Ainijiang Younusi plays a traditional instrument at the entrance of his shop at the Urumqi International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on September 23 (WEI YAO) 

It has been 30 years since Uygur couple Ainijiang Younusi and his wife Ayiguli Maimaiti moved from Kashgar to Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to make a living with their craftsmanship.

When he was a child, Ainijiang's father taught him both musical instrument-making and painting. He later combined these skills to focus on hand-painting drums, adorning them with the images of pomegranate that symbolizes unity and poplar tree that stands for resilience. Ayiguli also comes from an artisan family in Kashgar—her father made Yingjisha knives. After marrying Ainijiang, she too learned how to make musical instruments. They now run a shop that specializes in painted drums and handmade musical instruments at the famous Urumqi International Grand Bazaar, and their two sons have carried on the family trade by opening their own shops in Urumqi, the region's capital.

Looking back on her childhood inside a mud-brick home in Kashgar's Ancient City, Ayiguli recalled her father's struggle to support the family through his knife-making craft. She said she has seen a marked change today, with craftspeople finding it easier to make a living thanks to tourists' growing fondness for and willingness to buy Xinjiang's handicrafts.

In 2017, they bought an apartment near the Grand Bazaar. Now, every morning at 10 a.m., they walk from home to open their shop in the bazaar, working until 12:30 a.m. before heading back. "Before coming to Urumqi, we didn't speak a word of standard Chinese, and our social circle consisted mostly of other Uygur friends," Ayiguli told Beijing Review. Today, she can easily chat with tourists from all over in standard Chinese, introducing instruments and sharing stories from their lives.

As Xinjiang is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the autonomous region, she wears a red T-shirt printed with a celebratory message to warmly greet customers at the shop entrance. Ainijiang often sits by the door playing his instrument, the music attracting passersby of different ethnicities to stop and listen.

In their eyes, the Urumqi International Grand Bazaar is like a vast, wall-less stage for ethnic interaction, where the strains of Uygur instruments, the melodies of Kazakh songs, and the laughter of tourists intermingle. The dozen or so types of instruments in their shop have become a window for many to learn about Xinjiang.

(Reporting from Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) 

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