Ancient Sites Galore in Turpan!
Updated: Oct 6
Bositeng Lake, Turpan and some impressive archaeological sites
The Road to Turpan, a brief stop at Bositeng Lake
This section will be a little bit out of style compared to the rest of the blog, but I feel that being objective and honest is important (and I do love a good rant), so here it is. Bositeng Lake is a large freshwater lake in central/north China which is between Turpan and Korla. I visited it just after the excellent time I had in Turpan described below. It has significant marshland which is a vital part of the ecosystem and provides valuable nesting ground for many migratory birds, including cranes which are certainly an icon in China.
Now, I had expected (hoped) to find a pleasant and quiet lakeshore, perhaps a cabin or a couple sleepy restaurants, or maybe a boardwalk over some marshland with a view of the birds etc.. Flat lakeside marshland is not really my cup of tea in any case, but it is always nice to see some less common natural landscapes.
Unfortunately, this is not what I arrived at…
Instead of a pleasant natural site like that described above, I came to what was a sort of theme park, overrun with tourists and families with children, it even had rides in one section, which I deliberately avoided. It was tired, poorly maintained, and reminded me of some sort of post-Soviet centrally planned “fun.” It was a prime example of why architects should make things both objectively beautiful and functional. To paraphrase Roger Scruton from his excellent short film “Why Beauty Matters”, “[t]his building is boarded up because no one has a use for it, no one has a use for it because no one wants to be in it, and no one wants to be in it because it’s so damned ugly.” It was unfortunate that many people still seemed to be at this site despite its ugliness.
Bositeng Lake "amusement" park. I have made this a slideshow to save the reader having to see all of the horror at once:
Honestly, it was absolutely terrible in every way. To add insult to injury I couldn’t find a solitary drop of alcohol within the premises which would have eased the damage upon my spirit and was then irritated by the police as I tried to leave, as if I wouldn’t be doing them a favour incinerating the place or something.
Anyway, here's my message for the Chinese tourism industry, if you have a natural spot, keep it natural. Whatever is constructed it make it more accessible and/or sustainable for tourists must blend in with and conform to nature, not the other way around. It was a lesson learned for me, when you accept adjustments to itineraries, check all of the stops!
Turpan
Turpan is no stranger to various accolades. Apart from the Dead Sea, certain areas of Turpan have claim to being the second lowest point on earth, However, it also boasts scorching temperatures, excellent grapes, and melons, and also a significant number of impressive ancient Silk Road archaeological sites.
Turpan itself is a decent sized city, which has a large tourist site covering grape growing and wine production. I walked in briefly, but it felt very touristy and upon learning that the wine tasting was all the way at the end of a valley, several kilometres distant, I declined to visit and retired to the hotel since tourist attractions per se are mostly nauseating.
The following day we would visit the ancient cities of Jiaohe and Gaochang, and the Astana Ancient Cemetery. If time, I had planned to visit Bezeklik Caves / 1000 Buddha Caves, however, as it transpired, we ran out of time – in any case, having visited the Mogao Caves I was OK with this.
I ended up staying in quite a charming hotel that the tour company had recommended, which was a pleasant surprise, I even had my own laundry machine which I made good use of. I also enjoyed some of my first tastes of Uyghur food in the large restaurant adjacent to the hotel and got a bottle of local red wine for myself and my driver each; I would like to try to take this wine to London to share, but may be very short on space so I may unfortunately be stuck drinking it.
Jiaohe
Jiaohe, otherwise known as Yar City or Yarkhoto, was an absolute must on my itinerary, especially after having been denied entry to Khara Khoto, which meant that my itch to wander an ancient, ruined city was absolutely unbearable. Fortunately, I was not disappointed. It was a bit of a trek from the ticket office to the city itself, so they provided a small little tour shuttle, which given my foot, I appreciated. I met a Korean couple who spoke good English, so we chatted during the ride.
Jiaohe itself is an impressive site, it is situated on a plateau, bounded on either side by a river, rendering it effectively an islet. The plateau itself seems consistent in height and is around 30 meters high, and 1650 meters in length. You enter through the south up a single ramp, which must have been easily defensible in its time. That said, the cliffs all around must have complicated and slowed the efforts to bring water up into the city. The buildings are made from a combination of rammed earth, mud brick, and alternatively carved deep into the immature loess stone of the plateau.
I have added below some overview photos of the site which describe the general layout. I made the most of my time and explored everything, my apologies to Daniel who had to wait for me for ages.
