Turpan

Having arrived in Turpan, Xianjing province. We started our second day heading out to see some of the surrounding sights. We had met two bubbly Israeli girls the day before and had had arranged to take a car and driver. Despite the seemingly barren and hot wilderness here there are lots of sights to suggest this area has been through many ups and downs; from caves to graves, villages to city ruins and flaming mountains to grape filled valleys. Due to it being an oasis it has historically being a welcome rest bite for weary Silk Road travelers. Nowadays however it is a big tourist destination with coach loads of umbrella fanatic Chinese pushing and snapping their way into a different kind of china. We chose three sights to visit: Tuyoq village, the Flaming Mountains and the Jiahoe Ruins.
Though officially on Beijing time, being so far west the locals run on Xianjing time – 2 hrs behind Beijing. This made me feel particularly good, as our wake up at 7am was actually 5am local time. It was still relatively cool, though with lows of 27 Cel. and highs and 40 Cel. relative is definitely the word! Soon we were on our way. First destination Tuyoq village, some 40 minutes east of Turpan. This was somewhere Sam and I had suggested we go so we were hoping it would be ok, especially as the day before a Chinese woman had said she hadn’t really enjoyed it.
The entrance fee to this working village was ¥40. Putting aside the fact we are being charged to see a village the main tourist attraction there are some caves with Buddhist art, which were closed. With no discount offered we turned away from the ticket booth and set off down the street figuring we could find a way in ourselves. After walking (responsibly) across some farmland, and Sam paying our way by helping a woman wheel some rocks, we made it into the far end of the village. Tuyoq village is a chance to see an insight into the more traditional farm village life of the Urighur people. It is also a known place for Muslim pilgrimages, as there is a famous ancient Muslim is buried here. Seven pilgrimages here equals one to Mecca. The main source of income for this village is grapes. I would like to say tourism helps, but as it happens the ¥40 you would pay to see this village goes straight to the Chinese tourist board, the village sees nothing. Turpan area had large areas devoted to the production of ‘world famous’ grapes. After strolling through the outskirts looking at brightly painted doors and TV antenna made from planks of wood and wire. We soon came across a villager who promptly dropped the pile of wood he was carrying and asked us to sit down while he disappeared and soon returned with an armful of grapes. Sam sitting with three women earned an extra bunch of grapes, having three wives has its rewards. With our grapes and a bowl of tea Sam attempted some of our newly acquired Urighur language – “hello, my name is Sam” (A salaam AlaKum, Mina Ismas Sam) we were met with blank stares. This was later explained by another villager shouting “Israeli!” at the top of his voice at our host. This man was very hard of hearing. Having finished our grapes, tea and discussed where we come from, that Sam doesn’t have three wives and amazing the locals with various tattoos and peircings we set off. Our next stop was the flaming mountains. A must see according to all Turpanians, with their midday fire like appearance and an old Chinese legend behind them about monk Tripikata being unable to pass them because of the flames. Luckily the monkey Sun Wukong had a magic fan with which he extinguished the flames allowing the monk to pass. We were understandably looking forward to it and can honestly say that on arrival they were a bit of an anti climax. Not that the mountains were not impressive, if you have seen the picture on flickr then you would agree they are pretty good, only that they did not quite live up to the hype. Also the Chinese in their infinite wisdom charge people ¥40 (three pounds) to go and stand in a fenced off area to look at the mountain. The fence is about 2 foot high so without paying you can still see the mountains perfectly well.
Our final stop was the ancient ruined city of Jiahoe. Once the capital of the Anterior Cheshi Kingdom between 108BC and 450AD, it was an important post for Silk Road trade. Being situated on an island in the middle of a river it made an ideal location for the HQ of the protector general of the western regions, between 640 – 658AD. The islands cliffs made a good natural defense. The city; 1650 meters long and 300 meters wide, contained residential areas, Buddhist temples and government buildings. The city was finally abandoned in the 13th Century when the infamous Genghis Khan swept the land. Now little more than earthen walls and the odd watchtower we wandered the dusty streets and rested out of the intense heat in the shade of the great monastery. After passing many umbrella waving Chinese tourists and one who had sunstroke we made it up to the viewing platform, only to be met with a rather morbid sign announcing the location of an infant cemetery, complete with child size graves. It appears strange goings on were afoot in this city as the infant cemetery was actually located within the government main building. This somber image however was quickly juxtaposed with Chinese tourists fighting to have their picture taken on the platform. Despite a high risk of getting our eyes poked out the umbrellas added welcome splashes of colour to an otherwise dusty, mud brick scene. After all this our driver, at our request for a good but cheap restaurant in Turpan, took us to this great eat. Looking very grand and decorated Urighur style five of us ate good Urighur food and drank endless rose petal tea for ¥46, approx £3 for all five of us.
We had arranged to meet up with Rayehan later that day, and after cold showers gave her a call. We had met Rayehan the day before in the market and she had taught us some Urighur while she could practice her English with us. The idea this afternoon was to go and play table tennis (‘pingpong-shua’ in Urighur). We had to use school table tennis tables so we went to the originally names 1st Turpan school. Unfortunately, due to it being the holidays none of the tables were out so no luck, however, as Rayehan had been to this school the red-arm banded caretaker gave us five minutes for Rayehan to take us on a tour where we were shown the classrooms, dormitories, playing ground and the staff house. We (all three of us) still however wanted to play Pingpong-shua so Rayehan took us to another school. Despite the empty table tennis tables being 20 meters away the grumpy caretakers here took one look at Sam and I and point blank refused to let us play despite Rayehans pleading. Thwarted again.
We headed back to Rayehans house. Here we met Rayehans mother and grandmother, after showing off our little and badly pronounced Urighur (though they really appreciated the effort) we went to Rayehans room for tea. Rayehan lives with her mother and father in a mud brick building. You go through a gate into a covered courtyard with rooms running down one side. The kitchen and stove is at the end along with a place to wash and a place to tinker with various machines. We soon had attracted a line of visitors; cousins, aunties, neighbours, their children and cousins, in this tightly knit neighbourhood news travels fast! Rayehan then, on a last ditch attempt went across the road to another school – third time lucky. She asked if we could play Pingpong-shua there tomorrow and, to our surprise the caretaker and her family said yes, this would be ok! Finally we had somewhere to play. So, after a wander around town that evening and agreeing to accompany Rayehan to work the next morning we bid farewell. Till tomorrow!