Turpan; Sat., Sept. 7

Sat., Sept. 7:

Imin Minaret, a Uyghur style mosque

 First we visited the Imin Minaret in Turpan. This is reputed to be one of the finest examples of Uyghur architecture and seems to be highly revered landmark. Personally, I find the simplicity of mosques interesting because they are very bare inside.  While we were on the way out we came across a musical/dance performance featuring, of all people, the musicians from the previous evening. We stayed to watch the flamboyant dancing and lively dancing. Watching the audience was as interesting as the performers. 

Uyghur children wait for their turn to perform

Traditional dancing and music in the square

Our favorite "boys"

The enthusiastic audience......

The Flaming Mountains: 
Next we headed out to the Flaming Mountains about 40 miles west of Turpan. After the stretch of industrial buildings, cement factories and power plants we entered the desert before starting to climb up into the hills. As we continued the mountains became beautifully striated rock of browns, reds and oranges. These barren mountains, sculpted into steep canyons and rugged peaks, were very picturesque.

The Flaming Mountains' oranges, yellows and browns create great scenery

An ancient campsite, this caravansera is located near the Grottoes

An "unexcavated" cave

The mountains' rock formations and beautiful rusty colors

Ancient Campsite:
Along the road to the grottoes, nestled down at the base of a mountain, next to the river are the remains of an old caravansera, Basically, a stopping place for a day or two for travelers along the Silk Road, the caravansera consisted of mostly crumbling walls, and the sides and doorways of several buildings. Closed off to the public, this is being excavated and examined by archaeologists, so we viewed it from a considerable distance.

The Grottoes (upper right) overlook the River

Buddhist artwork on the cave walls

The Bezklik Grottoes:
Perched along the steep banks of the Mutougou River are a series of man-made caves that were important stopping points along the Silk Road. The caves, or grottoes, were carved  into the rock walls as small temples or places to give thanks and get blessings for safe travel by travelers on the Silk Road back as far as about 1,500 years ago. Artisans would be commissioned to create sometimes elaborate carvings, statues of Buddha and religious frescoes. Nearby were dwellings for the monks. Much of what is know about the history of the people using the Silk Road, as well as its inhabitants, come from these ancient sites. The statues, wall paintings and ancient documents and other artifacts found at the grottoes, and ruins such as Jiaohe show that religions, languages, and many ideas traveled along these routes, as well as foods, goods and customs.

One of many wall paintings

The Grottoes sit along the top of a cliff above the Mutougu River

A True Oasis:
The actual physical site itself is very dramatic and inspirational.The lush green valley surrounded by the steep canyon walls of such vivid colors is certainly awesome. Only some of the caves are open because there is a lot of archaeological work still being done. Unfortunately, in the early 1900's European explorers had removed sections of the frescoes and some statues. Earlier, about 600 years ago, when the Muslims came through they defaced, literally, almost every painting because their religion does not tolerate images of people. Still, knowing a little of the history of the caves, and seeing the paintings in person was an incredible experience. The history of this region and the mixture of cultures that existed hundreds, even thousands of years ago is so fascinating. Furthermore, seeing the harsh desert and mountain environment that people who used the Silk Road routes endured gave me a sense of how hardy and determined these people were.

Trying out a traditional instrument

The Ancient Karez Wells:
Later, we visited the Karez Museum, which  demonstrates the construction and actually still functioning underground irrigation system that has been, and is still used in the Central Asian and Mid Eastern deserts for over two thousand years. Probably developed in this region first, a series of wells were hand dug usually about 30 feet deep and about 80 to 90 feet apart. First, two wells were dug to the underground water table, then a tunnel was dug connecting the two. Then another another section would be added. These tunnels and wells continued to be dug away from the mountains, the source of the water. There is a gradual slope to the tunnel so water would flow away from the source, but no too swiftly to avoid erosion of the tunnel. A particular tunnel could be miles long, irrigating crops and providing water for towns and villages far away.

