This Uyghur Restaurant Uses Its Delicious Food To Draw Attention To Genocide In China

Bugra Arkin, owner of Dolan’s Uyghur Cuisine in Alhambra, California, along with his staff, wear simple, yet powerful t-shirts as their restaurant uniform. In white text on a black shirt reads the message: “Google Uyghurs.” And I did. 

A brief search taught me that Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group in the province of Xinjiang in Western China. The region is also ground zero of a cultural genocide, where the Chinese government has been accused of imprisoning millions of Uyghurs in detention centers, along with many other human rights abuses. It’s a dire plight for the Uyghur people, who fear their culture, language, and way of life are slowly being wiped out.

The disappearance of Arkin’s own father — which he states was at the hands of the Chinese government — led him to open up Dolan’s, where he aims to preserve his culture’s unique cuisine.

Uyghur food has influence from neighboring Persian, Greek and Arab cultures. At Dolan’s, folks can look forward to delicious lamb-based dishes, along with expertly crafted hand-pulled noodles, hearty meat pies, juicy kebabs, and its signature Big Plate Chicken.

For Dolan’s to be nestled within a hub of legendary Chinese cuisine options in the San Gabriel Valley mirrors the Uyghurs’ plight in China — and simultaneously amplifies the bravery shown by the Uyghur people to preserve their culture and to shed light on the cultural genocide they’re suffering.

More content

Eating Out
Taco Bell Debuts A New Mountain Dew Baja Blast Midnight Flavor
Baja Blast is getting a sibling. After two decades of cult status, Taco Bell is expanding its most iconic drink with a new permanent flavor—Mountain…
,
CultureProducts
Beyoncé Re-Releases Her Sold Out ‘Honey Bee’ Cocktail Kit
Fresh off her Cowboy Carter tour, Beyoncé is toasting fans with her very popular SirDavis American Whisky cocktail kit.  The whiskey, a collab with Moët…
,
CultureEating Out
A New Butterbeer-Inspired ICEE Flavor Is Coming To Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas is selling a new beverage rumored to be inspired by Harry Potter’s famous Butterbeer. The chain is releasing a Butterscotch ICEE flavor on…
,
Burger
We Deliver!

Enter your email address below and we'll deliver our top stories straight to your inbox