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Building for drying the grapes in the countryside
Animal statues at Astana
View of Flaming Mountains from Astana
Astana Tombs
Here on VT you find this famous oasis, which is located in Xinjiang Uygur Automomous Province, under the name of TURPAN. In Germany and in many guide books the name TURFAN is more common. It is just a difference in the correct transcripption of this old Uygur name. The official Chinese Pinyin Transcription is TU LU FAN, as no Han Chinese person could pronounce Turpan correctly.
Being an important stop on the Silk Road caravans trail and the last frontier against the "northern tribes", this part of China has always been of startegical importance and mant defensive and civil structures have been built here.
Most of them are gone forever, but you can still see the remains of some as Gaochang, Jiaohe...
Turpan is a hot city: very hot indeed! You have to expect about 40° Centigrade from June to September. It is a very continental dry climate. But from November till February temperatures drop until far below zero!
The heat and the location in this depression also are the reasons, tthat many storms appear in Turpan-Area. Between Urumqi and Turpan is one of the biggest windmills of the world. But this storms can also cause problems. Trains donot go in storms, Sandstorms are a big handicap for tourists: no sight and going out in a sandstorm is no fun.
Dispite of the storm and the heat it was nice to be in Turpan in June. It must have rained a bot before we arrived: the trees and plants were all green and blooming.
Some of the restaurants show local dances. The Uygur music is very much like Turkish music and also the dances resemble dances I have seen in Turkey.
When we had dinner in a restaurant near Oasis Hotel we saw this little girl dancing for us. The girl was 7 years old and people told us, that she is going to school. But it was summerholidays. Some of our group did not like the show, because they thought it is a child working. Specially when the little girl did some belly-dancing critisism arose. I was not happy with that either, but I think I am not travelling to tell local people, what is right or wrong.
There is also a folklore show every evening at the Oasis Hotel, which is very nice. People enjoyed this very much. /1,5 hours/40 yuan)
If you leave the center of the city, with it's chinese style "bizarro-world" architecture, you can actually find some Uighur rural farm style houses. These are mostly complexes with a large central gate, the walls mad from mud-brick. The farm area reminds me more of western style agriculture for some reason This is where the grapes grow in the summer, and many houses have vines growing over the porch/front yard area.
It would be fun to walk up the tree lined roads in the summer and see it all.
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