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I took a 3 week archaeological tour of the Silk Road last August, in Xinjiang province in far northwest China. Xinjiang is a fascinating place, it used to be called East Turkestan, and was formally annexed by China in early 1950's. The eastern part of Xinjiang province down through history has always had flexible borders that extended into, then pulled back from China proper over the centuries. The western part of Xinjiang, where Kashgar and Kucha (Kuqa) are located, was not part of China proper till the 1950's annexation.
The Uighur people who live there are fascinating. They are definitely not Chinese, they do not look Chinese nor do they speak Chinese as their native language (Uighur is a Turkish language). The orginal inhabitants of western Xinjiang were Indo-European tribal peoples from the Russian steppes, approx 4-5000 years ago. Next came the Persian and Turkish peoples from what is now Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. Last influx was of the Mongolian tribes during recorded historical period.
The Uighurs today are descended from a mix of all 3 peoples listed above. They were primarily Bhuddists from 400 AD till 1000 AD, then slowly converted to Islam, till almost all were Muslims by 1400's. Compared to other stricter Muslim countries, the Uighurs seemed relatively laid back. The women cover their head with a colorful scarf that they tie in the back, at the nape of their neck. Plenty of hair usually shows. They dress conservatively in long skirts and blouses that are actually quite bright and colorful. You don't hear calls to prayer in Uighur towns, and the mosques that we visited did not seem to be where the action was - most were empty and some had to be unlocked before we could enter.
Kucha (Kuqa) is kind of in the middle of nowhere. We spent 3 days there, and got to spend an afternoon in their Friday market, which was wonderful. Very dusty, rural, and 19th century-esque, full of donkey carts and street stalls. Our group of 13 were the only non-locals at the market. Kashgar (far west Xinjiang), which had bombings last week, is a major regional trading and commercial hub for Central Asia. But Kucha is much smaller and more rural.
I believe self-determination is the more important issue here than religion here. The Uighurs did not want to be annexed to China, it was forced on them by Mao's troops. Ethnically, they feel they are a separate people, and they want to control their own destiny. They also resent the influx of Han Chinese into the region that Beijing encourages in its effort to "China-fy" the region. (Urumchi, the capital of Xinjiang was 80% Uighur 60 years ago. Due to migration from rest of China, it is now 70% Han Chinese).
The Chinese will never willingly give Xinjiang independence, there is oil there and other valuable minerals.
The closest analogy to Xinjiang (East Turkestan)and the Uighur people is to Tibet and the Tibetan people.
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