This film is part of Free

Kashgar 5

Kashgar Vice Consul Major George Sherriff captures the destruction of seized opium in this film from 1927.

Amateur film 1927 16 mins Silent

Overview

Fascinating footage of Indian customs, shot in 1927 by intrepid plant hunter Major George Sherriff during his tenure as Vice Consul at Kashgar. This film begins with the destruction of captured opium. Following this, everyday winter life is documented. Spinning, threshing wool, transporting loads by boat and mule teams. Families travelling by Yak dressed in their winter clothes. A long sequence is filmed of a group of men baiting a goat in to butting and charging for entertainment. The film ends with the beautiful gardens of the Chini Bagh (British residence) in Kashgar.

Chini-Bagh was the Kashgar residence of George Macartney, Britain's consul-general and his wife, Lady Catherine Macartney, for 28 years. Over the years, Chini-Bagh saw an incredible procession of adventurers including Aurel Stein, Sven Hedin and two of Count Otani's Central Asian archaeologists/spies, Eizaburo Nomura and Zuicho Tachibana. Although the house still stands, its famed gardens were later destroyed to make room for the Chini Bagh hotel