Thousands of miles of self-driving, beautiful Xinjiang (9) Turpan

On October 17th, I got up early and set off early to Turpan. Now it seems that after visiting the Grand Bazaar, we should go to Turpan to stay. Although we got up in the morning and arrived at the first scenic spot, Karez, it was half past nine, but after a day of play Still feel a little rushed.

The source of Kanerjing is another name for Jiaoheyi. Jiaoheyi was an important station on the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty, but now there are no remaining historical sites. The scenic spot is just a copy of a station on the original site, but Karez is indeed real, and it is still there. is working.

Beside the road outside the scenic area, there is a monument to the ancient post road

The gate of Jiaoheyi Scenic Area, with a horizontal plaque on the lintel of the source of Karer Well

Gatehouse

Beacon

The beacon is an ancient alarm system. The beacon in Turpan is basically in line with the direction of the Silk Road, and plays an important role in protecting the smooth flow of the Silk Road. It is generally a rammed earth building, a prism type that shrinks upwards.

Reproduce the scene of passing documents at the post station

Impression of Jiaohe Station

Karez ancient well mouth

Kaner is Uighur, which means "well". Who invented the Karez well? It is now believed that the technology was brought in by the Central Asians and Persians. The Turpan people (the Uighurs here) had mastered the technique of digging Karez wells before the Tang Dynasty.

Entrance of Karez Cultural Museum

The Karez irrigation method relies entirely on gravity, transporting glacial meltwater from the ground in the eastern part of the Tianshan Mountains to the Turpan Basin. To avoid evaporation in the sun, the water flows through a crisscross of underground channels that connect more than a thousand wells throughout the region, each channel ranging in length from 3 kilometers to 30 kilometers.

One of the three great projects in ancient China, Karez.

The other two of the three great projects in ancient China are the Great Wall and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which has been running for more than 2,500 years. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Karez system reached its peak, stretching for 5,272 kilometers, 1,237 kilometers of which passed through the Turpan Basin. The water flows directly into the fields and vineyards, and the residents drink the clear, sweet water from wells.

Introduction to Karez Well Source

Basic structure of karez

Karez consists of four parts: open channel, hidden channel, shaft and dam. The culvert is the main body of Karez, that is, the groundwater channel. The vertical shaft is a channel for transporting mud, sand and gravel underground, and it is also a vent for ventilation. The depth of the well is generally closer to the source, the deeper the shaft, and the deepest well can reach more than 90 meters. The distance between shafts varies with the length of Karez, generally 20 to 70 meters, and there is only one shaft. The higher the water source, the shorter the distance, and vice versa, the longer the distance. The culvert is connected with the open channel on the ground. The Karez well water is poured into the dam, the water storage tank, and then introduced into the channel to irrigate the farmland.

qanat culvert

Karez Shaft

Reproduce the excavation scene of Karez

It is said that the melted snow in the Tianshan Mountains is icy cold, and workers digging underground canals have to kneel in icy water to dig soil. Therefore, workers who have been engaged in underground canal digging for a long time generally do not live longer than 30 years old.

Reproduce the excavation scene of Karez

Geographical conditions of Karez

Not far from Jiaohe Station is Jiaohe Old City, which is located in Yaer Township, about 13 kilometers west of Turpan City, and 10 kilometers west of Turpan City, on a 30-meter-high loess platform at the confluence of two rivers in Yaernaiz Valley. It is about 1650 meters long, narrow at both ends, and about 300 meters wide at the middle, forming a willow-shaped peninsula.

Jiaohe Ancient City Visitor Center

Jiaohe Ancient City Visitor Center is also an exhibition hall

Hugging

Take the shuttle bus passing Jiaohe Ancient Village

Jiaohe Ancient Village

The sculpture next to Jiaohe Ancient Village, because I didn’t get off the bus, I don’t know whose statue it is

Panorama of Jiaohe Ancient City

This is the former capital of Cheshi, one of the thirty-six city states in the ancient Western Regions, and the political, economic, military and cultural center of the country. Due to the drought and lack of rain in Turpan, the old city is well preserved. The buildings are all made of rammed earth, and the shape and layout are similar to those of Chang'an City in Tang Dynasty. Clay Bodhisattvas can still be found in city wells, government offices, Buddhist temples, pagodas, streets and alleys, as well as workshops, folk houses, military training grounds, Tibetan trenches, and Buddhist niches in temples. The temple covers an area of 5,000 square meters and has a well for collecting water. There are 101 pagodas in the pagoda group. Looking down from the air, the old city of Jiaohe looks like a big willow leaf.

Jiaohe Ancient City is the largest, oldest and best-preserved adobe city in the world, and also the most complete urban relic in my country for more than 2,000 years. During the Chagatai period at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were continuous wars in Turpan. Jiaohe City was severely damaged and was finally abandoned.

South Gate Ruins

Introduction to Nanmen Ruins

South Gate Ruins

Jiaohe Ancient City Impression

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City--Large Courtyard Area

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City -- Residential Area

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City--Temple District

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City--Guanshu District

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City--Water Well

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City -- Guanshu District

Introduction to the Government Office District

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City--Interior Scene of Guanguan District

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City--Underpass in Guanshu District

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City--Interior Scene of Guanguan District

Jiaohe Ancient City Impression

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City--Storage Area

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City --Northeast Buddhist Temple

Northeast Buddhist Temple Introduction

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City --Northeast Buddhist Temple

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City -- Tallinn

Introduction to Tallinn

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City --Northwest Buddhist Temple

Introduction to Northwest Buddhist Temple

Jiaohe Ancient City Impression

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City -- Central Tower

Central Tower Introduction

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City -- Dafo Temple

Big Buddha Temple Introduction

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City -- Dafo Temple

Jiaohe Ancient City Impression

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City -- Central Avenue

Impression of Jiaohe Ancient City--Southern Buddhist Temple

Introduction to Southern Buddhist Temples

Jiaohe Ancient City Impression

Because there are five scenic spots to see on this day, and time is limited, we hurriedly visited the Old City of Jiaohe, and we went to Turpan Grape Valley Scenic Area. The distance is not far, about 10 kilometers.

