Xinjiang

The majority of the returnee Torghuts live in Xinjiang, numbering about 100,000 persons today. They are scattered in several territorial administrative units in Xinjiang including Bayangol Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, and Hovogsair Mongolian Autonomous County of Tacheng District. Bayangol is home to about 50,000 Torghuts who are descendants of the Southern-Route Old Torghut League under the personal command of Ubashi Khan. There are about 6,000 Torghuts in Bortala who belong to the former Western Route League, and Hovogsair has about 17,000 Torghuts belonging to the former Northern Route League. Compared with Hebei and Inner Mongolia, the Torgut culture in Xinjiang is better preserved. Here, you will be able to view videos and photos about every-day life, cultural activities such as wedding, oboo worship, and the recently developed ‘Jüünsh’ (Return to the East) festival in some select Torghut communities in Xinjiang.

Distilling Milk Liqueur and Making Cheese: Dupei