Tips

I'm not exactly an expert, but I did buy a carpet out there, and I feel like I have at least a LITTLE knowledge.

First, find out when the carpet is from. This can be difficult, but a surprising amount of the time people seem to tell the truth. I expected them to say everything was local, but a few places told me that some were Belgian even after they knew we wanted local.

Two, look for tags. Sometimes they leave them on even if they are lying to you, Watch out for imitation silk. Over it says it right on the bottom.

Three, it's hard to know if you're getting 100% silk, but if you rub your hand in one direction against the carpet and fluff comes up, then it's at least partially lamb's wool. That's not necessarily bad, but you should be aware.

Four, the thickness of the carpet makes a big difference. Some are crappy and super-thin. Skip them.

Price is hard to say. a 2x3 meter that is top end wool or silk-wool blend should be about 1800RMB. smaller ones are obviously cheaper. A 1.5x2.5 silk one should run 4000RMB give or take.

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Be patient

Best advice is be patient and be willing to walk away

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Be careful

Some of those guys are real sharks and you never know what the material is. Unless you go to a place with a very good reputation, assume nothing is silk

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Carpets in Urumqi. Well you

Carpets in Urumqi. Well you have choices actually. It's all about the knots...

There is a lot of machine woven crap out there, they look OK but are too uniform, too perfect, and look machine made. Many are made with man-made fibres so you can tell. Thats OK, and they're not that expensive.

The best carpets in Xinjiang come from Khotan, on the southern edge of the Taklimakan, so you need to ask for Khotan carpets. They will be natural wool, sometimes a silk mix, and are hand woven. How well made they are depends on the number of knots per square inch - and if you look on the reverse of the carpet you can see them. Machine carpets don't have that. A good carpet takes months - sometimes years - to make - so you'll be parting with a few grand USD for a good one.

You can also buy Afghan carpets in Urumqi, and these come from some of the best carpet weavers on the planet. Prices will be again a few thousand USD but considerably cheaper than you would pay for elsewhere.

If thats out of your price range - and it's a lot of money if you're not sure of what you're buying - then the Uyghurs also make felt rugs which are brightly coloured and ethnic. They're a lot cheaper - maybe RMB500 to RMB1,000 and a hard wearing and look good.

Heres a good link: www.silkroadcn.com/carpet/china-xinjiang-carpet.htm

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Buying outside of Xinjiang

Are there particularly good markets where you can buy this kind of stuff in the big cities around China? I doubt I'll make it out to Urumqi, but hopefully I can pick one up during one of my other stops, even if it costs a bit more.

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Kashgar

You want to go to the Sunday market at Kashgar. It's the largest open air market in the world. EVERYONE goes, over the ancient passes across the Pamir Mountains, old geezers from Uzbekistan, Kazaks, Pashtuns from Afghanistan, Tibetans...you can but everything there from a Yak to an Arabian horse and from carpets to walnuts. Thats where you want to go. It's now in two sections though - they moved the livestock section further towards the main road so you'll need to ask for that specially if you want to see 80 year old Uyghurs selling their donkeys and shifty looking Kazaks trying to offload a camel or two.

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What about

How about other cities around the country? I know that's the ideal place to go, but are there other markets if I can't make it all the way to Xinjiang?

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taxes

If I want to take something expensive out of the country like a carpet, do I have to pay tax when I re-enter the US? Does it matter how long I've owned it?

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