The bazaar streets radiating out from the Id Kah Mosque square are one of the most rewarding shopping areas in Xinjiang. The covered lanes are divided roughly by trade: a coppersmith alley, a knife bazaar, a hat market, a section selling bolts of silk and ikat cloth. Prices are negotiable, and the shopkeepers have been dealing with foreigners since the Silk Road was a going concern.
The best buys are handmade items that are genuinely local: Uyghur-style pocket knives with carved bone handles, embroidered skullcaps (doppa), dried apricots, raisins, and walnuts from the oasis farms. The quality varies enormously — the tourist-facing stalls near the mosque sell mass-produced goods, while the working craftsmen a few lanes back sell the real thing. The difference in quality and price is significant, and the walk to find them is half the pleasure.