Turpan

Lying in the center of the Turpan basin is the Flaming Mountains which extends a hundred kilometers from east to west and dozens of kilometers from north to south, the famous ancient Silk Road. "Tuztag" in Uygur means red rocks, for the dark red sandstone, hazy and glowing under the blazing sun, resembles a mountain in flames from afar. A poem by the Tang Dynasty poet Cen Shen says: "I've just seen the Fire Mountain, rising abruptly east of Puchang, its red flames burning the clouds and its sultry air suffusing the desert void..."

Shengjin Pass, the main peak of the Flaming Mountain, presents an ever-changing appearance with steep cliffs and rugged rocks. The Chinese mythological novel Pilgrimage to the West, the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang encountered numerous obstacles. On approaching the Flaming Mountain, he found it in flames fanned up by the Iron Fan Princess. Fortunately, Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, stole her magic fan and extinguished the flames so that the party was able to continue their journey westward. It is said that the stone on which Xuanzang mounted his horse and the stake at which he tethered his horse are still there on the mountain. In spite of its barren crest, springs gurgle in the gullies and valleys and mountain flowers flourish, making the land look like a paradise.

Aydingkol (moonlight) Lake in the center of the depression is 154.5 meters lower than the Yellow Sea. It is the second lowest point in the world, next only to the Dead Sea in Jordan. The basin of the plated-shaped lake contains large amount of black alkaline soil. Around the lake reeds, tamarisks, sacsaouls "plump girls", and other shrubs and weeds thrive in a spectrum of red, yellow, green and purple. The annual rainfall is 16 mm, while the evaporation rate reaches 3,000 mm. As a result, Aydingkol Lake, once deep and expansive, is shrinking and is now only a meter deep. However, on sunny morning or moonlit night, the lake still shimmers enchantingly.

Farming is a time-honored profession in Turpan, the famous "country of fruits" in China. As early as the 70 BC, large scale land reclamation was carried out. During the Wei and Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, grapes were widely cultivated in Turpan which "overflows with wine". According to the History of the Tang Dynasty, "during the reign of emperor Taizong, Ye Hu presented to the court a 20-foot vine known as the 'Mare's Teat', with fair-sized purplish grapes." Ye Hu, in fact, was Yi Du Hu, king of Gaochang in Turpan. When people in the interior still knew nothing about cotton, the History of the Liang Dynasty mentioned "Bai Die" (Levant cotton) being grown in Turpan. The Turpan area made a name in the world with its specialities -- the seedless white grapes, the Donghu Hami melons and the long-staple cotton.

More than 100 varieties of grape including the emerald green, agate purple, pearl white and ebony black hang on trellises stretching for 30 li in the suburbs of Turpan. On the mountain slopes perch drying houses with openwork walls in which hang strings of grapes drying slowly in a natural process. The raisins, when they are ready, are freshly green and extremely sweet. The grape harvest season is also a season to harvest happiness and love. Grapes are presented among friends and relatives, and as tokens of love between the young people. People sing of grapes and paint grapes and hold parties in vineyards where Chinese and foreign tourists gather to savor the Xinjiang specialty. Turpan, the most important grape production center in China, accounts for over 90 percent of seedless grapes cultivated in China.

The material prosperity is the result of the Turpan people's efforts in transforming nature and building oases. Over the centuries, they have dug under the land to build the karezes to store up water for irrigation. The karezes represent a great invention by the Turpan people. They now number more than a thousand with a total length of three thousand kilometers, equaling the length of the Great Wall. During the past 30 years the Turpan people have undertaken large scale afforestation, planting trees at the desert frontier and around their fields to break the wind and protect the crops. Forest scientists have set up a desert life experimental station and introduced sand-fixing plans to convert vast tracts of desert into oases. The cultivated acreage of Turpan has increased from 460,000 mu in 1950 to 800,000 mu. The ancient Turpan oases are pulsing with life.

The Turpan people have also developed a unique method of medical treatment -- the sand therapy. In summer, colored parasols mushroom over the sand dunes. People bury their legs or waists in the scorching sand or lie on it with their ailing parts exposed for massage, heat or magnetic treatment. As they sweat, doctors and nurses make the rounds giving direction or passing fruits and food. Lumbago or sciatica sufferers often gets noted results after a period of sand treatment.

History

Turfan has long been the centre of a fertile oasis and an important trade centre. It was historically located along the Silk Road's northern route, at which time it was adjacent to the kingdoms of Korla and Karashahr to the southwest. Turfan is the source of numerous fragments written in the Middle Iranian languages (Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, Sakan and Bactrian) related to the Iranian religion of Manichaeism.