Oasis Towns:
This system worked well in the desert because melting glacial water begins soaking into the ground at some point, but still exists in the underwater aquifer.  The area around Turpan lies in an extremely dry desert, near the foothills of the Tian Shan Mountains. Being an oasis town, there is rich farmland surrounding the city growing grapes, melons, peaches, cotton, many vegetables and grains.

Our Guide shows the lines of Karez wells that carry water underground from mountains to oasis regions

A model showing how the Karez wells are maintained

Washing in the Karez water

Karez water still runs through local neighborhoods

 The “Big Dig,” Asian-Style:
A family would dig and own the wells, so they would collect money in exchange for water from their neighbors. Often the water would flow right to people's homes, which we saw along the side of the road as we came into town.  Karez waters still flow along the edge of streets In the older sections of town, particularly in the farming areas. Just outside the city are vast flat arid lands dotted with regularly spaced rows of circular mounds in long rows. In the center of each mound is a well hole that is used to maintain the water tunnels. Not an occupation I would chose!

Children play/or bathe in an irrigation ditch

Speaking of Water....
Many people warned me about drinking the water in China (akin to the water in Mexico). I noticed that everyone, including the natives, drinks hot water plain, hot tea or bottled beverages. So, of course we followed suite. A worthy Government goal might be to improve public drinking water?.......

Turpan, Fri., Sept. 6

Fri., Sept. 6

The Road to Turpan:
Again, we drove onto the main highway through the desert, leaving the smog and dust of Urumchi behind. No traffic jams this time, however. The highway from Urumchi to Turpan is a small leg of the much longer Route 312 that travels across China from Beijing, through Urumqi, into one of the "Stan's," then across Russia to Moscow. ( Some 4,000 miles, I believe). Built in the 1990's it is a major trade route now, along with a railroad, that runs a somewhat similar course, and ends up in Amsterdam.

"Nodding Donkeys," pumps to extract oil are fairly common sights

 We traveled through a flat stony desert for miles, flanked by the older narrow road. Apparently, many people still use the older, slower road because the tolls are very expensive A railroad runs along nearby that connects Urumqui with Beijing, also built in the late 1990's. The railroad is elevated along this whole stretch, which I'm guessing is to prevent getting covered by soil in a dust storm. China is the process of building  a high speed railway to

Car carriers in front of a windmill farm

Beijing, which is another sign of the increased development of western Xinjiang Province.

Checkpoints:
As we were to discover, there are numerous checkpoints along these major highways. Sometimes they involved just driving slowly through as a series of video cameras registered the vehicles. But, sometimes the bus would stop and the driver would present his paperwork. Later, as we crossed regional borders even our passports were collected and checked with a pre-approved list of passengers aboard our bus. In fact, as we neared Tashgurkan later in the trip, we had to walk through the border office with our passports - even though we were still about 15 miles away from the actual Chinese-Pakistani border. (Which we were never allowed to go near, by the way.)

Future Development:
During the 1980's China began to open up to the Western World, which coincided with the fall of the Soviet Union. Also, the Central Government of China began to realize the mineral wealth in this region, which includes China's largest oil fields, natural gas, coal tin, lead, copper and gold. The Government started to develop the region with mining, manufacturing, and building infrastructure like roads and housing. In fact, three oil pipelines carry oil from the Taklamakan Desert to major cities, including Beijing, in the east. We passed several large areas dotted with “nodding donkeys,” our guide’s nickname for the oil pumps that rock back and forth as they pull crude out of the ground.

Culture Clash:
This growth encouraged the migration of several million Han Chinese from the east who came for better economic opportunities. Before this time the local ethnic groups lived fairly

 

traditionally, but they have quickly adapted to the modernization in some regions. This has led up to inevitable tension with the local ethnic groups, mainly the Uyghurs who have been displaced and pushed aside in the job market. In addition, the Government has torn down their local neighborhoods in the inner city and disbursed them into outer areas of the city. 

