Gaochang District 高昌区

Setting and landscape

The Flaming Mountains (火焰山) run across the middle of the district and split it into a northern and a southern half. The snowfields of Bogda Peak, 5,445 metres high, feed the basin's water, while Ayding Lake (艾丁湖) in the south lies 154 metres below sea level, described as the lowest point on land in China. The district government gives a mean annual temperature of 13.9°C, more than 100 days a year above 35°C and only 16.4 millimetres of rain a year. Turpan is known as the "Land of Fire" (火洲), and for its wind resources also as the "Wind Store" (风库).

History

The district government calls Gaochang a Silk Road town where Eastern and Western cultures met. In 1779 the Qing moved the area's senior official to Guang'an City (广安城), today's old town of Turpan, making it the administrative centre. Francis Younghusband passed through in 1887 and recorded two separate walled towns. Turpan County became the county-level city of Turpan in December 1984, and on 12 April 2015, when Turpan became a prefecture-level city, the old county-level city was renamed Gaochang District.

What to see

The district counts two World Heritage sites and eight national key cultural relics protection units. Those listed on Chinese Wikipedia include the Gaochang ruins (高昌故城), the Jiaohe ruins (交河故城), the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves (柏孜克里克千佛洞), the Emin Minaret (苏公塔) and the karez underground irrigation channels (坎儿井).

Grape Valley (葡萄沟), on the western side of the Flaming Mountains, is about 8 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide and takes its name from the hundred-plus grape varieties grown there, including manaizi (马奶子) and Kashgar grapes. Xinhua lists it as a national 5A scenic area; inside are the Wang Luobin (王洛宾) music and art museum and Qingwa Lane (青蛙巷), a folk-culture street.

Food and local products

Turpan is known as the "home of melons and fruit" and the "holy city of grapes". The district government also names Turpan black sheep, donkeys, fighting cocks, watermelons, mulberries and desert cistanche (大芸) among its farm products.

Getting oriented

Gaochang is 180 kilometres from Ürümqi (乌鲁木齐). The Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway (兰新铁路) and the Southern Xinjiang Railway (南疆铁路) meet here, and the G30 Lianyungang-Khorgas Expressway, G312 and G314 pass through.

Highlights

• Grape Valley 葡萄沟: An 8 km valley on the western side of the Flaming Mountains with over a hundred grape varieties; a national 5A scenic area.
• Flaming Mountains 火焰山: Run across the middle of the district and divide it into northern and southern halves.
• Ayding Lake 艾丁湖: 154 m below sea level, described as the lowest point on land in China.
• Gaochang ruins 高昌故城: A national key cultural relics protection unit.
• Jiaohe ruins 交河故城: A national key cultural relics protection unit, also called the Yarkhoto ruins.
• Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves 柏孜克里克千佛洞: Listed alongside the Emin Minaret among the national key cultural relics protection units in the district.