Category: faces

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China faces photo

Faces of Muslim China

Although we left China via the new terminal at Beijing Capital Airport, the overland core of our route was from Kashgar in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Xian in Shaanxi Province, through the central parts of Muslim China. We may not think of China as a Muslim country, and indeed it is not, but there are some twenty million Muslims in China, a larger number than in the majority Islamic countries of Syria or Malaysia (though as a percentage less than 2%). China officially has 55 ethnic minorities, and ten of them are largely Muslim, including the Hui (almost 10 million), who are Muslim but otherwise culturally similar to Han Chinese, Uyghurs (over 8 million), and the other Central Asian Kazakhs/Kyrgyz/Uzbeks/Tajiks (in the aggregate less than 2 million). (For more thoughts on the Central Asian minorities, please see my post of 7.23.)

Since you’ve by now seen plenty of pictures of Uzbeks, Tajiks and Kyrgyz (posts of 6.16, 6.29 and 7.6, respectively), let’s start with the Uyghurs, who live largely in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Uyghur men, Kashgar

Uyghur man in typical Uyghur hat, Kashgar

Uyghur man, Yarkand

A young Uyghur woman with typically Central Asian features, Yarkand

Couple, Kashgar

Young men, Yarkand and Hotan

Siblings with astonishingly fair features, Yarkand

Even among the Central Asian minorities the Tajiks stand out for looking particularly “white” and apparently out-of-place in the PRC. What would you think if you met a Chinese Uyghur or Tajik in your home country, and upon your asking him where he was from, he responded “China?”

Tajik man, Tashkurgan

Tajik woman in traditional dress, Tashkurgan

Moving further east, many of China’s Muslims are classified as Hui, a designation that is not really ethnic, linguistic or cultural but religious–different groups of Hui have nothing in common but their Islamic faith, and the Hui are largely indistinguishable from the Han majority. The Hui have their own autonomous region near Xian, but most Hui live outside of it, all over China. We first encountered Hui in Jiayuguan in Gansu Province but saw the greatest numbers in the city of Xian in Shaanxi Province, where they dominate the city’s atmospheric Muslim Quarter.



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faces Pakistan photo

Faces of Pakistan

We were in Pakistan fairly briefly, and only in the Northern Areas, but did have a chance to get some photographs of the friendly locals. The photos are in geographical order, from the Chinese border in the north to Gilgit, the capital of the Northern Areas, in the south.

Some photographs taken from Sost. Because Sost is an administrative and transit center, we think that these two individuals may not be true natives of the area, but they do have a typical northern appearance.


Heading south our first stop was Passu, which is located in the Wakhi area of the Northern Areas. Although they often consider themselves Hunza, and share the Ismaili faith (see post of 7.13), the Wakhi are ethnically and linguistically distinct, being from the Wakhan Valley shared by Tajikistan and Afghanistan (see post of 6.23). Their language (and likely their genetic ancestry) is related to that of Tajikistan and Iran, rather than the other languages of the Northern Areas.

A Wakhi boy

A Wakhi woman, in traditional dress quite similar to the Tajik Pamiris

Two Wakhi girls. Note how fair the second girl is, just like other Pamiris (see my posts of 6.23 and 6.29). Indeed, it is startling how different the ethnicities and cultures of the Northern Areas are from the rest of Pakistan.

The “heart” of the Northern Areas is the Hunza Valley, populated by a people that speak Burushaski, a language unrelated to any other in the world. The Hunza Valley is famous for its cultural distinctiveness, as well as for its beautiful mountains and healthy way of life.






Our young “guide” up to the Ultar Meadow

A common summer sight–girls and women carrying baskets for apricots

Women, sometimes with cover but often not, are a common site in the Hunza Valley, which is largely Ismaili. Heading further south into Pakistan, women were essentially nowhere to be seen–less so than anywhere else we have been.

