Dungan is a Chinese-speaking Muslim people in Central Asia. They were Muslim Hui ethnic in China who first migrated across the Russian border to avoid the oppression during the Qing Dinasty. The Chinese identity is still very visible among the Dungans.
This is the family of Muhammad, 50 years old, one among few men who goes regularly to the Dungan mosque in Tokmok to offer daily prayers. He lives with his wife, mother, daughter, son-in-law, and some grandchildren. His mother only speaks Dungan, which is in fact a Chinese northwestern dialect close to Mandarin. Muhammad only speaks a little, and cannot read any Chinese characters. His daughter only understands 20 percent of the Dungan language. When talking to his children and grandson, Muhammad only speaks in Russian. They never use Kyrgyz language at home, despite it is now the national language of their country.
Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan, 2006