Gate of Grape Valley Scenic Area

Impression of Grape Valley Scenic Area

Impression of Grape Valley Scenic Area --Scenery along the way by ferry

Impression of Grape Valley Scenic Area

Grape Valley Scenic Area There are many introductions about grapes in the exhibition hall

Impression of Grape Valley Scenic Area

Impression of Grape Valley Scenic Area, drying room for drying raisins

Impression of Grape Valley Scenic Area --Scenery along the way by ferry

Dawazi Scenic Area

"Dawazi" is an ancient traditional acrobatic performing art of the Uygur people. . "Dawazi", also known as "Darhazikexi" in Uighur, was called "walking rope", "Gao (geng)", "walking soft rope", "stepping rope", "rope technique" (or "rope technique" in ancient times) Trick") and so on. "Dawazi" specifically refers to high-altitude rope walking. High-altitude tightrope walking is the result of the later innovation and development of "Dawazi". It mainly originated and spread in the Uighur-inhabited areas in southern Xinjiang.

Dawazi Scenic Area Impression

Impression of Dawazi Scenic Spot --The World's Largest Nang Pit

The naan pit is 8 meters high and 10 meters in diameter. It can not only bake naan, but also roast a camel, two cows, and ten sheep at the same time, which can feed hundreds of people at the same time.

Dawazi Scenic Area Impression

Avanti Style Garden

In the garden, apricot trees form forests, and mulberry trees cover the sun. There are mainly folk cultural landscapes such as grape corridors, grape landscapes, folk museums, Avanti cultural squares, and floating restaurants. It is the theme culture communication base of Avanti.

Impression of Avanti Style Garden

Impression of Avanti Style Garden -- Avanti Statue

Impression of Avanti Style Garden

The small garden is not big, and it can be visited in half an hour. It is already 4 pm, and there are still two scenic spots to visit, so I decided to end the tour of Grape Valley and go to Flame Mountain.

Take the shuttle bus and pass by the folk village, but I didn't visit it due to time constraints

Grape Valley is about 35 kilometers away from Flame Mountain, and it takes about 40 minutes to drive.

Flame Mountain Scenic Area

The Huoyan Mountain in Turpan is the hottest place in the country. The highest temperature in summer is as high as 47.8 degrees Celsius, and the highest surface temperature is as high as 70 degrees Celsius. Eggs can be baked in the sand nest. Due to the rupture of the crustal movement and the cutting of the river, many valleys are left in the mountainside, but these valleys are shaded by greenery, beautiful scenery, gurgling water, and fragrant melons and fruits.

Flame Mountain Scenic Area Journey to the West Cultural Corridor

Flame Mountain Scenic Area Geography and Culture Hall

Flaming Mountain Scenic Area Thermometer

Flaming Mountain Scenic Area Journey to the West Sculpture

Bull Demon King Sculpture in Flame Mountain Scenic Area

Flame Mountain Scenic Spot Iron Fan Princess Sculpture

Impression of Flaming Mountain Scenic Area

There is an altitude of zero meters in the Huoyan Mountain Scenic Area. Because of time constraints, I didn’t go there to visit again. Let’s remake a poster to commemorate it.

Time passed so fast that it was nearly 6 pm before we knew it. Although Xinjiang would not get dark until around 8 pm, we still hurried to Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves.

Scenery on the way to Thousand Buddha Caves

The scenery on the way to the Thousand Buddha Caves, sand baked eggs

Introduction to Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves

The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves are located on the Flame Mountain, 45 kilometers east of Turpan City, Xinjiang, on the cliff on the west bank of Mumugou. There are 83 caves, 57 of which are extant. Among them, there are more than 40 murals, with a total area of 1,200 square meters. It is the grotto group with the most caves and the richest mural content among the existing grottoes in Turpan. It is one of the larger Buddhist grotto temple sites in Xinjiang.

The Bezeklik Thousand-Buddha Cave was first excavated in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties. It has gone through seven centuries of Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, and Yuan Dynasties. It has always been the center of Buddhism in Gaochang. The Uighur Gaochang period was the most prosperous period for the grottoes. At the end of the 13th century AD, the Gaochang royal family moved eastward to Yongchang, Gansu, and after Islam was introduced to Turpan, Buddhism gradually declined, and Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves declined accordingly. At the beginning of this century, Russia, Germany, Britain, Japan and other powers repeatedly robbed and destroyed the eyes of the figures in the murals, and the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves were even worse. Although it was severely damaged, the Buddha seat of Jieyu is gorgeous and exquisite, and the remaining murals are rich in content and bright in color. The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves are still a large-scale cultural and artistic treasure house.

Impression of Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves

Impression of the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves-Although the murals were seriously damaged, the remaining murals can still see the splendor of the time

Impression of Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves

The rap artist in front of the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Cave, let him play a song for 20 yuan to feel the folk customs of Xinjiang.

Impression of Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves

After a day of sightseeing, I really felt a little tired. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, I ended the tour and returned to the hotel to rest. Please continue to browse Wanli self-driving, Damei Xinjiang (Hami Wubao Devil City).