Poor Wilbur:
Along with the many huge trucks, were many cars, buses, and sometimes smaller trucks with cows or sheep jammed in the back. One very sad story was a truck loaded with 4 decks of pigs probably on their way to the slaughter house. At a rest stop we watched the driver walk around prodding them with a long metal pole, which seemed unnecessary to me.

After about 40 miles, after passing a large salt lake we began to climb and go through  a low mountain area, still very arid. The only scrubby vegetation to be found was near an almost dried up riverbed. The mountains, more like badlands, rose up next to the road for about 10 miles, then we were deposited back onto a very flat desolate landscape until we reached Turpan. Gradually fields of green began to appear and then we reached the city.

Changes in Turpan:
Although Turpan retains a lot of its agricultural and historic roots, the city center has sprouted many high rise buildings, which loom over the small remaining adobe homes in the old neighborhoods. Luckily, the local Government is attempting to replace some of these homes with similar style buildings, rather than the blocks of nondescript apartment buildings seen in many Chinese cities. The catch, however, is that many displaced people cannot afford to move back into the city center because that real estate has become too expensive. A similar problem in many cities worldwide. Meanwhile, as in many Chinese cities, huge new apartment and industrial complexes are being built in the surrounding areas.

Local mosque

The Unused Airport:
Recently, a new airport has been built, again, in anticipation of the region’s future growth and development. Although currently little used, Turpan will provide an alternative to Urumchi’s airport, some 40 miles away when Urumchi’s dust storms and winter fog closes down their airport.

Freshly picked grapes

Grapes, and More Grapes:
An ancient city on the Silk Road, Turpan is an oasis town, surrounded by fields of vegetables and many vineyards. It is well known for its grapes, most of which are dried and sold as raisins. Being a predominately Muslim region, the local Uyghurs do not drink alcohol, so all that potential for making wine is passed by here.

The Family Courtyard:
Many of the homes are actually a series of buildings surrounding a large courtyard, next to the family's vineyard. Many are old sometimes several hundred years old, made of adobe, mud and straw brick. The compound consists of the family's house, as well as additional buildings used for storage and housing livestock. Often there is a second floor building as well, with open spaces in the walls to allow ventilation for racks of drying grapes. The roofs of these building have piles of brush used for kindling, lumber, and all sorts of household items being stored when not in use. In

addition, there are often beds on the roof that the men and boys (not enough privacy for the "delicate" women and girls) that are used during the hot summer to escape the heat.

Rooftop buildings for drying grapes to become raisins

Inside of a family compound - above are rows of drying grapes

More drying grapes

"Photogenics"

It looks like quite a shambles up there, but its quite functional, especially considering they do not have basements or garages. Often along the dry, dusty residential roads are trenches where the Karez water still flows and is used by the locals. We witnessed kids playing in the water, people washing themselves and clothes, and even a carpet being washed in it, although I doubt they drink it.

More "photogenics"

Take our Picture:
As with everywhere so far in China, the people are curious and friendly. Few Western tourists come to Xinjiang, this furthest western province, so we are a bit of a novelty. Local people often stop and stare at us, and often when we take photos, they will ask to see them. Sometimes people will ask us to take a photo of themselves with us, which is quite endearing. The other day, Kathy and I were walking across a bridge and a man with his two children asked us to take photos of his kids, then he wanted us to be in the pictures, too. Another time we were in a market, and asked if we could photograph several of the vendors. They wanted to see the pictures, and as we were showing them a crowd gathered to see them. There were a few instances, however, where we were waved away as we asked to take photos. Predictably, the more traditionally dressed women with face coverings, and full burkahs, did not want to be photographed. (This didn’t stop me from catching a few shots on the sly, however.)  Meanwhile, I think I have taken over two thousand photos, and have whittled them down to about 1,300, so far.  But there's still a week to go.

A proud mom

A Local Uyghur Family:
On the way back to the hotel we stopped to visit a local family. Their typical family compound in what we would consider the suburbs of Turpan consisted of a large courtyard with trellises of grapes growing overhead, an outdoor cooking and eating area, a sectioned off area with a shed for sheep and perhaps goats or a cow, a living area for the family (which often included grandparents and perhaps a third generation) and various storage buildings. Beyond the compound were their grapevines and melon and vegetable gardens as well. Their main summer occupation is growing crops and grapes, while during the fall the grapes are dried and sold as raisins. They raise a small number of grazing animals, which are kept in the compound during the frigid winter months, and either sold or eaten.

