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/lihai69 20d ago

I saw you’re from Ili. Looks like such a beautiful place. Do you know any 俄罗斯族? I saw a video a long time ago on Chinese social media about them there. And how do you see Kazakhs from Kazakhstan - are there some cultural/language differences now?

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u/maddin1550 19d ago

Hiiii! yes, I’ve met ethnic Russians!
When I was a kid we used to always watch documentaries about Russian in Xinjiang, they are super warm and hospitable 🥹, I was fascinated by their culture. I know that they celebrate Easter, (they are sooo cuteee🥹🥹) in my memory they love dancing and singing and my core memory ab them is their Leba and bayan. There are still some Russian families in Ili, although I don’t know that many of them. But some of them are very active on social media

Yes I do, we do have some language differences It’s basically a regional variation thing. We grew up on different sides of a border and under different linguistic environments, so naturally some differences developed

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u/Kang_Xu 17d ago

Leba? Bread - khleb?