Kazakhs are one of the fifty-five officially identified minorities in China, according to the 2000 national census of China. Their total population is over 1.2 million and they are mainly distributed in the vast grassland to the north part of Tian-shan mountains in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Ili, Tacheng and Altai. In these regions, Kazakhs live in compact communities. In addition, there are over 200 thousand Kazakhs live in Mulei  Kazakh Autonomous County in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Balikun Kazakh Autonomous County in Hami in Xinjiang, and Akesay Kazakh Autonomous County in Gansu. In China, in the regions where minorities live in compact communities, autonomous regions or counties are established for the sake of political administration under the Chinese central government. Within China, there are three Kazakh autonomous regions, all in Xinjiang, and five Kazakh autonomous counties, four in Xinjiang and one in Gansu. All the other ethnic groups have such autonomous regions or counties like the Kazakhs’. Generally speaking, most of the Kazakhs, both in Xinjiang and in Gansu, are mainly living in pasturelands except for those in cities. They share the same culture, language and ethnic identity, especially the same foodways because of the similar living environments.

      Kazakhs are famous for their nomadic life—that is, they move their campsites frequently. There are records of their ancestors Sai “moving with animals from place to place following the grass” in Hanshu·Xiyuzhuan,of Wusun in Weishu·Wusunzhuan, and of Tujue in Suishu (Sai, Wusun, and Tujue are nomadic tribes in ancient China, which are all considered by Chinese scholars as ancestors of Kazakhs. All this is recorded respectively in Hanshu·Xiyuzhuan, Weishu·Wusunzhuan,and Suishu). It is clear that Kazakhs have been living a nomadic life since ancient times, with cattle, horse, sheep and camel being their primary daily stock. In recent years, according to the local governments’ overall planning, some “small pieces of farm land” have been cleared for the Kazakhs living in pastoral areas, with grass planted and settlements constructed, but all this has little impact on their traditional nomadic ways of life. They still follow their ancestral ways of production depending on pastureland, and moving with their stock from place to place. “Awuer”(tribe) is the basic unit of organization in Kazak society, in which pastureland belongs to the tribe but stock ownership is private(The pronunciation of all the Kazakh terms in the paper are pronounced in New Kazakh Writing system, and all those of Han Chinese, in Pinyin system). Each Awuer breeds its animals on its own grassland and moves to four different pasturelands according to the variations of the seasons. The pasturelands are located at a considerable distance from each other, and it can take between a few days to several weeks to traverse the distance between these pasturelands. When moving, each Awuer must follow its migrating route(Migrating route here refers to the regular route each Awuer takes to move from place to place. Because each Awuer has its own grassland, which is shared only by its members. Any outsiders with their stock passing across the grassland or grazing their cattle in the grassland, dispute, sometimes even armed clash between the two Awuers often comes about),  otherwise, there will much trouble. Generally speaking, Kazakh nomads live relatively close together in summer and winter, and are more distantly spaced in spring and autumn. They are governed by the seasons much more than other Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang.