That is not convenient. And not very habitual. N the first day, they told me, that breakfast was at 09-00 local time. So, I thought – Wow, good, enough time to sleep. It turned out it was 09-00 Beijing time, so we were supposed to step two hours back. Which means, the breakfast was supposed to be at 07-00 local time.
At some times, I would forget about that and would find myself lost in time – when do they want to see us, 15-00 or 13-00??? So, every time, I had to clarify my time positioning with locals, with reference to Beijing is not what we are used to.
Kazakhs write in Arabis ligature. They do not know Cyrillic alphabet. Some old Kazakhs still remember the Latin alphabet.
I downloaded WeChat and faced the question of how to maintain communication with locals.
I do not write and read in the Arabic ligature, whilst locals do not know Cyrillic…eventually, we agreed to exchange voice messages or write in the Latin, but, again, in this particular case misunderstandings are inevitable…
Kazakh Language Under Pressure
Not all China Kazakhs are good at Kazakh. In Xingjian, each Kazakh settlement has a Kazakh school, or, to be exact – school in two languages, just like in Kazakhstan. Small wonder that many Kazakhs want their children to study in Chinese classes, because in future they are supposed to enter Chinese universities and integrate in the Chinese society. That explains, why Kazakh language is slowly, but surely, is being pressed out from the Kazakh lifestyle. I met many young Kazakh girls with superficial command of Kazakh – they can say something like “This salad is very tasty and good for health”, but then it comes to indication of particular ingredients, they switch over to Chinese …
But, I must admit, that
the government is positive in its attitude to ethnic minorities. Government fully supports development of culture and language, as well as welcomes traditional practices and customs
I think, that Chinization is still a natural process. Not everyone is capable of speaking two languages. I noticed that many Kazakhs in China find it easier to express their thoughts and communicate in Chinese.
China Kazakhs About Kazakhstan
Local Kazakhs are well aware of situation in Kazakhstan. Many things in China are sealed-off, but still – Kazakhs know what is going on in Kazakhstan. For example, they are aware of floods in Almaty after rains. They know what beautiful scenery is in the Katon-Karagay National Park. We do not know that much about what is going on in Xingjian, for example. I think, they collect information from relatives in Kazakhstan. Besides, many of them visited Kazakhstan, at least once. They maintain communication with citizens of Kazakhstan by means of WeChat – other messengers are blocked in China.
Besides, China Kazakhs enjoy Kazakhstan pop-music. They would ask me to sing Aikyn’s song, making me feel lost, because I do not follow Aikyn. I can sing songs performed by Dos-Mukasan, Makpal Zhunusova, but not Kayrat Nurtas, Aikyn or Yerke Yesmakhan …
While we were in China, Madina Sadvakasova (Kazakh pop singer) came there, as well. Her promos were widely present on Tik-Tok. Of course, all Kazakhs of China know Dimash and are proud of him. He enjoys especial respect there, because he speaks Chinese and our countries have good neighborly relations. In Tik-Tok, I saw some child photos of our President and some of his quotes. That was in the Chinese segment of Tik-Tok. Nothing of the kind, did I see in out segment of Tik-Tok …
China Kazakhs are Bees
Kazakhs of China are not lazy, as many others characterize Kazakhs. Kazakhs of China do not sleep till noon, and do not party till midnight. Their daily schedule is tough. They are very responsible and they are used to robust punishment for letting others down. Kazakhs in Xingjian are bees, who just work all the time…
Sometimes, I visited Kazakh web-sites to see what is going on back home. The KZ domain is available in China. And what did I see – a cabman extorts money from tourists (300 thousand KZT for one trip to hotel), some driver in a BMW gallops in the poppy fields, another arrest of a corruptor, man rapes step-daughters…
Well, freedom might be limited in China, but their crime rate is way lower.
This is when you can argue for hours, which model is better, but I will leave that open …
Water and Nature
Careful attitude to nature. In our country, and I travelled it North to South, I saw disrespectful attitude to nature and resources. They do not practice that in China.
Once upon a time, we visited the Togyztarau mountain park of wild vegetation. We were taking a walk along a small mountain river, and there were those mountains surrounding us, all sorts of trees and plants and stuff. And suddenly I saw aт English walnut shaped fountain. The things is that wild English walnuts are the hallmark of that place, that is why they built such a fountain there. A made some pictures. Our guide, a Kazakh girl, looked surprised -–Why are you shooting a fountain, something artificial, while there is plenty of wild trees around here!
I was surprised, as well. In Kazakhstan plants grow by themselves, but we do not have fountains in the middle of nowhere. That is why, I was making those photos.
Also, I noticed that China Kazakhs are economic to water. Because they suffer from water insufficiency, although we think that China pumps all water from Kazakhstan and baths in it. River Ily, by the way, begins in Kunes, the precinct, where we started our Xingjian journey. Kazakhs there told me that they washed their hands in bowls, and then used that water to irrigate flowers – some practical attitude.
They are practical about flowers, as well. They took us to gardens where they cultivate medicinal plants. There I saw dandelions. That was one surprise! We treat them as entertainment. We blow on them, and then laugh watching those parachutes flying all over place. For China Kazakhs, dandelions are medicinals plants. We also saw chamomile plantations and many other herbs and plants, that in Kazakhstan grow by themselves, while Chine Kazakhs cultivate them for medicinal use.
Kazakh Language in China – What Are Differences?
Their pronunciation is softer. They use other words for some objects, although I am not a Kazakh linguist. Instead of Kazir (Now), they says Azir or Azirshe. And there are many examples.
Kazakh girls in China have the reputation of beauties. They have big eyes, and their faces are beautiful. Chinese men eagerly marry Kazakh and Uyghur girls. Also, Chinese like Kazakh national costumes. Many brides from other regions of China order Kazakh traditional dresses for photo-shoots. Because they are beautiful.
Wedding industry is very well developed. We saw all sorts of wedding dresses! What beauty!
The Kara Jorga dance (Black Horse) is very popular in Xingjian. That is probably the most popular Kazakh dance in China
They all dance Kara Jorga. I think we do not dance it as much as they do.
In general, my impression of the life of Kazakhs in China is that there is nothing hard or scaring about it.
Of course, there is some Chinese specifics, but things are regular – they work, love their families, cherish their kids and take some time to rest …
But my subjective assessment is that life there is harder. In Kazakhstan, things are simpler. At the same, Xingjian is their homeland. And they do not intend to immigrate.
At least, those Kazakhs I met love their country and are proud of it. They say, that when they visit Kazakhstan, they feel alien there. China is their home. I did not meet Kazakhs willing to relocate to Kazakhstan. Of course, they want to visit it, they heard a lot about Almaty, Astana and other cities.
Of course, what I am writing here confronts things circulating in our cyberspace, but I write about what I saw personally”…
