Preserving Culture (clip)

Food is all about connection.

I know for me, the taste
of a piping hot Earl Grey

always reminds me of comfort
and the security of home.

And, you know, particularly
when we feel disconnected,

that taste can mean everything.

However, there are some people
who simply cannot go home.

People like the Uyghurs,

a Muslim minority group
from Western China.

Isobel Yeung went there undercover
last year to report on camps

where China has imprisoned
more than a million Uyghurs

to quote unquote "re-educate"
them away from their traditions.

One of these traditions is
their distinctly unique cuisine

and style of cooking.

And for the more than one million
Uyghurs now living outside of China,

it's never been more important.

PRESERVING CULTURE

So what's the secret
to making good laghman?

The dough has to be prepared right.

(Ysobel) Who taught you
how to do this?

My mom.

We grow up eating laghman,
making laghman.

In my country, I was a nurse.

[After] coming to America,
[I became] a restaurant chef.

(Ysobel) Oh, my god.

(Ysobel) Wow, perfect!

Oh, my god, that texture is amazing,
they're like the perfect consistency.

Uyghur food is really interesting
because it does seem

like a mix of different types of foods.

Yes.

Like, there's definitely
some Chinese elements in there

with noodles, and garlic, and ginger,

but then there's also a lot of like
Central Asian flavors, right?

(Ysobel) Adila and her mom,
Maria, are Uyghurs.

They come from north-west China
in a region called Xinjian.

Unlike the majority of China's population
who are Han Chinese,

the Uyghurs are mostly
Muslim Turkic ethnicity

who have their own language and
traditions much closer to Central Asia.

My favorite Uyghur dish
is laghman or lamian,

hand-pulled noodles served with meat,
pepper, scallions, cumin, and spices.

What does the lamian mean to you?

Laghman is a traditional dish
passed down from the ancestors.

That is also why we teach our children
how to make laghman and tell them,

"Don't forget Uyghur culture.

Remember us when you are making laghman."

Thank you, bye.
Have a good one. Thank you.

(Ysobel) Adila moved from China
to Boston to study when she was 17.

Almost a decade later,

she opened the only Uyghur restaurant
in Massachusetts at the time,

with dishes based on her mom's recipes.

During that time, Uyghur lives in China
have deteriorated dramatically.

In an effort to, in their words,
"combat terrorism,"

the Chinese government
has sent over one million Uyghurs

to sprawling prison-like camps
over the last three years.

Here they're frequently
interrogated and tortured,

banned from practicing Islam,

and forced to recite
Chinese Communist Party ideology.

Xinjian has been transformed
into a dystopian surveillance state.

Maria and Adila's own family
have been swept up in the crackdown.

In 2018, Adila's father--
Maria's husband,

stopped answering their calls.

Eventually, they learned
he too had been taken to the camps.

My family are on my mind
and in front of my eyes

all the time when I'm working.

If I don't think about them,
I might lose my motivation.

The father of my children is in jail.

(Ysobel) When Adila is not working
in her restaurant six days a week,

she's searching for any information
she can find about her dad.

This is my father, born in 1971.

What did he tell you about
how the situation is changing in Xinjian?

He's like, you know,
we can't talk directly.

We always said, cold or warm.

Because he's worried about
the Chinese government listening?

Yeah.

And if anyone get detained,
they would say, "He left."

My father always call me [inaudible].

(Adila's father recording)
Adi hun. Adi hun. Adi hun.

I miss you, Adi hun.

Adi hun, my child.

Adi hun, my child.

I like it a lot.

(Ysobel) Uyghurs is China can be
locked away for anything from praying,

wearing a long beard,

or having relatives abroad.

In Adila's father's case,
it was for fasting during Ramadan.

What do you think
your dad's life is like, right now?

Oh, I don't want to think about this
like, it's very hard.

I get scared, you know.

He can't eat a proper meal.

My mom cooked for him every day.

I can't think about what he's eating now.

(Ysobel) Last year, Adila took part
in a social media campaign

called #MetooUyghur.

She's also given testimony
about her missing relatives

and lobbied Senators
like Elizabeth Warren,

but speaking out has exposed her
on Chinese social media.

I was dragged into a WeChat group
with 500 Chinese there.

They were seeing me like I'm a terrorist,

and they post all the information
about the restaurant,

my personal information,

where did I go to school,

where do I live, my car, everything.

Wow, that must've been scary.

I was so scared.

(Ysobel) In spite of the threats,
or maybe because of them,

the work that Adila, Maria, and
chef Arkin are doing at the restaurant

feels more important now than ever.

Wow, that's one massive noodle!

Just having a restaurant like this
advertising Halal food

is no longer allowed in Xinjiang.

It seems like for all of you,

you know, having this Uyghur restaurant,

is so much more than
just about selling the food.

It's about introducing a culture
and making sure it stays alive.

(Adila) There are many many jobs
we can make money, like easier jobs.

A restaurant is really hard,

every day,

a year long.

If you like my food,

if you like me,

this is the way that you get
into Uyghur people.