Platform and table for fruit tasting

Raisins and Melons:
Spread out on two huge tables were samples of different melons, similar to cantaloupes and honeydews, and several different types of raisins that they produce, all delicious. The outdoor kitchen was rustic, but functional, with running water and sink, a charcoal, or coal cooking stove, and utensils, and of course, the teapot. After we sampled their fruits, we purchased some raisins and dried melon, which we are still snacking on a week later. 

Sheepskins curing with salt

Raisins drying on the rooftop

Ancient City Ruins of Jiaohe(Yar City):
Near Turpan are several ruins of cities that were important towns along the Silk Road. Late in the afternoon when it cooled off down to the high 80's, we visited  the ruins of Jiaohe, or Yar City. Built on a high plateau, it was naturally protected by the two rivers that surround it. One of the very interesting things is that the buildings were excavated  down into the soft rock, essentially making them caves. Archaeological finds date back past 3,000 years,  however, it grew and became important as an administrative, military, transportation and communication center along the Silk Road about 1,500 years ago. 

Remains of a government building catch the late afternoon sun

A walkway through Yar, the Buddhist temple is in the background

The remains of a Buddha, (missing its head from the Muslims)

The city of Yar was located on a high cliff surrounded by two rivers.

The city walls and four gates protected the inhabitants from invaders. Sentry posts once stood along the city walls. Inside, you can follow ancient streets as the remains of the walls of homes, warehouses, courtyards and large government buildings can be seen. A Buddhist city, Jiaohe once had a huge temple with a large square around it. Also, we walked past the remains of a burial ground, a monastery and stupas, small religious structures. Later, the Uyghurs inhabited the city, but it was abandoned by the thirteenth century and the desert reclaimed it.

A Quiet Peacefulness:
As most of the tourists had already left we were able to freely walk  around the ruins virtually alone. The sun, partially hidden by hazy clouds, gave a golden hue to the already rusty colored rocks. Seeing the doorways into buildings and looking through windows helped me imagine how it once was. It was fascinating, beautiful, peaceful, and just a little eerie to know that tens of thousands of people once lived in this thriving city.

Almost eerie seeing these old abandoned ruins....

Let the Dancing Begin:
That evening we had dinner at a local Uyghur family's home. They put out a great spread, which was followed by a group of musicians and  dancers playing their traditional
instruments. The flamboyant costumes of the dancers were typical of their native dress. We learned that both the musicians and the dancers were just amateurs, that simply enjoyed their music and dance. Music is a big part of their culture and we saw this firsthand with the two very young children who sat and clapped to every song. It was a warm balmy night, as we sat under a grapevine trellis, eating all this great food, entertainment and finishing with local melons for dessert. 

A traditional favorite is dancing with a pile of cups on the head, with water in them, and not spilling a drop (or losing the cups!)

Urumchi, the Center of Xinjiang

Traditional Uyghur design

Tues., Sept. 3

In case you didn't think we ate well - this is the breakfast buffet!

Urumchi Bound:
After our four hour plane flight beginning early in the morning, we landed in Urumchi and went straight to a Uyghur restaurant. The predominant ethnic group in this part of China, the Uyghurs are descendants of the Turkic people whose ancestors originated in the area we know as Mongolia. Being Muslims, and influenced by the Persia and Turkey, their traditional decor is very ornate with rich patterns and colors. The restaurant was lavishly decorated, the food was delicious, lots of sautéed vegetables, some tofu, lots of spices, garlic and rice, mixed with shish-kabob, some lamb, chicken and, my all time favorite - organ meats (kidneys, heart, etc...yuchhh!) In addition, we were treated to dancing by a young Uyghur couple in traditional costume. Very colorful and lively (and Mid-Eastern).

