Introduction
Xinjiang Province, 187km (116 miles) SE of Urumqi
Early European visitors were preoccupied with the overwhelming heat of this delightful oasis town. Set in the Turpan Depression, 154m (505 ft.) below sea level at its lowest point at Lake Ayd Inkol (Aiding Hu), the town experiences midday temperatures hovering above 113°F (45°C) during the summer months. The American journalist Lattimore found some relief: "Over the central streets, which are at once passageways and market-places, are trellises, covered with mats, gourd-vines, and the branches of willows and poplars. In the checkered shade the people step softly, loose-robed and barefooted or slipper-shod; as they chatter in Turki, guttural but soft, the eyes of women flash under stenciled eyebrows and the teeth of men flash from black beards . . ."
The green fields that surround Turpan are sustained by the karez irrigation system, thought to have been introduced in Persia 2 millennia ago. A web of 1,610km (1,000 miles) of...
more local info
-
-
Jiaohe (Yarkhoto)
Ten kilometers (6 1/4 miles) west of Turpan, these ruins are better preserved and enjoy a more spectacular location than Gaochang, though they...
-
-
-
Xinjiang Grape Ditch
- The Xinjiang Grape Festival is an annual event held in Turpan. Held in the month of August,it commemorates the ancient silk route between China...
-
- Offbeat Activities
-
-
-
Bozikelike Qian Fo Dong (Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves)
The setting of Bezeklik Caves, in a ravine deep in the Flaming Mountains, is more spectacular than the contents of the caves. Bezeklik was stripped...
-
