Convenient Traditional Transportations
2 min readHorses, camels, yaks, donkeys and a variety of wooden-wheel trucks are the major traditional means of transportation for various ethnic groups of Xinjiang.
Kazak People and Horses Xinjiang has a vast extent of grassland and has a long history of horse husbandry. Horses are closely related to the life of the people of various ethnic groups. In the pasturing areas, horses are regarded as important means for agricultural production and transportation, which are used for people to ride and transport things. The Kazak people compare horses to their wings and possess strong feelings for these animals, and there are a great many descriptions and eulogies in their literature and artistic works such as proverbs, music and poems. The Kazak people may not leave horses throughout their life because it would be difficult for one to move a single step without horses in the vast grassland. In the pasturing areas, almost everyone has a horse and the Kazak children have to learn to ride a horse when he/she is four or five years old.
When a boy is five or six, his parents will choose an auspicious day to hold a “Riding Ceremony for the Child”and present their child with a saddle,a girth,a stirrup,a horsewhip, etc. In Pamirs, the great majority of the roads in the valley stretch along the mountain creeks and the precipices, the narrow places of which may only allow horses to pass through. Horses play an important role in the life of the ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, which are not only fast and convenient means of transportation but also excellent entertainment for people’s life. People use horses to do a quantity of activities such as horse racing, goat grabbing, girl chasing game and hunting.
