Hotan night market (Photo by He Chuan)
Cctv news(Reporter He Chuan Yuan Yuqian) The most honest side of a city is often hidden in the noisy night market.
In the middle of June, after 8 pm in Hotan, Xinjiang, the afterglow of the sun has not dissipated. At the night market in Hotan, the reporter discovered such a secret: there is a deep red gene hidden in a zongzi.
Hotan night market (Photo by He Chuan)
Hotan is the southernmost city in Xinjiang, more than 1,500 kilometers away from Urumqi. It is located between Taklimakan Desert and Karakorum Mountain, and the alluvial plain formed after the intersection of Karakash River and Yulong Kashi River.
Hotan is a multi-ethnic city composed of 21 ethnic groups including Uygur, Han, Hui and Kazak. According to historical records, Zhang Qian left the Western Regions, and Hetian began to be written in Khotan, which was one of the four towns in Anxi in the early Han Dynasty. In 1959, it was called hetian county, and in 1984, it was built in Hotan city, famous for its beautiful jade. Today, Hotan Night Market is one of the business cards with the same reputation as Meiyu.
Hotan Night Market is located at the southern end of Yuquanhe Park and the north side of Renmin West Road, covering an area of 4,662 square meters. Under the circular greenhouse with a height of six or seven meters and a width of more than ten meters, nearly 300 delicious snacks from north and south Xinjiang and all over the country are lined up on both sides of the greenhouse. At 9 o’clock every night, the sign light of "Hotan Night Market" at the door lights up, and local residents and foreign tourists flock to it, and it is endless at night.
The staff at the Hotan Night Market site introduced that the original Hotan Night Market was spontaneously formed near Unity Square and moved to the north of Renmin West Road in May 2015. In the second year after the relocation, the night market was expanded and renovated, and tables, chairs, dining cars and ovens were provided free of charge to all stalls. Now, on average, more than 6,000 guests from inside and outside the region come to the night market to taste delicious food every day.
Hotan night market (Photo by He Chuan)
Here, there is a snack with a unique meaning: yogurt zongzi.
The owner of this shop is a Uighur elder sister. She peeled the zongzi, put it in a small transparent bowl, flattened the zongzi with a Xiao Mu shovel, spread yogurt on the zongzi, then poured special syrup and jujube juice, and added ice slag. Zongzi has the fragrance and softness of glutinous rice in the south of the Yangtze River, as well as the acidity of old yogurt in southern Xinjiang. The sweet jujube juice made of Hetian jujube and honey combines two diametrically opposite ingredients to make this unique flavor snack sweet but not greasy, sour and sweet.
The staff of the 14th Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps said: "In Hotan, there is also a nice name for yogurt zongzi, called ‘ Great national unity ’ . ‘ Born in Jinggangshan, grew up in Nanniwan and settled in Tianshan Mountain ’ Does the regiment feel very similar to this zongzi? "
Hotan night market scene. (Photo by He Chuan)
The 14th Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps was formerly a part of the Sixth Army Corps of the Red Army and belonged to the 719 Regiment of the 359 Brigade of the Eighth Route Army during the Anti-Japanese War. In December 1949, 1,800 officers and men of the whole regiment crossed the Taklimakan Desert, the "Sea of Death", on foot for 1,580 Li, and marched into Hotan, which opened a new chapter in the history of Hotan. This is the origin of the phrase "born in Jinggangshan, raised in Nanniwan and settled in Tianshan".
In 1954, all the officers and men of the July 19 th Regiment responded to the call of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao, and collectively switched jobs on the spot and settled the border. By November, 2000, the CPC Central Committee approved the establishment of the 14th Division of Agricultural Construction of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and later renamed it the 14th Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which has been in charge of five regimental pastures for nearly 70 years, making its own contribution to peace and stability in Xinjiang. Customs such as eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival in the Mainland have also been integrated with Hotan in these decades.
"We have red genes!" This is the sentence that reporters heard the most when they went to the grass-roots company.
This "red gene" is Wang Erchun, the first head and party secretary of the 47th Regiment. He worked as the head for 20 years, and before he retired, he still lived in the grass ovary. Ji Yuting, an old soldier of the 15th Regiment, told his family at the end of his life: Pay this month’s party dues when you get paid, and don’t make any demands on the organization … … This spirit has enabled them to build one "Nanniwan" after another in the most difficult places in the frontier.
"The red genes of the Corps people, like this red syrup and jujube juice, blend the Corps people with the local people." The staff member of the 14th Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps said.
Hotan night market (Photo by He Chuan)
Walking out of Hotan Night Market, people in the park nearby are dancing happily. The on-site staff of Hotan Night Market told the reporter that on March 23, 2019, the People’s Government of Ninghe District of Tianjin and the People’s Government of Hotan City jointly signed the "Cooperation Agreement on the Project of Hotan Night Market Settled in Tianjin" to introduce the most Hotan-featured cuisine into Ninghe District of Tianjin. Tianjin citizens can taste the most authentic Xinjiang specialties at their doorsteps, and surely they can also enjoy the unique delicious yogurt dumplings.