Billiards in West White Poplar Gully, Xinjiang

Ref: 070701-2010     Date: 01-07-2007

Young men playing billiards outside yurts at West White Poplar Gully (Southern Pastures, Xinjiang). The Southern Pastures are used for the summer grazing of Kazakh herds. The livestock - sheep, goats, cattle, horses and perhaps a few bactrian camels - spend the summer in the mountains. Holiday makers - for example, from Urumqi - come to the West White Poplar Gully for rides in wagens and on horseback, to eat at the yurts and enjoy the beautiful scenery. However, this is a fragile landscape, already damaged by too intensive exploitation.