Turpan:
At over 500 feet below sea level, Turpan sits within the world's second-lowest depression; only the Dead Sea is lower. Turpan is also one of China's hottest places with July temperatures of over 115 degrees fahrenheit not uncommon. Imagine the relief of Silk Road traders (or even their camels!) as they arrived upon this desert oasis under summertimes's parching sun!
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Turpan's rainfall is miniscule, averaging less than half an inch a year. But despite its desert clime, Turpan's markets sell locally-grown grapes, raisins, melon and cotton, thanks to an ingenious system (called karez) of underground irrigation canals which capitalize on snowmelt from distant mountain aquifiers. Xinjiang Province raisins are world famous for their sweetness, as are the local melons.
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Today, Turpan is a small, easy-going, almost sleepy town, not unlike remote areas of America's rural Southwest. But this oasis town's one-time strategic location along the busy Silk Road is still evident thanks to a still-standing Buddhist monastery and a number of Islamic mosques.
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Turpan's attractions include:
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- Iman Ta: To an uninformed visitor, this mosque might seem better suited for Iran than China. Yet Islam's influence in Western China was, and remains, strong. The green-colored Iman Ta Mosque was completed in 1778 by a prince in honor of his father. The building's distinctive, cone-shaped minaret makes it Turpan's most easily recognized and most visited mosque.
- Irrigation System (Karez): This mostly-underground system includes over 1000 wells, numerous reservoirs and almost 2,000 miles of canals. By constructing the system underground, evaporation is almost nil, preserving precious mountain snowmelt for crops and turning this otherwise barren desert into a man-made oasis.
- Grape Valley: Delicious grapes, sweet raisins, giant melons - even water-thirsty cotton - all are produced within this desert valley just north from Turpan. And where there are grapes, there's wine - and wine-tasting at a nearby winery!
- Jiaohe Ruins: You can still walk the long-ago abandoned streets of Jiaohe; 2200 years ago it was the capital of the ancient Cheshi Kingdom. Its demise began a thousand years ago, possibly due to inadequate water supplies. A few centuries later the invading armies of Genghis Khan finished off what remained of Jiaohe.
Featured Hotel: (subject to change)
- Turpan Hotel
No. 22 South Youth Road
Turpan, 838000 China
Tel: (86) (995) 852 2301
Fax: (86) (995) 852 3262
3-star - 207 rooms
Near the city center, the Turpan Hotel hosts an indoor swimming pool, a gym and an onsite restaurant featuring authentic local cuisine.
For a link to a Turpan Hotel site click here.
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Turpan
is featured
on the following tours: |
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Karez
Irrigation System: |
The
karez irrigation system consists of four parts: a hole - usually
at least 150 feet deep, an underground canal, an aboveground canal
and a reservoir. The ingenious system requires no electricity, loses
little water to evaporation and causes no pollution. Unfortunately,
motor-driven wells are sucking the karez system dry; this "Underground
Great Wall," may be extinct by 2025. |
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