Interview | China Gao Xingjian Didi Kirsten Tatlow Everyone knows I encountered many difficulties getting published in China. Besides the limits on publication by the authorities, the writer also has to place limitations on himself and exercise ‘self-discipline’. But in China, even when I showed self-discipline, my works were still banned. So I rejected it as ludicrous.
Travel | China Liberation Road Sam Chambers and André Eichman Once the glory of the Silk Road, Kashgar’s bazaar – now the Kashgar International Trade Market of Central and Western Asia – carries on the city’s commercial traditions: intricate, rich red carpets from Turkmenistan; handcrafted Uighur guitars; pointed felt hats from Tajikistan; almost luminescent spices from Pakistan: Afghans, Russians, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, haggling and hawking.
Fiction | Pakistan The Fifth Lash Anis Shivani The flogger knows the importance of the next lash, though the fifth lash is almost identical to the four that have come before. The prisoner’s composure breaks and he cries out, as if releasing a lifetime’s anger, frustration, sadness and misery. The crowd is silent as the man’s agonies echo around the stadium.
