Uyghur Streets, Chinese Names: Kashgar Being Erased One Sign at a Time
Gene Bunin: “Cultural destruction of Kashgar City continues, with many Uyghur alley/road names changed to generic Chinese names”
Chinese Douyin User in Kashgar talking about the name change of the road in front of her shop:
“Kashgar Bosses [Shop owners in Kashgar], has the name of the road at your door been changed? We have changed the name of Keziduwei Road [Qizil Dowa Road] to Xingmin Road, what name has your road been changed to?”
The cultural destruction of Kashgar continues in ways that may appear administrative on paper but are deeply political in practice. Gene Bunin, founder of the Xinjiang Victims Database, noted in a recent Facebook post, “Cultural destruction of Kashgar City continues, with many Uyghur alley/road names changed to generic Chinese names” and drew attention to a new round of street and alley renaming across the Kashgar city, replacing long standing Uyghur names with Chinese ones.
The changes are outlined in an official document issued by the Kashgar Municipal People’s Government titled Announcement Regarding the Naming and Renaming of Certain Roads (Streets and Alleys) in Kashgar City. Citing the State Council’s “Regulations on Place Name Management,” the Kashgar Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau announced the naming of 14 roads and the renaming of 30 others, following municipal approval. The language is technical and bureaucratic. The impact is anything but.
Street names in Kashgar are not neutral labels. Many reflect Uyghur history, local geography, trades, foods, and collective memory. They anchor daily life to a specific place and past. Replacing them with names such as “Friendship Road,” “Democracy Road,” or “Red Flag Road” does more than standardize signage. It overwrites identity and reframes the city through the political vocabulary of the Chinese state.
This practice is not limited to Kashgar city streets. A joint 2024 report by Human Rights Watch and the Norway based organization Uyghur Hjelp found that between 2009 and 2023, at least 3,600 Uyghur villages were renamed. Many original village names referenced local history, religious life, or natural features. The new names overwhelmingly promote state ideology or administrative language, stripping places of their distinct Uyghur meaning.
Below is the Kashgar city street renaming table released by authorities. For clarity and transparency, all names are translated into English, while keeping the original Uyghur names in Uyghur script and Hanified versions of the Uyghur names new Chinese names.
Kashgar City Street Name Changes
Hanified Name (Original Name in Uyghur script) → New Chinese Name
阔纳乃则尔巴格路 (كونا نەزەر باغ) → 果园路
Old Nazarbagh Road → Orchard Road塔吾古孜路 (تار بوغۇز) → 友谊路
Tar Boghuz Road → Friendship Road塔吾古孜路东巷 (تار بوغۇز)→ 友谊路东巷
Tar Boghuz Road East Alley → Friendship Road East Alley托库孜塔什巷 (توققۇز تاش) → 水磨街
Toquz Tash Alley → Water Mill Street打馕一条街 (ناۋاي كوچا) → 九盘路
Naway Street → Nine Turns Road夏马勒巴格路 (شامالباغ )→ 新风路
Shamalbagh Road → New Style Road色满路 (سەمەن يولى) → 利民路
Seman Road → Benefit the People Road色满路北巷 (سەمەن يولى )→ 利民路北一巷
Seman Road North Alley → Limín Road North Alley One色满路一巷 (سەمەن يولى)→ 利民路北二巷
Seman Road First Alley → Limín Road North Alley Two尤木拉克协海尔路 (يۇمۇلاقشەھەر يولى) → 徕宁路
Yumlaq Sheher Road → Laining Road索喀库勒贝希路 (سوقا كۆلبېشى) → 复兴路
Soqa Kol Beshi Road → Rejuvenation Road托克扎克路 (توققۇزاق يولى) → 友好路
Toquzaq Road → Friendly Road托克扎克路北一巷 (توققۇزاق يولى) → 友好路北一巷
Toquzaq Road North Alley One → Friendly Road North Alley One托克扎克路北二巷 (توققۇزاق يولى) → 友好路北二巷
Toquzaq Road North Alley Two → Friendly Road North Alley Two托克扎克路南巷 (توققۇزاق يولى)→ 友好路南巷
Toquzaq Road South Alley → Friendly Road South Alley托克扎克南路西一巷 (توققۇزاق يولى) → 友好南路西巷
Toquzaq South Road West Alley One → Friendly South Road West Alley库如克铁热克一巷 (قۇرق تېرەك) → 食光一巷
Quruq Terek Alley One → Food Time Alley One库如克铁热克二巷 (قۇرق تېرەك) → 食光二巷
Quruq Terek Alley Two → Food Time Alley Two帕合塔巴扎北路 (پاختا بازىرى) → 红旗北路
Pahta Bazaar North Road → Red Flag North Road帕合塔巴扎南路 (پاختا بازىرى) → 红旗南路
Pahta Bazaar South Road → Red Flag South Road塔西巴扎路 (تاش بازىرى) → 民主路
Tash Bazaar Road → Democracy Road塔西巴扎巷 (تاش بازىرى) → 民主路西巷
Tash Bazaar Alley → Democracy Road West Alley多来特巴格路 (دۆلەتباغ) → 建国路
Dolat Bagh Road → Founding of the Nation Road克孜勒河北路 (قىزىل دەريا يولى) → 红河北路
Qizil River North Road → Red River North Road克孜勒河南路 (قىزىل دەريا يولى)→ 红河南路
Qizil River South Road → Red River South Road玉吉米力克路 (ئۈجمىلىك ) → 新华路
Ujmilik Road → Xinhua Road玉吉米力克路一巷 (ئۈجمىلىك ) → 新华路一巷
Ujmilik Road Alley One → Xinhua Road Alley One玉吉米力克路二巷 (ئۈجمىلىك )→ 新华路二巷
Ujmilik Road Alley Two → Xinhua Road Alley Two兰干路 (لەنگەر يولى) → 融升路
Lenger Road → Integration Rise Road阿热买里路 (ئارا مەھەللە) → 新民路 (Xīnmín Lù)
Aramehelle Road → New People Road
Taken together, these changes reveal a clear pattern. Uyghur names rooted in local life are replaced with abstract slogans tied to Chinese communist state ideology, nationalism, and assimilation. This is not about navigation or efficiency. It is about control over memory, language, and how a city understands itself.
Kashgar has survived for centuries as a living Uyghur city. Its streets once told stories of gardens, bazaars, bread ovens, and neighborhoods shaped by community life. As those names disappear, so does an important layer of Uyghur presence. Documenting these changes matters, because cultural erasure often advances quietly, one sign at a time.
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