Eleven photographers from eight different nations gathered in the shiny new expansive departure halls of Hong Qiao Airport Terminal two, Shanghai, to embark on a long-awaited trip to the photogenic region of Xinjiang province. It was a beginning of a journey of discovery for all of us. Flying over the Tianshan mountain range with its snow-capped peaks and the vast stretches of dry arid ground of the Taklimakan desert. The colour from the air was almost a monochrome brown; brown fields, brown rock, brown homes. I wondered what colour I would see in the city.

Kashgar is a small city, especially by Chinese standards. During the short journey to the hotel I could see how different this place was to my other experiences of China. The roads were lined with white poplar trees because they are strong and cope with drought, unlike the plain trees in the city of Shanghai. The people all wore hats (men) or scarfs (women). Lowrise buildings with arabic script sitting over Chinese characters. Weathered, swarthy faces with large open eyes, not pale, flat, smooth faces with dark, angled eyes. It felt as if we were in another country.

This book is a collection of images that display the experiences and emotions gathered from an expedition to Kashgar in April 2010.