A painting with the subject of Zhang Qian's visiting to Western Regions as all envoy.

The Tajiks: Chinese Europeans

The next day we arrived at the county town of Taxkorgan. The only street in town had few pedestrians or animal-driven carts, and motor vehicles were even rarer, Not surprisingly, the town is described as a place where there is "only one street, one light and one loudspeaker, which can be heard all over town".

The Tajiks and Russians are the only two ethnic groups in China that are of European origin, with long, straight noses, deepset brown eyes and black hair. Of the total Chinese Tajik population of over 26,000, more than half make their home in Taxkorgan. At the Tagarma grazing ground, we saw a group of very charming kids with brownish hair, blue eyes and white complexions, the skin colour the Tajiks are born with. As they grow up,their skin will gradually turn a dark red under the highland sunshine. Their habit of kissing each other when they meet is perhaps a vestige of their European cultural heritage.

They call themselves the descendants of eagles,saying that only eagles and the Tajiks can live freely and happily in the harsh conditions of the Pamir Highland, One of their favorite pastimes is the eagle dance, in which they stretch out their arms and flap them as if they are eagles soaring in the sky. Their dance is accompanied by a tune that sounds like eagles crying, played on short flutes made from eagle bones. Very high-pitched and loud, the flute music can travel far and wide on the vast highland.