After the unrest in Kazakhstan subsided in early January, the international peacekeeping forces have all withdrawn, and former President Nursultan Nazarbayev also posted a video saying that he has been resting in the Kazakh capital without any conflict with his successor. But the curiosity of the world did not stop.
In the satirical comedy Borat, Kazakhstan is portrayed as a down-and-out country where horse urine is the hottest drink, women are often seen as a commodity, and anti-Semitism and homophobia are rampant .
In 2006, after the first "Borat" was released in the United States, it was banned in Kazakhstan. "Borat" writer and star Sacha Baron Cohen later clarified that Kazakhstan in the film has nothing to do with the real country. "I chose Kazakhstan because it's a place that almost no one in America knows about, which allows us to create a wild and fake world of comedy."
Take off the tinted filters of backward feudalism in the film, and Kazakhstan is actually a country with fascinating contrasts between old and new, urban and rural, tradition and modernity. From the topography alone, there are not only vast grasslands and dense forests, but also boundless deserts and frozen snow-capped mountains.
After independence, Kazakhstan has also left the past of the Soviet republics behind. People are living an upward life, driving the latest SUVs, wearing designer clothes, and speaking English or a second foreign language. While the capital, Nur-Sultan, retains its Soviet-era architectural heritage, highly neo-futuristic buildings, such as the Great Khan Tent Entertainment Center, have become a new trend in urban landmarks.
The Kazakh people firmly believe that the quality of their meat is the best in the world. For a nomadic people, meat is an energy supply engraved in its DNA and a necessity for survival. They eat meat and drink a lot. In their spare time, men and women, young and old, always like to lie on the shaker, fill up with a glass of fresh draft beer, have a pleasant afternoon, and doze until dusk.
"Horse milk", not the "horse urine" in "Borat", is the real local "Internet celebrity" drink. It is a low-alcohol beverage fermented with horse milk. It is sour and has a strong milky fragrance, as well as a unique "horse flavor" that combines green prairie and galloping sweat. Those who love it will be addicted to it, but those whose taste buds cannot accept it may really regard it as "horse urine".
