2008 China
Thursday Aug 21, 2008 Urumchi - Turfan
Day 08 Submitted by Barbara Wilson wilsonfarmsinc@verizon.net
 Pictures submitted by  Laurie Bergner" drlaurieb1@verizon.net

 Breakfast in the Urumchi Hotel, bags out and exchange money $1.= 6.8 yuan.  We drove to the Xinjiang Regional Museum where our local guide, Abdullah directed us through the varied cultures of this area.   Urumchi is the furthest city away from an ocean of any city in the world.  In the museum which is divided into two parts, archeological treasures from the Silk Road and minority cultures, we viewed four of the natural dry corpses (mummies) found in shallow graves in the sands and they were remarkably well preserved.  We had lunch at Korgan Castle in Urumchi and embarked on a three hour bus ride to Turpan, which is situated in a large basin 505 ft below sea level.  On our way, Abdullah told of the great agricultural oasis where many crops such as cotton, grapes, watermelon and  cantalope are grown.  Turpan has a very hot, dry climate between June and August however, the winters are extremely cold.  The ancient Karez irrigation system is comprised of a series of wells and linking underground channels that use gravity to bring glacial runoff water to the surface.  Keeping these channels open is a constant task.  They lower a man down into the well and he sends the mud up to the top of the well in buckets.  In Turpan there are 1000 miles of tunnels.  

That evening we visited the nearby ruins of Jiaohe, a Han Dynasty garrison that was destroyed by Genghis Khan in the ninth century.  We hiked among the adobe ruins to a Buddhist Monastery situated in the center of the complex.  After the Uygur dance show at the Oasis Hotel, we walked a short block or two and had some local food before returning to our hotel.