Despite its isolation, Kashgar was once the hub of the Silk Road where desert brigands thrived and exotic bazaars full of various wares and colorful silks were all sold and traded. Kashgar (Kashi) sparks images of remote desert oasises lined with poplar trees, the sole outpost of civilization leading from the vast deserts of Xingjiang to the icy peaks of the Karakoram bordering on Pakistan. It remains today a place of pristine beauty as here with the farmer and his cart stacked full of lettuce along a typical poplar line road.