Tales of Turpan

By staff reporter LI XIA

Camel rides and donkey carts await tourists at the foot of the renowned Flame Mountain.

AT an altitude of 154 meters below sea level, Turpan is the lowest place in China and second lowest in the world after the Dead Sea. It is one of the hottest, having been known to reach 49.6.

Situated about 140 kilometers southeast of Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Turpan is abundant in distinctive natural scenery and sites of historic interest. Flame Mountain is one of the most striking. Most Chinese people associate it with the Ming Dynasty classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. It tells of the adventures of Tang Dynasty (618-907) monk Xuanzang and his three disciples Monkey, Piggy and Sandy on their travels west in search of Buddhist Sutras. Upon reaching Flame Mountain, the four could not penetrate its flames, and could pass it only after Monkey procured a magical palm-leaf fan from Princess Iron Fan, and waved it 49 times, causing heavy rains to extinguish the fire.

Flame Mountain is 100 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide. It is made up of red sandstone, conglomerate and mudstone. Viewed in summer, sunshine and air refraction give the impression of glittering flames. Its color also alters with the change of temperature and the position of the sun. It is one of Turpan's most impressive sight.

A Uygur family living in Turpan.

Grape Valley, about 13 kilometers northeast of Turpan City and to the west of Flame Mountain is also not to be missed. This eight-kilometer-long gorge has mountains on either side, all devoid of grass or any other vegetation. Surging river waters, however, irrigate the green vineyards in the shoals at the bottom of the valley, where visitors may sit comfortably under grape trellises, peeling grapes and enjoying merciful wafts of cool air.

In ancient times, when it was an important town on the Silk Road, Turpan was known as Gaochang. Perhaps its most impressive scenic feature is Jiaohe City. Situated about 10 kilometers to the west of Turpan, the city ruins, built on a 30-meter- high willow leaf shaped loess platform, are screened by precipitous cliffs that form natural walls of defense.

A newly built earthen slope leads to the old city ruins. Accessed through south, east and west gates, a 10-meter trunk road ran from north to south through the city center and narrow alleyways divided it into various districts. Government mansions and family houses occupied the southern side of the city, while temples and pagodas were in the northern section, with ancient tombs to the extreme north. In 1994 an ancient subterranean temple was unearthed in Jiaohe.

Many Turpan residents earn their living from selling grapes.

One historic record states that the State of South Cheshi made the city of Jiaohe, named for being the junction of two rivers, its capital. During the Western Han Dynasty the jiaohebi (an administrative division) was established and from the Northern Wei period to the beginning of the Tang, it became Jiaohe Prefecture under the jurisdiction of Gaochang Kingdom. Later, the Anxi Military Viceroy's Office, highest civil and military administrative organ in the Western Regions, was set up here. During the middle of the eighth and the ninth centuries, Tibetans occupied the city, after which it was called Jiaohe Prefecture under the jurisdiction of the Huigu Gaochang Kingdom. At the end of the thirteenth century, it was destroyed by the Mongolian hordes.

The Astana-Karakhoja Ancient Tombs, 40 kilometers southeast of Turpan and 6 kilometers north of the ancient city of Gaochang, cover a total area of 8 square kilometers. The tombs were built between the 3rd and 8th centuries, and are the final resting place of imperial officials as well as ordinary citizens. Vivid murals have been discovered on tomb walls, and paper coffins, cloth belts and shoes, as well as epitaphs, ancient documents, files, letters, and accounting books written with calligraphy brushes unearthed. This discovery, known as Turpan Literature, caused a big stir at home and abroad and initiated international Turpan academic study. Corpses unearthed from tombs are completely intact, right down to their eyelids, due to the tombs' arid environment. To date, some 400 ancient tombs there have been excavated and tens of thousands of relics unearthed.

The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, located 56 kilometers northeast of Turpan, contain well-known Buddhist frescos. The caves were first built in the 6th century. Bezeklik means "place of paintings" in the Uygur language. It was a main center for Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty (640-960). Among its 83 numbered grottoes, 40 still have well preserved murals.

The karez system cut from an underground river by the local people.

Another place well worth visiting in Turpan is the Emin Minaret, or Su Gong Ta. Located 2 kilometers east of the city of Turpan, it is the biggest Islamic minaret in China. It was built by Tupan ruler Emin Khoja as an expression of his gratitude to the Qing Emperor Qianlong. Sun-dried bricks taper skyward, decorated with rhombuses, ripples and four-petal flowers. A seventy-one-step spiral staircase leads to the top.

The adjoining mosque, biggest in Turpan, has a unique shape and architectural style that characterizes ancient Chinese Islamic buildings.

The karez system, known as one of the three great engineering projects in China, the other two being the Great Wall and the Grand Canal, reflects local Uygur technical know-how. It comprises a series of wells and linked underground channels that let gravity bring ground water, usually far away from its source, to the surface. In Turpan, about 75 percent of farmland is irrigated using the karez systems. Visitors to Turpan go underground to view its structure and also escape from the hot summer sunshine as they walk along its tunnels. There are all together 1,200 karez systems in Turpan at a total length of 5,000 kilometers.