http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/ (For photos, click here.) var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-6894844-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); Copyright 2009 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:01:03 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype//?v=1.03 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss For the most part, internet discourse has failed to capture a frank, local perspective on the Uruмqi Riots; anonymity in online forums has allowed extreme commentary, while the public nature of TV has resulted in self-censorship among those interviewed. (I... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/08/riot_feedback_l.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/08/riot_feedback_l.php Personal Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:01:03 -0500 To satisfy your curiosity about what Xinjiangers are reading during the Great Cyberspace Blackout of 2009, below is a July 25 screenshot of a Tianshannet Uruмqi Riot feature, which currently remains blocked outside of Xinjiang. As I had mentioned earlier,... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/08/_640_403_640_24.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/08/_640_403_640_24.php News Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:13:44 -0500 I just returned from Хіnjіаng a few days ago, where the government has shut off the internet since the riots. (Naively somehow, I did not think that this would happen at all! I still have so much to learn about... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/08/read_this_riot.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/08/read_this_riot.php News Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:12:33 -0500 My students, all first or second generation Xinjiangers A month back, I gave my sophomores their final examinations-- a blind choice from six questions, which I had distributed in the previous class so that they could prepare some answers.... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/07/migrations.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/07/migrations.php Personal Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:49:41 -0500 Today's recipe is for Kawa Mantisi, or Pumpkin Dumplings. A common dish throughout Central Asia, it is usually served steamed. In Kazakh and Kyrgyz cuisine, these dumplings often are topped with butter, sour cream, or hot red pepper powder.... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/07/xinjiang_recipe_4.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/07/xinjiang_recipe_4.php Recipes Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:43:13 -0500 Cynics of development often joke that the name "China" comes from the word "拆那" (chai-na), or "tear that down." Recent events in Kashgar, as many news outlets already have announced, reflect this reckless attitude. In the past several months,... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/_sign_in_the_qi.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/_sign_in_the_qi.php News Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:46:42 -0500 Although thousands of riots go unreported every year in China, two Xinjiang-related incidents have cropped up in the news in the past ten days. Labor and business disputes, people in China worry, are threatening to destabilize social order amid the... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/mob_rule.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/mob_rule.php News Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:40:54 -0500 Earlier this month on June 6, Xinjiang Agricultural University's College of Computer and Information Engineering celebrated its tenth anniversary at its Urumqi campus. Several hundred students, teachers, and administrators attended this ceremony, which also debuted the new president of that... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/dress_code.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/dress_code.php Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:00:59 -0500 While scrounging the Urumqi night market near the south train station, I found these bizarre souvenirs among the doppas, knives, and mirrors that usually "represent" Uyghur culture to tourists. I first present Exhibit A, a fold-over pocketbook with the label... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/kitsch.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/kitsch.php Culture Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:49:47 -0500 This post combines photographs from the two hiking trips taken over the past weeks. After the Six City concert, I returned to Lujiaowan with three friends on a day trip, as the forecast had predicted rain all weekend. The locals... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/post_10.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/post_10.php Travels Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:05:10 -0500 Last Friday, my friend GA invited me along with a few friends to a "hip-hop party" in the Daximen district of Urumqi. Held every week, this venue hosts a few deejays who spin American rap and reggaeton hits. At about... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/uyghur_music_si.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/uyghur_music_si.php Culture Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:57:19 -0500 My friend and remote colleague JAT in Guangzhou posted the above sign on his blog, taken when he had accompanied a friend to the arcade. There, they had watched a 4D movie about dinosaurs; the extra D meaning that... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/post_9.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/post_9.php Culture Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:03:04 -0500 Today's recipe is for Sirikash Kebab, or Kebab with Yellow Noodles, one of my favorite Xinjiang dishes. Slightly chilled, Sirikash Kebab makes a refreshing meal for a hot summer night. Truly industrious cooks can attempt pulling noodles by hand,... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/xinjiang_recipe_3.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/xinjiang_recipe_3.php Recipes Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:59:42 -0500 In the past two weeks, President Obama has appealed to a hundred foreign nations to take in the seventeen Uyghurs imprisoned at Guantanamo, as fierce congressional opposition has prevented their resettlement in the United States. The primary candidates-- Australia, Canada,... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/exiled_to_parad.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/exiled_to_parad.php News Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:50:43 -0500 This past week, my university gave us a three-day holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival. Unfortunately, we live in a wasteland where rivers and lakes are evaporating rapidly, so we did not celebrate by launching canoes in polluted bodies... http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/license_to_ili.php http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/schristmas/2009/06/license_to_ili.php Travels Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:09:38 -0500