Advertisement
Jiaohe
Jiaohe aka Gaochang is an ancient, now abandoned, city. It was built on the banks of a river. By creating a canal the city was made into an Island in the river. This was done for defense. The current climate is arid, hot and harsh. The people who inhabited the city must have been hardy types, used to heavy manual labour and ready to defend their city. Fortifications are seen in the city, with supplies of stones, narrow, easy to defend, passageways and slits for windows.
The city is made from mud, over time the mud deposited, the level of the river fell and what is now the present city was above the surrounding river. Houses and other buildings were made by tunneling down into the hardened mud. A huge map at the grounds entrance lays out the city design, most of it is in ruins now.
We were told the story of a children's graveyard. The tiny bodies were well preserved, wrapped in blankets and buried with toys and tokens of their lives. They all were buried at about the same time. As it was told to us invaders (Mongols?) had the city under siege and were soon
to break through the defenses. The invaders were known for their cruelty including rape, pillage, dismemberment, cruel painful tortures and executions. Many of the adults would be able to escape on foot or by river and had a chance to save themselves. However adults burdened by children would not be agile enough or quick enough to escape. Therefore the children were poisoned and buried to escape the cruelty of the invaders.
We were there early but even so it was a hot dry thirsty day and by the time I had completed my tour I was glad of finding some shelter and a cold drink. A lovely lady shared some of her cold watermelon with me. It was a very nice gesture and very welcome.
Emin Minaret
We briefly visited the Emin Minaret. Built in 1777/1778. (I cannot avoid the association with the Queensland town 1770 which is the site of Captain Cook's second landing on Australian soil in May 1770. These things happening so long ago at almost the same time). Visitors cannot climb the tower. It is visually pleasing to look at. Below the tower is a large room with chambers leading off it and
some nice architecture. To be perfectly honest however it was a hot day and getting some cold drinks and food seemed to be a greater priority.
Karez Wells
The Karez Wells at first did not interest me but were much better than I had expected. I had seen the external evidence of the wells as we drove to Turpan. A long line of circular structures, walls surrounding the wells them selves. The wells lead down underground to the water table. Water is drawn from them for irrigation. But underground is where the interesting stuff happens. Tunnels have been excavated to link the wells. They form an underground channel that takes the water into the town, to supply the town. The visible bits that we could see were, to be honest, pretty unimpressive unless you understood the engineering feat involved. You can read some more
here After the wells we headed back to Urumqi.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.102s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 10; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0431s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Iris
non-member comment
China holiday
Thanks for your blog Nick, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your travels. I think you have quite a flair for writing. Keep travelling, keep blogging and stay safe ?