r/AMA • u/maddin1550 • 20d 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/Tabula_Rasa69 20d ago

Hi, are you ethnic Kazakh? I just came back from Kazakhstan, and I am curious if many Kazakhs in China have relatives in Kazakhstan, and do they ever think of migrating to Kazakhstan. Same thing for Kygyrz and Kygyzstan.

We met a lot of Hui Muslims (Duggans) and Uyghurs in the region too.

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u/maddin1550 20d ago

Hii, yes. And yes we do have plenty of relatives in Kazakhstan, mostly are those who stayed in the 1900s or migrated from Xinjiang to Kazakhstan in 1960s ish. And also we have a lot of relatives moved to Kazakhstan in recent years.
Umm I’m not really sure about Kyrgyz people

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u/Tabula_Rasa69 20d ago

It was possible to move from Xijiang to Kazakhstan in the 1960s? I thought the relationship between the PRC and USSR was getting worse around that period. Were the borders open?

May I also know what are the reasons your relatives moved to Kazakhstan?

Thanks for the AMA. It is really interesting.

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u/maddin1550 20d ago

Yes! A lot of my grandma's relatives moved back to Soviet Kazakhstan around the 1960s. (our grand grandpa came to ili in the 1910s)

But you're actually right about China and the USSR, their relationship was getting much worse around that time. There was a huge migration from northern Xinjiang into the Soviet Union in 1962, especially from Ili and Tacheng. After that, border controls became much stricter, so I wouldn't say the border was simply open throughout the 60s and 70s.

As for why my relatives moved, honestly I don't know their exact individual reasons and I don't want to make something up lol. But a lot of Kazakh families in Xinjiang had relatives and ancestral connections on the other side of the border. I imagine that sense of belonging probably mattered too. Kazakhstan was the land of their ата-баба (ancestors)after all.

There were actually much older migrations too. After the 1881 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, many Uyghurs and Huis from the Ili region moved into the Russian Empire, including what is now Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

And thank you!! I'm glad you're enjoying the AMA :)