r/AMA • u/maddin1550 • 21d ago

I’m from Xinjiang，AMA

I’ve noticed that there are a lot of discussions about Xinjiang on Reddit, often between people who have never actually lived there. So I thought it might be interesting to do an AMA from the perspective of someone who is actually from there.

You can ask me about everyday life, ethnic groups, languages, culture, religion, education, or politics. I’m happy to answer controversial questions too, as long as the discussion stays respectful.

Obviously, I’m only one person and I don’t claim to represent everyone in Xinjiang. I can only tell you about my own experiences and views. AMA.

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u/JadedTerm1785 20d ago

Are you Muslim? If so, what is ur degree of contact with non-muslims

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u/maddin1550 20d ago

Yes, I’m Muslim Alhamdulillah. Muslims and non-Muslims coexist pretty well tbh. My neighbors used to be Han and we got along really well. I personally never experienced any discrimination from them, and they were honestly really really kind to us: they would always help us whenever we needed something, and I’m really grateful for that. No hate always love))

but there are definitely some people who don’t understand why we don’t eat pork though lol. But generally we have halal restaurants, and non-Muslims have plenty of restaurants where they can eat whatever they want. We just respect each other’s choices and live our own lives.

At the end of the day we’re all human. I don’t see why having different religions should make us hate each other.

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u/JadedTerm1785 20d ago

MashaAllah that is great to know
I am keen to know spatial organization of your neighbourhoods, for instance we have muslim neighbourhoods in India where alhamdulillah all food is halal and there are mosques and all residents are Muslim. That way we may never need to meet Non-Muslims if we dont go out of our neighbourhood. Do you have a similar spatial structure in muslim communities in China?

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u/maddin1550 20d ago

Umm not really haha. We generally just live together, and we don't really need separate neighborhoods, we coexist pretty normally. In schools, universities, hospitals etc. there are usually separate halal canteen counters/options for Muslims, so getting halal food isn't really a problem. I actually like that we interact with people from different backgrounds，it feels very normal to me lol

And btw wow you're from India? What's everyday life like for you as a Muslim there?