Home > Turpan

Turpan

In the Iow-lying Turpan Basin at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains in the central part of Xinjiang lies Turpan Prefecture, with a total area of 69,700 sq. km..The City of Turpan has a population of nearly 200,000, most of whom are Uygurs, The Turpan Basin is the lowest area in China, in which the Aiding Lake, with its surface being 154 m. below sea level, is the second lowest spot in the world, next only to the Dead Sea in Jordan. It is also the hottest place in China, with more than 146 days being above 30~C every year. Therefore it is also called the Fire
Continent. Turpan was called Gushi in ancient times. In the Han Dynasty it was first called the State of Cheshiqian and later the State of Cheshiqian Kingdom. In the Northern Wei Dynasty the Rourans established the Kingdom of Gaochang in Turpan. In the Tang Dynasty Xichang Zhou (the Prefecture of Xichang) was established here and later it was changed to Xi Zhou (the Prefecture of Xi). In the Song Dynasty the Prefecture of Xi was changed to the Kingdom of Gaochang Huihe. In the Yuan Dynasty the Pacification Department of the Prefecture of He )(the supreme miiitary,and administrative organ over the whole area Of the Prefecture of He) was established directly under the Bieshibali Shangshu Province (one of the provinces established in the Western Regions). Both the Ming and Qing Dynasties exercised control over it. In 1913 Turpan County was set up, and in 1985 it was changed to the City of Turpan.
Turpan was an important and big town on the ancient Silk Road. There are now in the suburbs of the Turpan City the ruins of some ancient cities built more than 1,500 years ago and precious "underground museums"--tombs of the ancient
times from the 3rd to the 9th centuries. The music and dance of the Turpan area were flourishing in ancient times. The famous Gaochang music was one of the ten collections of music played in the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty.
Nowadays Nazilkum, one of the classic Uygur dances, can still be enjoyed in Turpan. There are now many well preserved cultural relics in Turpan such as the Imin Minaret (also named the Sugong Minaret), the Bezkrik Thousand-buddha Grottoes, the Tugugou Grot- toes, the Yaryan Grottoes, the ancient City of Jiaohe, the ancient City of Gaochang, the Astana Ruins of the Stone Age, the ancient Astana Tombs, the
ancient Yarhu Tombs, etc.
Besides all the cultural relics mentioned above, there are also some tourist spots such as the Grape Valley, the Aiding Lake, the Flaming Mountains, etc. which attract a lot of tourists from various parts of this country and all over the world every year.

Attractions:

Astana Graves
To the northwest of the Gaochang Ruins lie the Astana Graves (Asitana Gumuqun), where the dead of Gaochang were buried. The ancient tombs are clearly zoned according to families and castes with natural stones. The burial area is large and stretches 5 km from east to west and 2 km from north to south. Unfortunately, todayonly a few of the tombs are open to tourists.

The typical Astana tomb has a short flight of steps leading down into the tomb. The burial chambers of the tombs generally have low ceilings (about 2 meters high) and a total area of about 4 square meters. The two of the three graves open to the public have paintings of either the deceased or of birds, while the third has two well-preserved corpses on display!!

The deceased typically rest their heads on a cloth pillow and have their faces covered with a cloth. They also hold wooden sticks and are dressed in cotton or silk clothes. Typically found with the dead are silks, brocades and a variety of funerary objects, including replicas of houses, horses, and paper clothing. Other things of interest found in the tombs are paper records of the everyday transactions and dealings of the day such as silk orders and slave purchases.

Baizeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
The Baizeklik Thousand Buddha Caves are on the northwestern side of the Flaming Mountains facing a river valley, and are only 15km north of the ancient Gaochang City and 45km east of Turpan. These caves are one of the largest Buddhist "grotto" (or Shiku, meaning grottoes or caves carved out of the mountain's face to house Buddhist statues) sites in Xinjiang.

The heyday of the caves was during the end of the Gaochang state in the 13th century before the kingdom was moved to Gansu province. After which, the area's people were converted to Islam and the caves were subject to attack and fell into disrepair.

Most of the statues and frescos of Baizeklik Thousand Buddha Caves have either been destroyed by Muslims or by foreign adventurer-explorers, the most notorious of which was Albert von Le Coq. He stole numerous frescoes, a wall at a time, and shipped them off to Berlin for display, only for them to be destroyed in WWII bombing of Berlin. The caves of today are only a glimmer of their previous glory. Nevertheless the surrounding scenery is quite nice, so it's worth a trip.

