If you’ve spent any amount of time in Xinjiang, chances are you’ve heard this song more times than you can count. It is, in my opinion, the most popular song in Xinjiang.

A rawap is a “Uyghur long-necked lute without sympathetic strings”2. It is a symbol of Uyghur music and culture and one of the most common souvenirs that you’ll find in all the markets in Xinjiang.

I took this picture at the Uyghur Musical Instrument Factory in Kashgar. All along every inch of wall space stringed instruments were either hanging or leaning. The most famous of these is the rawap, the instrument you see with what looks like horns coming out of its neck. The owner convinced me to sit down and try to pick out a few songs with him but I ended up spending most of the time just watching him play.

I ran across a very interesting website the other day that has a large selection of recordings documenting the beautiful spectrum of Xinjiang culture and music. It’s not a new site but it still remains quite relevant today. The media, recorded in 2003 by a man who had been given a grant to travel here for that purpose, offers a rare glimpse into this province that all my writing combined will never be able to do.

I bought a new instrument today! I told Tiff before we left to live here in Xinjiang that I wanted to buy a traditional Chinese instrument while we were here. Forget the little trinkets, touristy souvenirs, or t-shirts – give me a nice instrument. So after looking at many different instruments I chose what is known as the Gu Zheng (pronounced “goo-jun”) and bought a very nice one last weekend with the help of Tiff and one of our teaching partners. Its rich redwood is a beautiful compliment to its …