The woman and child on the left are wearing traditional Uyghur print clothing

Minaret

Minaret reflection

Metal smith in the old Uyghur market

Going Back in Time:
Later that afternoon we walked through the only old Uyghur market neighborhood left in the city. As in Beijing, all the old neighborhoods are being torn down and replaced by expensive high rise buildings. These very narrow alleyways were packed full of locals, the women in mainly long, colorful dresses, all wearing headscarves, and the men, especially the older ones, in dark, formal looking  jackets, with embroidered caps on their heads. 

Local women at market

Man selling coats

Mmmmmm!
There were numerous food stalls with skewers of meat, and huge vats of steaming rice and vegetables cooking over charcoal stoves, hanging lamb carcasses, slabs of liver and other meats, huge tables of fruits - peaches, grapes and melons, and lots of dried fruits, vegetables and spices. Among these were stalls selling clothing, shoes, toys, small electronics, knives, hardware and metal goods such as pots and pans. Most interesting were several metal smith shops where men were building large urns and huge copper covers for outdoor barbecue, hammering hot metal into shape. The smoke from the food and metal smiths' fires, the food smells and colorful sights, along with the din of the vendors hawking their goods, the hammering, the horns of the occasional car or truck trying to push its way through the crowds, and the many people chatting made for a chaotic, but interesting scene. 

lamb, whole or parts...

Locally grown melons are for sale everywhere

Figs: very tender and sweet...

Dried fruits of all kinds

Traditional musical instruments for sale

Foxes, wolves and other animal skins

The Crowd Gatherers:
We, ourselves created quite a scene as we walked through the market, stopping here and there for a few minutes talk by the guides. A crowd of local people gathered around us to listen (although I'm sure none of them understood a word we said) and follow us down the street. I could easily imagine this type of market scene playing out 100 or 500 years ago in many places of the world.

No Fly Zone:
In this market, and many more to come, I was amazed to see no flies. All this meat hanging on hooks and sitting on butcher's slabs out in the open, and no flies. At home, I think raw meat would be covered in a short time. However,the yellow jackets on the fruit, especially the grapes in Turpan made up for it.

Could be dinner

Window mannequins

Reality:
Towering above this lively street scene were high rise building in the most modern of styles...just waiting to invade this remaining piece of history and culture.

Oh Oh:
To bring us back to a more stark reality at the end of the street was a small troupe of police standing at attention. In 2009 there had been a large demonstration protesting unfair conditions that had become quite ugly and a number of people on both sides had been killed and injured. Subsequent smaller eruptions have occurred. Determined to not repeat this, there has been an increased police presence in the City, particularly in the Uyghur districts. Even more so this particular week because the annual Central Asian Expo was being held in Urumchi. In fact, everywhere we went were groups of police with their riot armor - truncheons, helmets and large shields. 

Police or soldiers were very visible in the the City

Woman with nan bread

Another Market:
We visited another market that again, sold everything you could imagine, but in a more orderly, less authentic fashion. Less cooking food, no metal smiths, but instead, carpet merchants, furriers - complete with some taxidermied foxes

Many dried vegetables, teas, beans and spices for sale

and wolves, lots of dried fruits, nuts, spices, cosmetics, jewelry, and even a high end shop with huge gnarled tree trunks carved into Buddhas, animals or mythical beings. Outside this market was a large mosque, lavishly decorated with a huge turret. Again, being the only outsiders we were subject to many stares.

We ended the day at  another wonderful local restaurant with delicious food. At this rate I won't fit into my clothes soon!

Shish kebab waiting for the grill

Wed., Sept. 4

I'm writing this at 7am, which is barely light out. All of China uses one time zone, meaning that in the eastern part dawn is at 5'ish, whereas in the far west, Xinjiang, it is about 2 1/2 hours later. We end up eating dinner about 8 or 9 o'clock each night! There is also a lot of activity outside in the evenings,  people eating and shopping from street vendors, kids playing, teenagers skateboarding, old people chatting until 11'ish - it's quite a scene.

Flyway in the center of the City

Urumchi, a Changing City:
Inside the city of Urumchi traffic is pretty congested, and the main highway going out today was totally clogged with trucks carrying everything imaginable. We sat in one place for an hour and a half before turning back and choosing a smaller, almost as bad, route. The highway was jammed with trucks hauling building materials, cement bags, fill, coal, and everything imaginable. We finally got past the outskirts of the city past miles of gravel pits and cement trucks which are used to make the numerous new buildings sprouting up all over the city. Urumchi, like many Chinese cities, is experiencing a huge building boom. As China continues to industrialize more and more people are moving from the countryside into the cities in search of jobs and better economic opportunities. Rows of 20 - 30 story high rise apartment buildings are being built everywhere, while the older downtown areas are razed to make way for towering office buildings.

Crowded bus at rush hour

The Desert:
Continuing away from the city, is first the desert, which is a bleak wasteland, where absolutely nothing grows. It's amazing that a city as big as Urumchi can exist here with only a few inches of rain a year. However, the surrounding mountains have abundant rainfall that provides rivers and underground aquifers that sustain the 3 1/2 million people.

Truck traffic jam on highway outside Urumchi

Electric Changes:
You can almost see China changing overnight. Fringing the city to the north are miles of huge coal power stations, spewing out vast amounts of smoke. Nestled among these are the remains of smaller towns and villages, abandoned, in ruins. At one point we passed a huge wind farm with hundreds of wind turbines against a background of arid brown hills and snow capped mountains in the distance. Apparently, in a Danish and Chinese joint venture during  the 1980's wind farms were built, but were not able to be activated for a number of years because the infrastructure to handle the electricity had not yet been developed in China. Now, however, they are building more wind farms that are part of the power grid. Not only are the Chinese moving forward in this area, but many older buildings and homes have at least solar water heaters, and most new apartment buildings have huge solar panel arrays on their roofs. They obviously are still very dependent on coal  but its changing. In fact our guide told us the building he lives in just recently changed from coal to natural gas, but it doesn't heat as well as the coal, and costs more.

The grasslands

Yurts (on the left) are usually a portable summer home, while the more permanent homes are made from brick or stone

Prehistoric replicas of stone figures

Yurts are often decorated with traditional designs

The Grasslands:
Soon we began to climb into the scrub covered foothills, where grazing sheep and goats began to appear. We were on our way to the Nanshan Grassland area which lies at the foot of the Tian Shan Mountains. This area has been traditionally inhabited by the Kazak People, who are herders of mainly sheep, but goats and cows, as well. As one of the ethnic groups recognized in the "Autonomous Region" they are allowed to somewhat control their

Foothills

ancestral land. This meant that when we entered that region, we stopped to pay an entrance fee, that partially goes to the government and some, to them. In the summer the Kazaks, and other herding groups graze their cows, horses, sheep, goats, and the occasional camels in these rich grasslands.  Extended families live together yurts, round portable canvas tents that can be moved in a matter of hours to follow their herds. Traditionally, they used horses to herd their flocks and camels to move their belongings, but recently, these have been replaced by motorcycles and trucks. In the tourist areas, yurts are used as small restaurants, and even as hotels for people to stay overnight in.

New transportation

Traditional transportation

Yurts:
Resembling a large baggy igloo, the yurt typically is built on a round, wooden, or more often now, metal, frame that is lashed together and covered with a layer of woven reeds, huge thick layers of felt and finally, a durable canvas. Inside, are brightly colored floral or geometric patterned (no people pictures in Islamic homes) carpeted floor and walls. A large low table, again, covered with carpet, is used for meals, and a bed with rolls of quilts and pillows makes up the only other furniture. A small stove burning charcoal or coal is used for heat, with a vent pipe through the roof. As with an igloo or tepee, a hole, with a flap, is located in the top to vent. The entrance is a two panel wooden door. Outside is a barbecue style cooking area, various frames holding utensils, pots and pans, hanging herbs and sometimes racks with drying skins and meats as well. We spent the afternoon in this region enjoying the spectacular scenery, high rugged mountains rising above steep grassy slopes with herds of grazing animals.

 

Yurt bed with throws and rugs

 

Greenhouses are covered with a thick layer of felt underneath thick plastic

Families arrange flowers in their living room before sending them off to market

Greenhouses:
On the return trip we did an impromptu stop along the road to visit one of many greenhouses. These produce mainly flowers, but some vegetables year round. The families that own them live right on the premises. We were invited to come in and see the rows of zinnias, daisies and several vegetables currently being grown. In the summer a cover of just plastic is used, but in the winter a thick layer of felt is added for insulation.

 

"Share the road" takes on a new meaning in rural areas

Zzzzzzzzzzz:
Also along the way were many small huts surrounded by beehives with hundreds of bees flying around them. Nearby there are fields of sunflowers, corn and other vegetables that obviously need pollinating. These hives must be able to be transported, because I wouldn't think they would stay there by the road all winter. Furthermore, I can't imagine that people would survive the winter in these tiny makeshift huts.

Bees hover around portable hives

A family courtyard with living quarters on the left and animal stables on the right. Hay is stored on the roof.

 
Thurs., Sept. 5

 

Some Culture:
Today, we visited the Autonomous Peoples Museum in Urumchi, which explained a little about the local ethnic groups and their ways of life. The Uyghurs, Kazaks, Tajiks, and several other Central Asian groups have been mostly farmers and herders for hundreds, even

Mummy - perhaps as old as 4,000 years

thousands of years in this region. Many of these people are now Muslim, having converted about 6 - 700 years ago when Islamic people traveling along the Silk Road arrived here. This region is really part of Central Asia, with the ancestors of the Turkic people having roots in Persia, the Mideast, and possibly some Northern European blood mixed in. In fact, the people of Turkey probably originated in the steppe/grasslands area of Mongolia nearby before migrating westward probably several thousand years ago.

Cloth and footwear showing how well the dry desert preserved the mummy

A very popular tourist area for the Chinese, Heavenly Lake

Heavenly Lake:
That afternoon we drove through the desert and foothills, and into the Tian Shan Mountains to Heavenly Lake, a very popular tourist spot. As part of the National Geologic Parks System, we left our bus in a huge parking lot, to climb aboard a new LPG powered coach that took us up an incredibly winding, and very scenic road to the Lake. After walking around part of the lake and watching all the Chinese tourists doing the usual "tourist stuff," we boarded a small boat that took us out onto the lake. It was very reminiscent of being in the Canadian Rockies, with jagged peaks crowned with glaciers off into the distance, surrounding a milky, turquoise glacial lake. The scenery was quite beautiful. 

A Little Bit of Disney:
Apparently the Government is in the process of developing the park, so it has built a nice new road, big hotels, and lots of restaurants and gift shops, which have left out the local Kazak people who somewhat relied on tourism before. They still have some yurts people can visit and stay in, and they still use the land for their grazing herds. The whole place is just a little overdone, boardwalks everywhere, fake tree trunks playing music along the trails... I think they are moving in the direction of theme park, rather than wilderness. But I give them credit for using the natural gas powered buses, and the boardwalks do keep people from trampling all the vegetation.

Love Those Signs!
All around China, on billboards in cities, in public places, including parks are somewhat inspirational/rule reminding signs, which are often corny and often amusing, especially with their English translations.

Here Comes the Bride:
Apparently, the lake is a very popular spot for wedding parties, because we saw several elaborately dressed brides having their photos taken.  Upon looking further, as they moved around from one scenic spot to another we glimpsed several brides wearing blue jeans under their beautiful white gowns. Sometimes they rent several gowns specifically for photos only. Quite practical really, as I know people who have spent hundreds, even thousands of dollars to wear their wedding gown for one day. 

Brides rent a gown for the day to have their photo taken in

Tour boat on Heavenly Lake

LPG  fueled buses at the Park

Glaciers atop nearby mountains