a talk by our patron John Pilkington on Wednesday 8 March 2023. Starting by the Aral Sea, John passed through the legendary cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, before crossing the Pamirs to Kyrgyzstan’s old silk-producing heartland. He made it through to Kashgar, and explored the previously off-limits Taklamakan Desert. A quick look at the Jiayuguan gate on the Great Wall, finishing in Ürümqi which has been transformed from sprawling hovels into a modern Chinese city. These are the lands of the Uyghur people, whose lives and culture have been torn apart.
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