(continued from previous issue)


Arrive in Yining in the afternoon on the day you leave Sailimu Lake, take K9790 Yining-Urumqi in the evening, and return to Urumqi in the morning the next day. (Tickets must be booked in advance)



It is worth mentioning that before leaving Yining, I ate a Chai's Beef Noodles at the entrance of Liguang Street on Jiefang West Road. This is one of the few authentic "specialty" beef noodle places I've eaten at in the Northwest Territories. The soup is clear, the face is yellow, light green, the meat is tender, spicy red, with white radish slices floating, and the fragrance is overflowing, making people salivate just looking at the "face". Delicious, tasty and worth mentioning.


The Gate of Central Asia - Ili




DAY 11


Arrive at Urumqi Station (not South Station) early in the morning, buy a ticket directly and take the bullet train to Turpan. There are many trains from Urumqi Station to Turpan. It should be noted that some go to Turpan Station and some go to Turpan North Station. Turpan North Railway Station is a high-speed railway station, 5 kilometers away from Turpan City. We chose to arrive at Turpan North Railway Station. Fortunately, when the train arrives in Turpan, you must choose to arrive at Turpan North Station. Turpan Station (the old station) is very far away from the urban area, 50 kilometers away, and it takes more than an hour to take a ride, not to mention a waste of money.



Turpan is located in the south of Bogda Peak in Tianshan Mountains and the center of Turpan Basin. It is an important traffic artery connecting the inland and Central Asia. It is 180 kilometers away from Urumqi. There are Uygur, Han, Hui and other ethnic groups living here. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, there is plenty of sunshine, drought and little rain, so the melons and fruits here have extremely high sugar content. Turpan's grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon, etc. are very famous.


The surface temperature in Turpan in summer is mostly above 70°C, and it still maintains the highest record of extreme temperature in my country - 49.6°C. Turpan is the hottest place in my country in summer.




After getting off the train, I chose a chartered car for a day. The trip begins.



Karez


Karez well is an underground water diversion project created and perfected by people in ancient Turpan and Hami areas under the natural conditions of drought and water shortage. To put it simply, it is to find the underground underflow of snow water in the mountains, lead it to the underground channel for water storage, and then lead it to the open channel and dam on the ground for irrigation when irrigating. The culverts are all over the basin, stretching for several kilometers, and criss-crossing underground. When digging culverts, several vertical shafts are dug on the ground at a certain distance to facilitate the passage of the canals. Karez played an important role in the development of Turpan oasis civilization and was known as the "spring of life".


The hand potter's wheel is the original Karez well lifting equipment, relying on manpower to transport the earth from the bottom of the well to the ground.


Go deep underground to see this great project.


The total length of underground Karez culverts in Xinjiang reaches 5,272 kilometers, and people can only visit a small section of them.


Shaft opening to the ground.


Later, when I went outside, I saw the mouth of the well like this:


Nullah. According to statistics, the length of open channels in Xinjiang reaches 313 kilometers.


The Karez culvert water delivery project does not require external power and prevents the precious water from evaporating in high-sunshine areas like Turpan. It is a model of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and it is also the crystallization of the wisdom and sweat of the working people.




Jiaohe Ancient City


Jiaohe Ancient City is the best-preserved and oldest adobe-built city in the world.


With broken walls and ruins, one can only imagine the magnificent appearance of the ancient city when they existed in the past.


Jiaohe Ancient City is a ruins scenic spot with relics all over it. The value of visiting here lies more in history and archaeology.




Flame Mountain


Huoyan Mountain is a famous tourist attraction in Turpan. It is located in the northern part of Turpan Basin and is the hottest place in summer in my country. But people are more familiar with it from the plantain fan of Princess Iron Fan in "Journey to the West". The surface here is squeezed due to the movement of the earth's crust, and the folded mountains are uplifted impressively. Because the sandstone of the mountain is reddish red or brown, it is called Flame Mountain, also known as Red Mountain.


The big thermometer on Huoyanshan looks like a golden cudgel of Sun Wukong to me. Every year, the surface temperature here continues to create new highs.


Burnt by the high temperature, the red-scorched mountain stretches for hundreds of miles without any grass growing. Standing here to take pictures is naked exposure.





Grape ditch


The problem of lunch was solved outside the Grape Valley Scenic Area - I chose a small courtyard of the Hui people under the grape trellis. Why didn't you choose the small courtyard of the Uighur family? One is not used to it, and the other is that our enthusiastic chartered driver is a Hui nationality.


"Medium Spicy" Xinjiang Dapan Chicken


Grape valleys in Turpan are full of grape trellises that block out the sun.


I bought a Uighur tambourine as a commemoration of my trip to Xinjiang, and I still keep it at home until now, and I often pick it up and play with it. The sturdy horse-hide drum head, "dang-dang_dang" in the sunny and dry weather, rings crisply, and the cheerful dance music of the Uyghur girls can be heard in the ears, reminding them of their graceful dance postures.



Wandering around the nearby vineyards, I just felt curious about the planting of grapes. I just walked around and didn’t see any signs prohibiting traffic, but I was chased away by an unfriendly Uyghur vineyard owner. How embarrassing , ho ho ho.



Take a walk in Avanti Customs Park, see Avanti's home, and see the "Avanti's donkey" tied to the wall, as the end of the trip to northern Xinjiang.





Back to Urumqi that night.



DAY 12 return journey.


So far, the 12-day trip to northern Xinjiang in golden autumn has ended.




In the next issue, we will summarize the entire schedule of the 12-day trip to northern Xinjiang, major transportation routes and recommendations for reference. Please pay attention if necessary.



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