Emin Minaret
The Emin Minaret (Emin Ta), just 2km east of Turpan, is both a mosque and minaret tower that was built in 1778 by the local muslim ruler, Emin Hoja. Also known as Sugong Tower (Sugong Ta) after Emin's Chinese name, the minaret was built in a simple Islamic style. It is circular, 44 meters in height, and 10 meters in diameter at the base. Unfortunately, the minaret is no longer open to the public in an effort to preserve the structure, however, you can view the surroundings from the roof of the mosque. As for the mosque, although it is rather bare inside, services are held every Friday and on holidays.

Flaming Mountains
The Flaming Mountains (Huo Yan Shan), are so named because in the evenings the red clay mountains reflect the heat and glow of the desert and seem to burn. Situated on the northern edge of the Turpan basin, and stretching over 100 km long and 10km wide, this is an intensely hot part of the desert with not a single blade of grass to be seen for miles. In the severe heat of July, the mountains seem to be on fire in the burning sun and become a purplish-brown color. Hot steam rises upwards from the burning cliffs and it is no surprise that this is where the hottest temperatures in China ever, were recorded!

Make sure you go prepared for this spectacular spot with ample drinking water, a good sunblock and a hat to stop your head from frizzling!

Gaochang Ancient City
East of Turpan are the ruins of Gaochang Ancient City (Gaochang Gucheng), the Uigur city-state that ruled the area from around the 9th century to the 13th. The city was actually founded a few hundred years earlier than that, and gradually became known as a trading post on the Silk Road.

In its heyday, Gaochang was a great Uigur city built on the business and trade that came through its gates. The religious beliefs of many peoples entered China through this area, first Buddhism and later Islam.

Most of the ruins are gone, but enough remain to give a feeling of the true size and majesty of this Silk Road city. The city walls, made of earth, are set in a 5km square, with heights of up to 11 meters and width of 12 meters. The city is also divided into an outer city, an inner city, and a palace compound.

The best preserved structures in the ruins are two temple/monasteries in the southwest and southeast corners of the outer city section. In the southwestern temple, the front gate, courtyard, lecture hall, main hall, and monastic dormitories are relatively intact. The southeast temple has the only preserved fresco in the ruins.

Grape Valley
Grape Valley (Putao gou) is located close to the Flaming Mountains. The area around Turpan is known for its wealth of fruit orchards and vineyards and in the late summer, the grapes are ripe and this is a wonderful time to visit the valley.

The Grape Valley itself consists of a trail of thick vines and trellises surrounded by stark desert. There is a winery here and some well ventilated brick buildings for hanging grapes. Two types of wine are produced in the area: a rich dark red port-like drink, and a lighter more fruity white wine. Both wine and raisins are exported in large quantities from Turpan. There is a grape festival here in August with singing, dancing and eating! DO NOT however, eat the grapes on the vines either here in the valley or in the city itself. A fine of RMB15 is made against any grape thieves who are caught!

Backed by the mountains and lying alongside the river, Grape Valley is a pretty little spot to stop for a rest and something to eat and drink. Inside the complex, there are dining halls serving Uigur food and ethnic handicrafts.

Jiaohe Ancient City
The ancient, ruined city of Jiaohe (Jiaohe gucheng) stands isolated on a 30-meter-high plateau in the Ya'ernaizi Valley, 10 kilometers east of Turpan. The city is situated on an island between two rivers and the name for the area means "the confluence of two rivers".

The whole Jiaohe Ancient City stretches about 1650 meters from south to north, and 300 meters from east to west. It was initially built about 2000 years ago and for a long period of time, was controlled by the residents of Gaochang.

Today, this is a well preserved site and a more atmospheric spot to wander and imagine times gone by than the city at Gaochang. Well preserved temples, pagodas and streets are dotted around. A Buddhist monastery marks the center of the city and there are some ancient filled wells here too. The crumbling sand colored walls of the buildings reflect the color of the desert and the surrounding sand dunes. Allow at least one hour to explore this intriguing city.

Karez Channels
China's three greatest feats of ancient engineering. Construction began on this ancient irrigation system during the Han Dynasty and as the Silk Road developed, methods of construction found their way to Central Asia and Persia.
This irrigation system uses gravity and the slope of the land to direct water flow into underground channels, thereby lessening the effects of evaporation under direct sunlight. The Karez Channels comprises wells, underground drain channels (some up to 8km long), and collection wells (where the water reaches a certain level and runs into above ground irrigation channels). In the entire system, there are over one thousand wells and the total length of the channels reaches 3,000km. The most astonishing fact is that this feat of engineering was all completed by hand using simple tools.