Day six in Xinjiang: Xibe

Dominic Swire

Saturday 23 August 2009

Today our trip to Xinjiang region focused on the Xibe minority.

With a population of only 40,000, the Xibe ethnic group makes up only 0.2 percent of Xinjiang��s population of 20 million. The Xibe people are descendents of around 4,000 soldiers and family members sent from north eastern China during the Qing Dynasty to the northwest frontier of China. The soldiers were garrisoned in their new base to defend the country from cross-border raids and develop some of the wasteland in the region.

A child recites Mandarin Chinese during a lesson at the Xibe School  on Saturday 23 August, 2009. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]

The Xibe people are very proud of their history and are said to have a passion for archery, and a dislike for eating horse or dog meat as both animals played an important role in their trek across the country all those years ago.

In the afternoon we visited a Xibe school of 1,200 students, around half of which were from Xibe families. The next largest ethnic group was Kazakhs and then Han Chinese. As we entered the school gates we saw the large blue and white school building designed with an apparent Russian influence. Directly in front of this were a group of around 50 students undergoing army training and being drilled by a soldier in full uniform.

A few minutes later it was playtime and the premises were suddenly swarming with little bodies running around and shouting, many wearing the traditional costume of their respective ethnic group as a special gesture for our visit. We spoke with a Kazakh boy of about 12 wearing a long black and blue gown and tall hat giving him a very regal look. As Kazakhs are said to be fond of horses we asked him if he liked riding. A light lit up in his eyes as he told us he was a good rider but no longer had a horse as he recently had to sell his.