Overview of the Jiaohe site:
The city contains an impressive mix of civic and religious buildings, which in most cases would be difficult to tell apart without further study given the condition of the site, fortunately, some tasteful curation has left small inconspicuous plaques throughout to explain various structures and sectors. Many portions of the site are roped off and a brick walkway is provided – this is for obvious reasons given that the site is already considerably eroded and should be maintained.
Below a section of photos of the Jiaohe site. In due course I will try to add captions to each of these.
I managed to get the drone up for its maiden outdoor flight. Given the earlier signs saying no drones or photos (everyone was taking photos, staff did nothing) I was a little anxious about using it, and that is evident in both the short length of the flight and the awkward flying/zooming, so I have tried to trim/edit the clip as best as I can. It is quite poor, I am not good at this and don’t have the time to develop the expertise. Fortunately, I am pleased that it does in any case give an unobstructed view of the scale of the site and the surrounding landscape. Given the incredibly slow speed of the Chinese internet through VPN in Kashgar (where I am at the time of writing this) I will need to add/embed the video once it is uploaded at a subsequent date.
[Short drone video to follow when I have stable and reliable internet :) ]
History of Jiaohe
The native inhabitants of Jiaohe were the Tocharian speaking peoples of the kingdom of Jushi, who made Jiaohe their capital from 108 BC to 450 AD. The Jushi were the native peoples of the Turfan Oasis. After 450 AD Jiaohe became a prefecture of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, after they had finally succeeded in wresting general control of the region from the Xiongnu people (who also contested the region). During the Tang Dynasty Jiaohe is said to have had a population of 7000 people, some of which would have been Chinese/Tang. It appears that Jiaohe flourished until the Mongol invasion under Genghis Khan in the 13th Century, after which point it fell into ruin.[1] I have expanded more on the history of the general Turpan region in my section below on Gaochang, as it appears that whichever group had central control over the region had a significant impact on its ultimate prosperity. It would seem (to me) that those rulers who were heavy handed on taxation and movement of peoples, and the rapacious invaders, did not have a positive impact on the region.
Astana Cemetery
On the way to Gaochang you will drive past Astana Ancient Cemetery. It can be viewed very quickly and is very fascinating (perhaps I am macabre) so it should not be missed. In short, it contains various small shaft tombs and other graves. It also includes several burials that resulted in natural mummification, with impressive preservation of textiles and certain grave goods. There was a section showing some of the grave goods, but I missed this section accidentally so regrettably have no photos of it. Not all the tombs are excavated/open to the public, but the three which are contain either mummified remains or impressive wall murals (and presumably their associated grave goods are also showcased on site – which I missed!). Some of the famous Silk Road travellers/archaeologists excavated at Astana, including, Count Kozui Otani, and Aurel Stein, with Chinese archaeologists taking over after 1959.[2]
A selection of photos from Astana Cemetary:
History of Astana Cemetery
In brief, the Astana Cemetery contains over 400 graves, mostly of Han Chinese from Gaochang. It was in use from about the 3rd to 8th century AD; being able to see both the nearby city of Gaochang and the tombs of its people and their associated artifacts has been enormously insightful to archaeologists. One of the graves is even said to contain the body of a non-Chinese man with brown hair, a Westerner perhaps?!
Gaochang
Leaving Astana Ancient Cemetery, we headed to Gaochang. In terms of area, I think Gaochang is larger than both Jiaohe and Khara Khoto. Similarly to Khara Khoto, it lies in a flat plain, however, its surroundings are considerably lusher and its walls are not uniform in shape. If one stands at the entrance of the Gaochang site facing roughly north, you will see as a backdrop the similarly Flaming Mountains, which are a tourist site in their own right. Gaochang thus holds a commanding presence, dominating the pass between the mountains and the fertile plain in their shadow. I felt that the view of the mountains from a distance was sufficient, this allowed me to avoid a tourist site which would have been surely grim.
Encircled in an impressive wall, Gaochang is fascinating site with many ruined structures of all types. Interestingly, and perhaps a function of it not being limited to being situated on a plateau like Jiaohe, the major structures/ruins are fairly spread out, giving the impression that it was rather more planned, perhaps it had wooden structures (since decayed) between the larger stately buildings of rammed earth and mud brick. I leave that to the scholars of the site who have access to data and materials which I presently do not have.
