Traditional food is painted as backward and dirty—except for tourists.

Instruction began early on a November 2018 morning. This lesson was not taught in a classroom, but in a makeshift kitchen as part of Xinjiang’s “household school” program. There, a teacher stood before her class of adult women and asked: “What do you like to eat for breakfast?”

The students responded in unison, “nan and milk” or “nan and tea.”

“You don’t eat a bowl of hot congee?” the teacher interjected. This question sparked additional discussion and “even more curiosity” among the women in attendance.

    • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      Not 酸粥, the connection to uyghurs is the gov. discouraging Uyghur students from eating their traditional breakfasts, flatbread and milk/tea, in favor of more traditionally han Chinese breakfast, congee or 煎饼.

      This ties into the other cultural erasures going on.