Write, or do not. Monday, 7 December 2015. His ineluctable influence on Central Asian culture. I kept myself to myself. There were few foreign researchers and scholars about. The government discouraged anyone from doing research on anything other than the safest and potentially least embarrassing or critical topics. I had no problems there. Navāʾī is the national poet of Uzbekistan. Live recordings kept me moderately sane.

Below, I want to address a very specific issue.

Personal notes on learning to play the dutar and related matters. Unlike a lot of other lute-like instruments which are played by plucking with either the fingers or plectrums, dutars are played almost exclusive by strumming both strings at the same time with fingers.

Focused on unraveling the political, security, economic and social issues affecting Xinjiang and the wider region. Wednesday, 15 August 2012. Tuesday, 7 August 2012.