Kashgar's always been about trade, and there's no place better to witness the essential experience of browsing, haggling, buying and selling than at the city's renowned Sunday Market. 

Though it's not as wild as it was before the weekend livestock market was moved to a new space a bit further outside of town, the Sunday Market (Zhongxiya Shichang in Mandarin and Yekshenba Bazaar in Uighur) remains a quintessential Central Asian experience. Xinjiang residents from far and wide converge on Kashgar on market day, as do traders from distant points, all together re-enacting a ritual that hasn't changed much since the first days of the Silk Road.

It's a delightful place to take in the region's diversity, as representatives of various ethnic groups and subgroups show up, often in distinctive costume. Everything from fresh melons and cabbages to bolts of local silk and hand-woven rugs shows up, along with animals, clothing, hats, knives, jewelry and pretty much anything else you might imagine, and much that you never would. 

The Livestock Market is worth a visit of its own: horses, droves of sheep and cattle, and a colorful mix of humanity, with nomads in from the plains, deserts and mountains meeting buyers and sellers amidst a lot of tasty open-air Xinjiang grilling and gabbing.