Some pictures from Gilgit. Although Gilgit is in the Northern Areas, that it is a much bigger city and its more southern location mean that many different ethnic groups from Pakistan have settled there. For example, the second man below (who liked to smile but not for the camera) told us that he was a Pashtun from Peshawar. Gilgit was extremely tense, with a huge police/military presence trying to suppress ongoing sectarian violence, but the locals were for the large part very friendly. The most common joke, believe it or not, was men pointing at their bearded friends and telling us that they are Taliban. One man even pointed at another man’s large belly saying that it was actually a bomb and he a suicide bomber!






I believe these guys are Hunza, because they are wearing Hunza hats.

Rather intense eyes, don’t you think?

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faces Kyrgyzstan photo

Faces of Kyrgyzstan

Let us start with Kyrgyz in a proper traditional Kyrgyz setting–a yurt. We took these pictures around (Lake) Song Kul, a popular destination in central Kyrgyzstan.


Look at those suburnt cheeks!

A Packers fan!

More urban Kyrgyz


Selling ak-kalpaks, the traditional Kyrgyz hat

As with the other Central Asian republics, Kyrgyzstan has a substantial population of ethnic minorities, including especially Uzbeks in and near the Fergana Valley. We met Uzbeks not only in Osh, but also in the Uzbek village of Arslanbob nearby.

At a market restaurant in Osh. Osh, by the way, has some of the best food in Central Asia (although we did not try the odd concoction pictured).




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faces photo Tajikistan

Faces of Tajikistan

The Tajiks were right up there with Syrians and Iranians (the latter, their kin) in terms of friendliness and warmness to foreign visitors, and we will remember the country very fondly. These portraits are in the order of western lowlands to eastern Pamirs, the direction of our travels.

A beautiful young girl from Penjikent

Elderly Uzbek man, Penjikent. Uzbeks make up some 15% of Tajikistan’s population, living predominantly in the west and north. Tajiks were quick to point out that the ethnic Uzbeks of Tajikistan live much more freely than the ethnic Tajiks of Uzbekistan. [See my post of 6.21.]

Some photographs from Dushanbe. Dushanbe, being the largest city and the capital, contains many different ethnic groups, but the people pictured here appear to be Tajik.


Heading into the mountains of eastern Tajikistan, one encounters the Pamiris, who are an Iranian people like the lowland Tajiks but have a distinct (and ancient) culture. I have read it speculated that they are descendants of the ancient inhabitants of Central Asia, the Scythians, who were reported by many historical sources as having light hair and eyes. Pamiris, having lived in mountainous isolation, retain valley-specific idiosyncratic languages and ancient pre-Islamic customs. [See my post of 6.23.]

A Pamiri family living near a high pass, tending livestock for the summer.


Other portraits of Pamiri Tajiks. Note how light some are in coloration.







Along with the last picture, the following were all taken on the high plateau of the eastern Pamirs. The Murgab District is largely Kyrgyz, Tajikistan’s second largest minority group. I was generally shocked at how “Asian” Kyrgyz look–I could certainly pass for one!



Two members of a rather beautiful family that we met while out on a hike


Cheeks astonishingly burnt by sun

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Afghanistan faces photo Tajikistan

Faces of… Afghanistan

While we were never actually in Afghanistan, our route along the Panj River Valley shared between Tajikistan and Afghanistan kept us within sight and often literally a stone’s throw of Afghanistan for days. Due in equal parts to chance and planning, we were also in the Tajik town of Ishkashim on the day of the cross-border market located in the no-man’s land between the Tajik and Afghan border posts, set up with the assistance of the Aga Khan Foundation (post on the Aga Khan to come) and western donors. As it turned out, the sellers were almost all Afghan men crossing the border to sell Afghan and Iranian goods (including such mundane items as Iranian soft drinks, but also including clothes, machine-made carpets and traditional medicines) while the customers were almost all Tajik women.

