Boss Prep

Irade

June 16, 4:12 am BT – 2:12am UT, Kashgar, China

Irade had a mental image of Kashgar, born from her limited memories and what people told her Xinjiang was like. She had been expecting some kind of large, but old-looking town, like one of those preserved heritage sites where people lived in ancient homes but with modern-day amenities.

She wasn't expecting high-rises and security checkpoints.

The streets of Kashgar were dirtier than Beijing, but there were a lot less people on them. There were a surprising amount of Han Chinese out and about. Irade was expecting to see more Uyghurs, given that this was an Uyghur city.

But then she watched as an Uyghur resident try to go through the security checkpoint to get to the store for groceries. She was detained for about half an hour before finally being let through.