Travel in Turpan - China - Asia - Culture

Turpan, the hottest city in China, is a model Silk Road oasis. It is a sleepy desert town shaded by poplar trees and grape arbores, peopled by Uighurs in traditional dress and irrigated by a vast system of hand-dug underground channels that funnel the melting snow of the Heavenly Mountains into Turpan. It is this 2,000-year-old irrigation system has kept Turpan alive while other desert boomtowns have withered up and died. Climatic features extremely hot summers with low rainfall but high evaporation, long frost-free period and gusty winds in central area, the tiptop temperature of 47 C degree.

The museum contains a lot of written material, excavated from some of the Tang tombs. Most interesting is the exhibits from the old Uighur capital at Gaochang, including documents relating to land tenure in the early 7century.

There are two well-known ancient cities close to Turpan, Gaochang (Kharakhoja) and Jiaohe (Yarkhoto). Chinese founded Gaochang in the 2nd century B.C. as a garrison on the Silk Road. At its peak, Gaochang served as the capital of Xinjiang during the Tang dynasty. It was abandoned in 1275 for some mysterious reasons. The city itself is rather large. Things to see include the Bell Tower and a few Buddhist temples. In the centre of the city, there is a large temple. It is here that monk Xuan Zang from Journey to the West preached in A.D. 630 on his way to India. Jiaohe is another ruined city, 6 miles to the west of Turpan. It is probably the same size as Gaochang but better preserved. UNESCO has contributed to its preservation. The dry weather has helped the city to preserve its cityscape. It is a life-sized model of a Tang Dynasty city.

Turpan is considered as the "Grape Country" in China. Every August, locals would gather together during "Grape Festival" to celebrate the harvest of grapes.

Looking at the Flaming Mountains in the distance from the city of Turpan, one can see nothing but glowing, barren, red sand. But the Grape Valley of the Flaming Mountains, 15 km from the city centre is a world of unique beauty, presenting a striking contrast with the hot, dry and barren outside.

Cushioned by green grass and graced with green trees, the valley is a world of green with brooks, canals and sparkling springs; there is a poetic flavour to the idyllic beauty of the valley. Scattered everywhere in the valley are trees; mulberry, peach, apricot, apple, pomegranate, pear, fig, walnut, elm, poplar and willow; also watermelons, and muskmelons, making the valley into a "Garden of one hundred flowers" in spring. There is a reception centre where dense grapevines interweave with each other and winding paths lead to secluded places with clusters of grapes within easy reach.

Eight kilometres long, half a kilometre wide and inhabited by about 7,000 people of the Uygur, Hui and Han Nationalities, the Grape valley has more than 400 hectares of cultivated land, 220 of which is grape-growing area. Grape growing in the valley are of several kinds, including the seedless white, rose pink, mare-teat, black, Kashihar, Bijiagan and Suosuo. There is a fruit winery producing several kinds of wines and canned Grapes.

The Kangurtage Mountain in Shanshan County is called Gold Mountain. It is a famous gold mine in china and is also one of the biggest gold mines in Turpan. The biggest sand dunes in Turpan area are at the Kumutag Mountain, 6,5 km from east to west 32 km from north to south, Covering an area about 200 square km. The highest peak of this Mountain is about 665 meters above sea level.

There is a spring called "the thousand spring", because there are number tens of thousands holes in the spring. So rename. This spring water is the main sources of Turpan City. It is located 5 km northeast of Daheyan of Turpan city. The Ari hot spring is located 45 km northeast of Shenjin Township Turpan city. It is the biggest hot spring in Turpan.