The northern part of Afghanistan is largely populated by Farsi/Dari-speaking Tajik people (just like Tajikistan), but some of the individuals pictured seemed to reply to our questions that they were Pashtun, and so I was left uncertain as to their ethnic backgrounds. If you can tell, please enlighten us and comment!









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faces photo Uzbekistan

Faces of Uzbekistan

Some portraits from Uzbekistan. My only comment here, something I would like to discuss at greater length in a future post, is that two of the biggest, most important cities of Uzbekistan, Bukhara and Samarkand, are actually culturally and ethnically Tajik, and so a lot of the people pictured below are probably Tajik-ethnic Uzbek nationals.

Uzbek men in Uzbek hats


Young boy in Uzbek hat. This kid was running a shaved ice stand, little boy serving other little boys.

An aksakal, or white-beard, and his wife, Bukhara

A Bukharan artisan and vendor

Beautiful gold teeth–a common Central Asian ornamentation


Also central to Central Asia–bread

Some non-Tajik minorities:

A couple Russian girls. Russians have been “left behind” in Central Asian countries in varying numbers, although many are choosing to emigrate to Russia.

An ethnic Korean woman selling what I believe Uzbeks would call salads, but to me look like Korean banchan. Most of the Central Asian countries have an ethnic Korean population, from a WWII-era migration from the Soviet Far East (near Korea) to Central Asia forced by Stalin.

A “gypsy,” belonging to a community in Samarkand that is believed to be the descendants of slaves that Tamerlane brought back from India. Note the tribal tattoos.

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faces photo Turkmenistan

Faces of Turkmenistan

Some portraits from our brief stay in Turkmenistan:

One way of categorizing countries may be countries where you can take pictures of police and soldiers and countries you cannot. Surprisingly, for a place reputed to be a police state, this Turkmen officer permitted Derek to take his picture. I believe the exaggerated brim must be a feature of the old Soviet police uniform, as we also recall it from our 2003 visit to Uzbekistan.

These girls must have been on their way to some sort of cultural performance. The Turkmen government, headed by former president Niyazov, has very aggressively pursued national cultural/heritage-type projects in an effort to develop a strong sense of national identity for the newly independent republic. Most famous among these is Niyazov’s book the Ruhnama, an epic telling the (legendary) history of the Turkmen people from ancient times to present, which is compulsory reading in Turkmen schools.

A blushing bride.

Gold-capped teeth–a very common Central Asian sight.

Some attractive young ladies. Derek thought Turkmen women were generally quite attractive.

In front, ethnically Russian but born in Turkmenistan.

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faces Iran photo

Faces of Iran

Soldiers, Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Esfahan

I thought that you might enjoy seeing some photographs of the many, many friendly Iranians we met on our trip. Iranians truly deserve their reputation, among travelers, as some of the warmest and most hospitable people on earth. As I mentioned in my post of 5.9, one of the justifications for the hejab, or Islamic dress code, for women is the outstanding beauty of Iranian women, which would drive men to inappropriate or violent behavior–you can judge for yourself how they stack up to their freer sisters in other parts of the world! [Note: None of the individuals pictured was a source of any information for this or any post.]

A fairly typical young man, Shiraz. Persian Iranians generally have dark hair and eyes.

A fashionable young lady, Shiraz. The form of cover here, a black hood separate from the rest of the outfit, is very common among students–it must required in Iranian schools and universities. Shiraz is, after Tehran, the most liberal of Iran’s cities, and this lady fits in–note the ample and dyed hair peaking out from under the veil and the relatively heavy makeup. Iranian women, for all their legal restrictions, are famous for being rather vain–nose jobs are practically de rigueur.

This feisty girl from Hamedan started out fairly friendly, bringing us cookies, but then, with our guide as translator, gave us a taste of her sharp attitude with comments on our backpacker mode of dress (“I thought Americans were rich, why do you look so poor?”) and Derek’s shaved head (“You better put on your hat, or you’ll burn your head.”). Before long, a large crowd was gathered to hear our repartee.

