In one of my last entries I had already mentioned that Hetian was famous in history for its production of silk, jade and carpets. Despite the incredible heat in the city, I nevertheless decided to leave the hotel and find out whether the city can still be called the City of Jade, Silk and Carpets or not. Decide yourself - here is what I found:

Carpets


One of the carpet factories in Hetian


Carpet weaving




Some working steps before

Jade


The Hetian jade trading centre


Merchant praising his jade


Jade in different shapes and colors. The pure white is the most precious.



Silk


Silk cocoons


Silk threads


76 years old - started this job when he was 15.


Spindle - more than 200 years of history


Fast with the hands...


...and also with the feet


The finished fabrics are sold at the Bazaar



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Do you still remember “La Grand Dame” from Dushanbe? Well, I discovered a similar refreshing oasis right in the heart of Hetian. It is not French, the owner would probably call it Venetian. He wanted to call his Café “Marco Polo”, unfortunately he did not get the permission to do so. Now it is called “Marco’s Dream Café” (Well, I have to admit I would have also preferred Marco Polo, but it shouldn’t be the name of a place making you decide to go in). The Café was opened in 2007 by a Malaysian couple. Both of them, as well as their two little daughters, speak English without accent. When they came to Hetian, they worked for an American NGO, and later decided to open the Café. All of them are very friendly and usually come over for a chat. They offer Malay food, but also some Western things – I tried the chicken with ginger rice. Best of all was the desert, a chocolate strawberry cake and REAL coffee – soooo good!

I told the owner that I was really happy in this moment – Pilaf and meat on a stick since weeks already – I couldn’t stand it anymore. Now I would finally get a piece of good cake. “That’s just what I told the Chinese when they asked me why I would open a Western-style Café in Hetian. When western foreigners arrive in Hetian, they will long for western coffee and cake!” I have to say he was more than right…

For anyone who should ever make it to Hetian, please check out this place. It is located just around the corner of Tuanjie Square 团结广场. It is a little hidden, but you can recognize it by the small wooden coffee tables and chairs standing in front of their window. They will also be included in the next Lonely Planet.

Yes, correctly – I am not in Qiemo as expected. When I went to the bus station in Minfeng in the morning for getting on a car to Qiemo, I was told that the street was closed due to heavy sandstorms and other reasons. I should wait until noon. Just about one hour later I was told that the street would not be opened again until at least the day after tomorrow and I should better return to Hetian. Well, what to do? In one of my earlier itineraries I had included Kuche on the northern Silk Road which is famous for its Buddhist Grottoes full of mural paintings – Kizil. Due to the time I took it out though. However, now I had to go back to Hetian and I did not know if or when I would be able to go to Qiemo. As I had other things on my plan, I just decided to continue my journey on the northern part of the Silk Road, taking a flight to Kuche and then continuing to Korla – bringing me back on the originally planned route. But before I would leave for Korla, I still had one day left in Hetian…


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