FORBIDDEN CITY

His face is calm and self-confident. He is only one but he can see everybody.
Thousands of chinese citizens every day coming to Tienanmen Place to feel his preasance. The holy Mao is happy in his red heaven. Now China is great like never in the past. He nows that future belongs to him. Policemen, soldiers, security cameras, spies are spread all around watching streets and buildings. In old hutongs areas on every corner people with red belts on their arms watching your steps, on every street there is at least one police station. Even in the toilet in our hotel there are small cameras. Beijing is a forbidden city at all. There is only one thing without rules. It is food. In the city where everything is under control you can feel realy free tasting the most wired things in the world. Big fat still moving silk worms ready to fry, baby sharks on the sticks, colurfull starfish, shaking jellyfish, black scorpions, big 20 centimeters long centipedes, baby birds and finnally the big bowl full of pig's penises stuffed wih red chili. If you are more keen on and wealthy enough there are many porsh restaurants. Interiors are decorated in gold and red with stuff wearing only traditionall clothes. You can try such exclusive specialties like camel's hump, lip of a deer, drunken shrimps, squirle's tail or horribly expensive bird nest soup.

say hello to Mao!

The biggest in the world. Tienanmen.

Secret objects in Hutong Area. Old Beijing..

avantgarde architecture

mobile comunication

fried baby birds ready to eat

the bowl full of pigs penises

Urumqi is like New York moved to the desert in west China. Skyscrapers, expressways, luxury shops built up in a couple of years in a small traditional Uygur town. The old world disapeared in our eyes. People are still used to live like in the past. Ride on a donkey even if they have to cross the biggest, full of vehicles roundabout in downtown. Bake a bread in white, clay, hand made oven or even kill animals on the street to be sure that meat is halal (clean in arab).

First sun rise in Urumqi

Chinese labour on the ruins of the Uygur oldtown.

An Uzbek craftsman in front of his workshop.

He can repair yor bike 24h a day.

Afternoon rush hour in Urimqi. Uygur peole coming back to their poor houses on the suburbs.

I bought a fresh, round bread from this smiling guys.

Uygur people are used to sell meat everywhere. The street dust is being removed by piece of dough.

Whole barbecued sheep.

Medicine vendor with dried snakes, starfish and lizards.

The man who invited us for nice ceremony.

They left only skin on the street.

The every part of the cow is chopped, put on the stics and barbecued.
It is an Uygur kebab.

It is easy to get from Kazakhstan to China. Just take a bus from Almaty and after 12 hours you are in Yining, the capital of Kazakh Autonomous Region in China (west part of the Xinjiang Province). The country is inhabited by many nations like Kazakh, Uygur, Kyrgyz, Uzbek and of course Chinese emperors. On the streets of Yining we felt more like we were in Turkey than in China, surrounded by the Uygur guys in colourful jumpers, with mustaches, smiles, and dark round eyes calling you from every corner. They were really surprised about our presence in their poor, forgotten country, surrounded by milions of Chinese invaders.
In the afternoon we came back to our hotel. After dusk, just around the corner on the main street of Yining, we found many open air restaurants. The harsh climate of west-north china has caused local food to be extremely greasy and spicy. We could put as much pure white sheep fat as we wanted into our hot noodle soup made of intestines and stomach. That kind of food need a couple of shots of spirits so we did it. After the dinner we were ready to cross the Gobi desert but finally we changed our minds and we went to the ladyboy show at the disco nearest our hotel.

ADV

Travel magazine POZNAJ SWIAT published the full article about Beshbarmak. (December 2006)
text: Maciej Moszczynski, Karol Slowik
photos: Karol Slowik
www.poznajswiat.com.pl

Kazakhstan - beshbarmak in Quaraghandy

KAZAKHSTAN – PROGRESS :)




Kitchen and our bedroom in our friend’s flat in Karagandhy. We are sleeping between the extremely noisy working fridge and 50 years old washing mashine.




The soviet era blocks of flats create urban landscape of the city. Blue fenced square between the buildings is basketball play ground and ice rink. Depends on weather.






Beshbarmak is the most porsh dish for traditional kazakh people. On the food market we bought a goat head. We started preparing beshbarmak with our friendly kazakh family in the small house on the Kharagandy suburbs.







First step is to burn the hair and clean the skin by a knife.









After 3 hours of boiling the head is ready to be cut and eaten.





Every part of head has different taste and quality. Eyes and ears are considered to be very delicious. Usually only vip person can get it at the party.



Family members teaching Maciek how to make beshbarmak. The Memory photo.