Young girl, Shiraz. The hejab is required starting from age 9 (termed by Derek the “magic year,” and presumably the age at which the religious establishment thinks that women become enticing), and so I assume this girl is around 8 years old.

Young girl, Yazd. Too young to require cover, but cute in it nonetheless!

Some attractive young adults, Kerman, Yazd and Esfahan. There was a huge population boom after the Islamic Revolution (promoted by the government), and now some 70% of Iranians are under the age of 30.





This cute soldier was satisfying his compulsory military service with museum duty, at a museum that is closed for renovation no less. Sweet gig!

Elderly man and woman, Abiyaneh (see post of 5.22)

Elderly man tending shop in the Kerman bazaar. He told us that he had been at his current location selling bathing goods for over fifty years–he had not changed his line of merchandise despite the fact that the bath his shop is located in front of had been converted into a teahouse more than a dozen years ago.

A cleric, looking particularly unpleasant during a procession for the death of Fatima, Esfahan

Cleric, Qom. Qom is, after Mashhad, Iran’s holiest city and is also the center of religious education in Iran. This gentleman worked in the tourist office at the central shrine in Qom, and answered frankly and helpfully my many questions about Iranian Shiite Islam until I asked whether Muslim Iranians are able to change religions if they wish (my question was repeatedly evaded and then answered untruthfully).

Below are pictures of some of Iran’s many ethnic minorities–Persians make up only some 50% or so of Iran’s population (cf. Syrian post of 4.25), the rest consisting of Azeri Turks, Kurds and others.

An Azeri Turk. When asked, this taxi driver answered that his family was originally from Russia, by which I assume somewhere in or around Azerbaijan, which was part of the former Soviet Union. Azeri Turks form Iran’s largest ethnic group after the Persians, comprising some 25% of the population.

Also a Turk, with a bit too sensitive a face to be a waiter!

A Kurd, selling baggy Kurdish pants. Kurds were not only among the friendliest of Iranians (tough competition for this title!) but, we were told by a Persian, “Kurds never lie.” Some Iranians of Persian descent felt that their Persian brothers were sometimes, or even “always,” duplicitous, though this was not our experience at all. Kurds make up some 10% of Iran’s population.

The Lors, Bakhtiary and Qashqai are three nomadic or partially/formerly nomadic ethnic groups, living around central/western Iran. Many believe that these groups are some of the original inhabitants of now Iran.

A young Lorish man. We were told that the Lors hold a privileged position in contemporary Iranian society. They are also known for their strength–the soldiers pictured at the top of this post were from Lorestan, and one was able to match Derek in his finger strength trick.

An elderly Lorish man, in traditional hat

An elderly Qashqai man, in traditional hat

Bakhtiari man, Tehran

Southeastern Iran, as well as the part of Pakistan that is across the border, is known as Baluchistan and is peopled by Baluchis, who are South Asian in appearance and culture. Baluchi man, Kerman.

Jewish man, Hamedan. We were told that there are about 25,000 Jews left in Iran (largely in the biggest cities, where they form a rather wealthy minority). Some Iranians were quick to point out that Jews live peacefully and unmolested in Iran, and that their problem was not with Jews but Israelis and Zionists. This man confirmed that no problems stemmed from his religion in Iran.

Zoroastrian man

Afghan boy, Shiraz. Many Afghanis have come to Iran for work, including primarily construction work. Young Afghan boys troll around city parks and other public spaces, selling gum or fortunes to passers-by. Despite the extensive shared history and common language (the Afghanis in Iran seem to be largely Persian/Dari speakers), Afghanis in Iran seem to suffer from a fair amount of discrimination.

Another young man from Afghanistan, this time Hazara, the “Asiatic” minority group of Afghanistan. This young man had lived in Iran all of his life and was working in southeastern Iran as a mechanic. Incredible smile!