Goodman David S.G. Exiled by definition: the Salar of Northwest China

Portal - Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies. — Vol. 2, No. 1 January. — Sydney: University of Technology Sydney, 2005. — p. 1-28.The scene at the crossroads seems typical of anywhere in Central Asia. The air is arid; walls and sidewalks are made of pressed mud; the sandy dust eddies and swirls down the road. The streetscape is unmistakably Turkic and Islamic. Along the road from a mosque, on one side of the cross-street leading into the junction is a row of explicitly Halal eateries. Outside, at stools, the customers are all men, most sporting embroidered hats and prolific beards. Round the corner are a number of hardware and motor vehicle repair shops, with outside, younger men sitting around on motorcycles, smoking. Women almost invariably wear a black headscarf, and have their arms, legs and shoulders also clothed. If accompanying their husbands, they walk at a discreet distance behind. At the crossroads itself, there are rows of shaded stalls where open-air butchers have legs and shoulders of lamb hanging on hooks in full view, the blood dripping onto the ground. Opposite, dry farming vegetables chilies, capsicums, cabbage - are on sale from the backs of trucks.