Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at the North West frontier of China, covered with wide areas of sands and deserts was an essential point where the ancient East and West were met, culture was exchanged. This central section of silk road extended to a distance of almost 7000 km, making a bridge from yellow river to Ganger of India, to Greek and Persia kingdom. In the past, it was greatly influenced by Buddhism and later by Islamic teaching. While admiring the glorious history of Buddhism at the ruins of ancient cities, the temples, the grottoes, you also cannot avoid giving attention to the exclusive Muslim worship towers and their mosques which merged the Islamic decorative style into the architecture of Chinese traditional buildings so well and so outstanding. The structure of Xinjiang population of today is made up from dense Muslims. Xinjiang's historical position has made it a place of attraction. The unique nature scene, the ancient heritage, the mixture culture, the wide range of tasty fruits, produced an interesting journey to people of all areas.
Enjoying seasonal fruits of Xinjiang under bunches of grapes hanging down over your heads. The freshness and sweetness is beyond description of speech. Professional dancers danced and sang Wangluo-Bing's song merrily and so naturally in the open air under the grape plants. It must be part of their happy life. Do not miss the moment when visit Xinjiang in summer. Fresh-plunged fruits, traditional local dances with beautiful smiles made us feel warm and merry.
Xinjiang produce hundreds species of grapes in the province and dry air in the region turn the excess grapes into raisins so naturally. Grape is an important anti-oxidant food and according to the local farmers, some special type of raisins are also classified as kind of Chinese medicine to improve certain uneasiness in our health.
Karez well is the best reflection of the ancient Chinese's wisdom. They made underground canals to direct the melting snow water from high mountains, retain and reserve in the wells for irrigation and drinking . Project took years and great manpower to complete but it entirely solved water-shortage problem for the whole desert areas in the undeveloped time. Till now the canal still flowing with cool unpolluted spring water.
The huge flaming red pomegranate looks very tempting. Its sold in whole or fresh squeezed juice. Pomegranate is an seasonal fruit and according to specialist, the fruit's enzyme can helps to prevent and reduce heart sickness. Another type of its seasonal fruits is the donuts shaped Spanish apple which appear lovely with a nipped-in center part. Sizes are not too big and tastes more like an apricot than peach. Melons are always attractive in hot season at hot spots. A 2-3 kilo big Hamid melon (哈密瓜) cost less than 10 yen and is sufficient to end the thirst of 8-10 persons within minutes.
The grilled skewered meat （肉串烧） is a very popular food in Xinjiang. They use all kinds of animal meat inclusive of its intestine, but without pork which all Muslims are forbidden to take. Choose as many vegetables you like from the display and she will wrap them in a steamed rice-flour sheet with some sauces （菜卷）. It looks interesting and healthy too. Seafood meal in desert town is possible nowadays in China. Various seafood ranging from crabs, shrimps, squid to all types of clamps are available in this inland city Urumuqi and are ready for immediate cooking to serve you fresh on spot. Transportation within China Provinces is so developed today that nothing is impossible in China of 21st century.
Dao-xiao-miao (刀削面) kind of popular noodle in this region. Piece by piece of wheat flour were sliced into the boiling soup rapidly by trained and skilled cook. Process of making flour dough is an important step to decide the munching strength of the noodle and the soup decide the taste of the dish.
It's a local custom to serve guests or customers with whole grilled lamb. (烤全羊） Traditionally they use authentic earthen ground stove and have the whole lamb grilled for hours in a nature way. This method of course had been replaced by electrical oven today.
The magnificent Islamic towers and Mosques in Xinjiang stand out exclusively at Er-Dao-Qiao Town center, indicating the style of tradition Chinese Building blended with the Islamic decorative architecture. In Islam, Koran (sutra) and the Kris (short knife) are holy symbols of their religion. Hand-made Kris in all kinds of shapes and patterns are obtainable from specialized stalls at the market place of Xinjiang
The imposing Islamic Towers.
The staple meal of Xinjiang people is the bread Nan which can be seen everywhere selling in the mobile cart by locals.
Tianshen Tianchi (天山天池) the heavenly mountain and lake located in Xingjiang, are fairyland to most tourists. Its various species of wild birds, rare animals, plants and layers of pine trees has created a cool summer resort for people of nearby desert-covered territories. Tianchi (天池) by the side of Tianshan is nearly 5 sq.m. in size, about 2000 m above sea level is said to be the palace of Queen mother of the West. It is circled by hills, glaciers, rivers. To enjoy its cool air, and witness its full panorama view, take a boat and cruise on it.
Cruising the Heavenly Lake in Xingjiang
Hidden in the valleys within ranges of the magnificent mountains are temples and Mongolian tents.
Daban City of Xinjiang is home to the Chinese greatest musician Wangluo-Bing. He was the founder of blue Music in China. Many Chinese in mainland or from overseas are in great favor of his rhythms and songs until today. We paid a visit to his memorial hall at his homeland to understand the history that related to his music.
Gaochang ancient city was once the most glorious capital city in the west part of China but remain today is a vast horizon of deserts. The only accessible vehicle is by donkey carts.
The ancient capital city, covered almost 2 million sq.m., was built in 1st century BC and destroyed by war in 4th century AD. It was a key place of the silk road history. From the preserved sites, one can imagine the prosperity of this ancient city and how important was the role it played for Buddhism to widely spread over China.
The teaching room of Buddhist master Rev. Hsuan-Tsang. The master gave the sermon in this ancient city for more than a month before proceed on his pilgrimage to India for study and research of Buddhism Sutras. The temple built with the tamped earth, door and wall were so well preserved that give us the opportunity to understand the golden period of Buddhism at that time.
The remnants of Gaochang City are now under preserved by China Government.
Most area of the past glorious city is covered with vast horizon of sandy desert.
The flaming mountain (火焰山) at Turpan is famous for its unbearable heat and popular in the Chinese Novel - Monkey God Goes West (西游记) which vitalized the hardship of Buddhist master Rev. Hsang-tsang when passing the mountain during his pilgrimage journey to India....No life inclusive a little grass can ever has a day survived on this flaming mountain. The whole area is totally bare with burning red earth. The other attraction at Turpan is The Thousand Buddha Grotto but very sad that most of the Buddha images, status, carving, murals were damaged by natural and man-made disasters. There are only 22 caves left behind. Though there was no any indication of excavation time but estimated to be 2500 yrs ago, within the glorious period of Buddhism.
Feeling the heat of The Flaming mountain is really no joke!
Vase area are occupied with hundreds of wind turbine for the generation of electricity in needs within Xinjiang territories.
The 38oo yrs old lady mummy was unearthed at ancient Loulans State of Xinjiang in 1980. Whole corpse with elastic hair plus internal organs were very vell preserved by the dry climate and hot weather. Quite a number of mummies are exhibited in the museum and some of them were with attires and decorative accessories, color polished nails. Very very interesting ! It was a great experience to capture a mirage scene at the vast Gobi Desert and stroll into the driest place of China where most of mummies were found. And as there was no washroom along the whole journey, many of us experienced the first time answering the nature call under the sky, facing the vast horizon, uncovered.
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