On the edge of a desert, an old market thrives and enchants

The road leading into Kashgar's livestock market is a veritable animal jam, a quagmire of unruly sheep, cows, horses and donkeys, all pulling in different directions.

Above the bleating, mooing and hawing, one can hear the herders shouting 'Posh! Posh!' , 'Get out of the way'.

I go with the flow, almost on the backs of this sea of animals, and find myself in the livestock area, the size of two football fields and enclosed by brick walls. The market is on the outskirts of this ancient Silk Road oasis city, which is on the western edge of the Taklamakan desert. It was once located downtown beside the Tuman river, where the animals could help themselves to water, but was moved to this area several years ago when it got too big for increasingly urbanised Kashgar.

Once inside, I find a magical Central Asian market, for two millennia the greatest animal exchange along this ancient trade route.

A steady stream of sheep are being marched onto this field, while others are being driven here in the comfort of big trucks. Many are quite big, but burly Uygur farmers easily hand the kicking and twisting animals over the side of their trucks to men on the ground. There must be a thousand sheep here, and they push up against one another seeking to keep warm.

This is the only section where one sees children working. The children - who appear to be no older than nine or 10 years - either hold the reins of five or six animals, or guide the unruly livestock into separate holding areas, where men shear the animals.