Pick Pocketed!
You hear about it, you are warned about it and you really try to be careful but those pick pocketers are bold! Yes it happened to me. One evening this last week TJ, Tony and I were walking around, a bit lost. Our mission was to find an shop that sold DVD’s, ok so they were pirated and you may be thinking, serves you right as you were contributing to the illegal ways of China BUT we were FAR FAR away from the third story ‘shopping arcade’ which sold all kinds of fakey fakey purses, watches and the afore mentioned DVD’s.
Before I was accosted by the pick pocketer, we had been walking around trying to find a particular street and we were definitely lost. We were approached by a nice Chinese guy (the nationality distinction will become apparent later) who sidled up to TJ and began a small sing songy phrase, watch? Purse? TJ looked at him and said DVD’s? Sure sure I have everything, 5 minute walk come come. The three of us look at each other all thinking – never go with strangers. But there were 3 of us and TJ towered over him and really as a group (well Tony and TJ) could have taken him down! We shrugged and said ok. As we walked with this guy he whips out his Louis Vuitton business card case and hands us his card. And of course says ‘see nice case Louis Vuitton, I have everything’. Business card? Wow. He makes a turn into an alleyway and we were all thinking - what are we doing, yet continued to follow him up three flights of stairs. I know I know we should be dead right? This rickety old house was converted into a shopping arcade if you will, each room had different merchandise. I can’t tell you everything that was there as I was slightly nervous and didn’t take in everything, that feeling soon subsided as it really was a “legit” illegal shopping arcade. We had one focus and wanted to get out as fast as possible so I said DVD? And voila, hundreds of DVD’s appeared on the counter and we started to pick through them. We made a purchase and quickly left.
As we were walking home, still lost, our ‘beacon’ became the top of a high rise that has a light on top the shape of a ships smoke stack. We knew this was a building near our apartment. We would look up and continue walking toward our beacon knowing we were getting closer and closer to home. And then it happened, probably 3 blocks from home, off on a quiet side street I felt and heard the pocket zipper of my jacket being pulled down. Fortunately this jacket has faulty zipper pockets. The zipper always gets caught in the fabric edge and gets stuck. So this small guy came up from behind slipped his hand on to the zipper and began pulling, I did not feel it at first just heard the zip and then it got stuck. I realized immediately what was happening and turned around and just looked at this smallish white guy standing there looking right back at me. I paused and then just screamed, upon reflection not a good scream, but a scream nevertheless. Tony and TJ turned and came back toward us and I said hey this guy tried to pick my pocket. TJ and Tony were debating whether to take him down when this guy makes some gestures that I stepped on his foot. Finally we just turned and walked away; all of us really upset and jacked up. We were really surprised that a white guy was picking my pocket and we all were wondering where he was from.
We learned from our tour guide the next day that he was Uyghur.
Here is a little research I did about the Uyghur's.
The Uyghur’s are a Turkic people of Central Asia. Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also known by its controversial name Uyghurstan or East Turkistan) in the People's Republic of China. The name Xinjiang, which means "new territory" or "new frontier" in Chinese, is considered offensive by many advocates of Uyghur independence who prefer to use historical or ethnic names such as Uyghurstan or East Turkestan (with Turkestan sometimes spelled as Turkistan).[14]
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the USA, China voiced its support for the United States of America in the war on terror. The Chinese government has often referred to Uyghur nationalists as "terrorists" and received more global support for their own "war on terror" since 9/11. Human rights organizations have become concerned that this "war on terror" is being used by the Chinese government as a pretext to repress ethnic Uyghurs.[15] Uyghur exile groups also claim that the Chinese government is suppressing Uyghur culture and religion, and responding to demands for independence with human rights violations.[16]
According to at least one outside source, Beijing has "decimated Uyghur culture."
The piece of land in China that sticks up between Kazakhstan and Mongolia is East Turkestan.
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