Turpan

Part 5 of the Silk Road journey

Posted 18th May 2017 by David McGuinness

The bullet train sped me across the edges of the Gobi desert, and seas of wind turbines, into Xinjiang province and on to Turpan. Turpan is the hottest and driest town in China and the second lowest place on earth, after the Dead Sea on the Israel-Jordan border.

Nonetheless, it is quite green and its fruit, in particular its grapes and melons, are famous throughout China as the best and the sweetest, mostly thanks to an ancient underground well system known as “Karez”, meaning “well” the in the Uighur language. Based on Persian qanats, these underground chambers connected by wells filter the meltwaters from the mighty Tien Shan mountains, under the Flaming Mountains and the Gobi desert to the town. Turpan’s place as an oasis town and import staging point on the Silk Road is in no small part thanks to this system. Today only about 150 of around 1200 Karez still function, thanks to decreasing meltwaters mostly caused by global warming and the tendency to dig deeper wells that further deplete the groundwater. This is done in a bid to serve the needs of the growing population of the town and surrounding area.

Turpan and the surrounding basin has many worthwhile sights. We started with the Astana tombs. Dating back to the 4th century, these tombs from the Gaochang kingdom have been preserved due to the dry climate and mummies (there were two methods to mummify, one with salt, the second with oil), as well as the tradition to take precious items into the next life.

Turpan and the surrounding basin has many worthwhile sights. We started with the Astana tombs. Dating back to the 4th century, these tombs from the Gaochang kingdom have been preserved due to the dry climate and mummies (there were two methods to mummify, one with salt, the second with oil), as well as the tradition to take precious items into the next life.

Our next stop was Tuyoq, a small picturesque Uighur village, dramatically set and an important place for Uighur muslims, with trips to Mecca usually preceded by a trip here. It also makes for a nice lunch stop. The nearby Buddhist caves are the oldest in the region but are closed to the public because of a flood from a few years back. Photos of the caves can be seen in the Turpan museum, however. The town was also once home to Albert Von Le Coq, a German archaeologist and thief, who stole many ancient treasures from the region. There is a plaque outside his former house.

We continued past the stunning Flaming Mountain which appears to glow in the afternoon sun, hence its name. We stopped at some worthwhile viewpoints along the way before arriving at the Bezelik Buddhist caves. Sadly, most of the original artwork here was either destroyed by Muslim invaders, carted off by European archaeologists in the early 20th century (including Von Le Coq, whose stolen artefacts were mostly destroyed during World War II bombings) or destroyed in the cultural revolution. My Uighur guide, Ahmadjan, translated what a Chinese tour guide said to her group: “Tell your friends not to waste their money coming here, the muslims destroyed everything!”. Cultural sensitivity in China has a way to go. Our final stop for the first day in Turpan was the beautiful Emin minaret. Dating to 1777, it stands 44m high and mixes the geometric patterns of Islam with Chinese floral designs in its brickwork.

The next morning we drove to the ancient city of Jiaohe (called “Yar city” meaning cliff city by the Uighurs). This UNESCO site dates back almost 2,000 years and is a natural fortress sat on an island surrounded by dramatic sheer cliff faces. The buildings were dug into the ground for the most part, as rock and wood were difficult or dangerous to come by. A vast infant graveyard in the centre of the city remains unexplained, though naturally theories abound, few of them convincing.

This blog is part of an Off-The-Beaten-Track Travel Diary. Click on the links below to navigate through this journey.