Tatars in China - Manchouko Hailar Harbin Sin Zin Shanghai

1923-1939 Emperor of Manchuria (Manchukuo)
who looks like he's 12 or 13 years old and already bad eyesight

Hailar Turko-Tatar school - copied from http://www.aliakis.org/

look how pretty it is, and look at the window pane detail, the white picket fence!

My Eni and her little brother were born in Hailar (Haylar) China. Hailar is in Manchuria, but during their time there, it was Occupied by the Japanese, and the state was called Manchouko. There were Tatar communities in Hailar, Harbin, Shanghai, and Sin Zin. (possibly more) My Zuhre Ebe was a Principal at a Tatar School there.

My Eni was educated at a Russian school and a Tatar School. The above pic is her 7th grade. It looks like the Imperial City on the wall behind them. (or a really nice Chinese restaurant). My Eni front row left left.

Our family left after the Chinese closed our schools. I'm sure there were many other reasons.

I've heard some stories of difficulties they endured there. I've also heard stories of a nice life there. Eni has flowers in her garden that she used to plant in Hailar as a little girl. (cosmos)

People often ask, "Do you Speak Chinese?" Nope. I don't think the Tatars there spoke much Chinese either. Eni says "We were there as Russians, holding Russian Communist Passports."

These are from a Turkish magazine from the 1970's. This magazine was called "Kazan" and distributed globally to Tatars in diaspora. With all respect, this Imam on the right, with the tassel, looks like an actor from a silent film. He reminds me of how, as children, we would play "flying carpet" with our Turkish carpets. We didn't receive the bounty of an American Christmas, but our carpets could fly! That was due to the influence of the cartoon "Arabian Nights". The Arabs would say "Rozan Kobar" or something (Hollywood Arabic) like that and the carpet would fly off! Some Turkish carpets, with their geometric patterns and parallel lines, make great racing strips for Hot Wheels (toy cars) too. The first Mullah that I remember here in California was a really nice (little) man. He would give kids cookies that he made. They were like a big "O" and delicious.

These two more are from Sin Zin and of the Mosque in Harbin. It looks lovely. The horizontal stripes hint at Flemish architecture. I wonder if it's still there. I asked Eni not too long ago if anyone has ever returned? Very few.

I asked if there was a dominant geographic feature defining Hailar. Is it on a river? Is it a sleepy little town? Are there mountains?
Eni said there was a river. The last person she knows that went there said it dried up.

This is a more recent picture sent to me from Harbin of a mosque there. Is it the same?