In Xinjiang, Chinese are bulldozing away a culture

After outbreaks of ethnic violence between Han Chinese and minority Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, China, in July, globetrotting East Village conflict photographer Q. Sakamaki visited the province — China’s westernmost — in August. Uighurs are a Turkic Muslim ethnic group. Xinjiang means “new frontier” in Mandarin, and the government has encouraged mass migration into the area. China is “modernizing” Xinjiang, demolishing mud-brick structures in ancient Silk Road cities, like Kashgar and Khotan, and rebuilding with high-rises, in the name of security and earthquake protection. But Sakamaki fears a culture is being obliterated.