吐鲁番
Turpan
China's hottest city and sweetest grapes — Flaming Mountains, ancient underground water channels, and Silk Road ruins in a desert basin.
吐鲁番
China's hottest city and sweetest grapes — Flaming Mountains, ancient underground water channels, and Silk Road ruins in a desert basin.
Turpan (Turfan) sits in the second-lowest depression on Earth — 154 meters below sea level — and it is famously the hottest place in China, with summer temperatures hitting 47°C. Despite the heat, Turpan has been a thriving oasis for 2,000 years thanks to the karez, an underground water channel system (similar to Persian qanats) that brings snowmelt from the Tianshan Mountains. The area is famous for its grapes — the Grape Valley produces some of the sweetest in the world. The Flaming Mountains (made famous in Journey to the West), the ruined city of Jiaohe, and the ancient Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves make Turpan an essential Silk Road stop.