Overview of the Gaochang site, alas, in Chinese:
The site is quite large, so the local staff drive you around on a small brick path and stop frequently to allow you to explore and take photos. I took my time with this and made the driver wait as it was just me, him, and my own car driver, Daniel. It was nice to have the opportunity to explore at my own pace. I tried to wander slowly through as many buildings as possible and sat down to catch the sus dipping behind the walls of one of the cities’ palaces, magnificent; unfortunately, I was facing the sun, so the photos did not turn out that great given the wall was silhouetted.
A selection of photos from Gaochang:
History of Gaochang
Gaochang’s history is linked with that of Jiaohe. After the Chinese eclipsed both the Xiongnu in the region and the native Jushi peoples of Jiaohe after the end of the Han Dynasty, Gaochang became the regional capital, and it was where most of the immigrant Chinese would live. The general Turpan region inclusive of Gaochang remained a thriving centre. It appears that the local king of Gaochang (Qu Wendai) was rather naughty in around 630 AD when he both imprisoned the eminent travelling monk Xuanzang and then attempted to level exorbitant taxes[3] (taxation is theft) on passing merchants and caravans, many of which were on their way to Chang’an (Xi’an)[4], the Chinese Imperial capital, clearly exploiting (in the true sense of the word exploitation – Marx wouldn’t understand) the location along the Silk Road. The new Tang Dynasty government in China proper “was enraged by Qu’s behaviour and Emperor Taizong sent troops to attach Gaochang in 640. As the army approached, Qu Wendai is said to had died of fright and his son quickly submitted to the control of the central government.”[5] Relatively free trade was restored and entrepreneurial peoples like the Sogdians (whom I will try to write more about in the future) flourished along with the rest of the region for a further 150 years. Interestingly, it was the Sogdians who brought their religions of Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism with them from the region of Persia, to China;[6] hopefully, I can learn and tell more about this interesting ethnic group and their religion later on in my trip – there is one site on my Pamir highway route which was allegedly Sogdian, but otherwise (at least to my limited knowledge) visiting and learning of future sites will have to wait until further trips, which will likely take me closer to Persia, Turkmenistan etc.. Whilst Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism are not hugely present in the physical historical record of Gaochang, other western religions such as Nestorianism were present, namely, there being a Nestorian temple at Gaochang.[7] Unfortunately, I missed this site as it’s apparently outside the city wall, however, some murals (including one showing Palm Sunday) from it were taken by Albert von Le Coq (another of the famous Silk Road explorers) and are now in the Berlin Museum.[8]
It seems that the prosperity of Gaochang and the other sites around Turpan broadly ended with the arrival of the Mongols in 1283, and by the 14th century the region was well in decline. It would not be until the Qing Dynasty in the middle of the 18th Century that China would regain control of the region.
I am at risk of copy-pasting Jonathan Tucker’s wonderful text which I have quoted herein several times, so I will leave the history lesson on this for now, his book is well worth a read. To summarize the overall impression which I get from reading his summary of its history, it is that the Turpan oasis is a huge centre for trade and was populated by a diverse group of peoples and religions, and when the central government took a lighter touch approach on trade, those peoples seem to have prospered until being conquered by the Mongols.
Korla
After visiting Turpan and the brief stop at Bositeng Lake, we stopped in Korla for the night. Korla was uneventful and not one of my favourite cities in China; apart from accidentally ordering ‘squab’ (pigeon – yes local city pigeons), which turned out to be a delicious dish, at a nice restaurant nearby to my hotel (my hotel was not very good), Korla was relatively uneventful. I did have a nice chat (in English) with a Chinese fellow who was on a retirement trip with friends and enjoying a few beers at the same restaurant where I ordered the squab.
Squab, also known as pigeon, for dinner:
The Road to Kucha
Before discussing my short but positive city experience in Kucha, it is worth briefly mentioning the journey to get there through the impressive Tian Shan mountains, as they are a key feature of the geography of Western China. After leaving Turpan you climb into the Tian Shan mountains which boast some impressive views. Initially, it starts as a strange merger between mountain and desert, which I have added photographs of below.
It then transitions into impressive and precarious rocky crags. At one point all traffic had to stop given some work being done to effectively terraform one rock face to mitigate the risk of rock falls. My hat goes off to the gentlemen with bollocks of steel doing this job! You can see a couple of them in the photos.
A few small snapshots of the impressive Tien Shan Mountains, and a bit of highway maintenance: