3 Days in Turpan

The museum puts the basin's finds in order before the field days; the karez gallery explains the channels - roughly 1,100 were cut over the centuries, some 200 still flow, and the lines together stretch near 5,000 km. Summer visitors should shift sightseeing to mornings.

1. turpan museum
2. turpan karez wells

Go at opening time. Jiaohe, some 10 km west, spreads 1,650 m long and up to 300 m wide on a plateau about 30 m above two rivers - the raw-earth city UNESCO listed in 2014. The Emin Minaret, built 1777 and about 44 m tall, stands on the city's eastern edge for the late afternoon.

1. turpan jiaohe ruins
2. turpan emin minaret

The red ridges run about 100 km east with a high point near 850 m; in July the ground can hit around 70 °C - the 12 m thermometer at the gate reads it live. Grape Valley, 8 km of trellised lanes northeast of town, fills from the August harvest; shade houses dry the surplus into raisins.

1. turpan flaming mountains
2. turpan grape valley