Gallery Cafe, Kashgar

So here we are, in the desert. Kashgar is a small city right in the desert. The weather is hot and dry, really dry...or so it should be.

This summer has brought strange weather with it. Usually residents of Kashgar are begging mercy from the scorching sun by now. Instead Kashgarians have already adapted to the tropical style rain. Every few days, a downpour covers all of Kashgar. The buckets of rain usually start falling around evening when everyone is getting off work, or shortly there after. The strange weather has been a non-stop topic for discussion.

The rain pours down, not like the little spitting you would expect in the desert. No, this is real rain. Downpour after downpour. During previous years, rain has never been a threat. It is the desert afterall. Dry weather. Rain would not interrupt anyone's schedule or anything in the city. If needed perhaps outdoor sellers would step in for a few minutes before resuming their businesses.

It is also a Kashgar habit to water the streets. Residents and shop owners always pour water out on the streets to keep the dust down. Buckets and buckets are poured out each day, everyone contributes.

This year, Kashgar residents have changed their ways. They are already equipped with umbrellas, a previously useless item. As soon as the rain starts, umbrellas start popping up everywhere. People rush to their destinations to get out of the rain. Electric bike drivers are equipped with their previously useless ponchos. Restaurants designed for the dry weather scramble to bring their damageable items inside. While thunder cracks and lighting strikes, the city of Kashgar has changed completely.

While we at our little cafe have already had to make adjustments to our outdoor seating we are enjoying the cool weather the rain brings.

Who said the desert was dry? It certainly hasn't been this year. It's been a wet wet year in this Kashgar desert. And for us, it's business as usual.