Today, I stayed in Turpan for another day, but instead of going far, I wandered around the nearby area. The most striking feature of Turpan that I noticed is the abundance of vineyards everywhere, as if the whole city is surrounded by grapes. This reminded me of the classic song "The Grapes of Turpan Are Ripe," composed by Wang Luobin, who is hailed as the "King of Western Songs." Driving along the road, I saw that every house had a small beehive-shaped building on the roof, which I couldn't understand at first. It wasn't until I visited the Karez system that I realized these were drying houses specifically for grapes to make raisins. It shows how large the grape production here is, with Turpan reportedly accounting for 70% of the national market share.
The Karez system is another hallmark of Turpan. Its reputation is widespread, but seeing it in person far surpassed hearing about it. After visiting, I was amazed by the ingenuity of ancient people who devised such a clever way to draw water to irrigate the land and sustain the local population in this arid region.
Not far from the Karez system is the Jiaohe Ancient City, a place I had not known about before. For people coming from the mainland, it is much less well-known than the Karez system. Today, after visiting, I learned that Jiaohe is known as "the most perfect ruin in the world" and is the largest, oldest, and best-preserved earthen city in existence, with a history of over 2,700 years. It bears witness to the cultural exchange between the Central Plains and the Western Regions.
Every time we travel, we see something new, experience a different feeling, and learn about the local culture and geography. For the two of us, this is the greatest pleasure and our main purpose.
[//]:# (!worldmappin 42.92918 lat 89.20602 long d3scr)