TURPAN, CHINA: THE TAKLAMAKAN DESERT AND THE ANCIENT CITY OF GAOCHANG

Prior to visiting the Taklamakan Desert, I had never heard of it, even though at 130,000 square miles, it is slightly larger than the state of New Mexico and just a little smaller than the country of Germany. The old Silk Road split into a north road and a south road at the desert's edge, circumventing the extreme conditions that include temperatures as low as -15℉ in the winter and 110℉ in the summer. In addition to lack of water, a phenomenon known as "shifting sands," which is when wind-whipped sands cause dramatic landscape changes, further complicates a journey through this wasteland. Almost 85% of the Taklamakan Desert experiences shifting sands, making crossing its vast expanse especially treacherous.

It doesn't look too bad from the bus window:

. . . but the further we go, the drier it gets. I was glad it was October 3rd rather than August 3rd or January 3rd:

Our first stop was the ancient oasis city of Gaochang, located on the threshold of the Taklamakan Desert.

Waiting to greet us was our friend Xuanzang, the Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India, the heart of Buddhism, to acquire some Buddhist writings. (See previous post on the Great Wild Goose Pagoda.) When he passed through Gaochang in 628 AD, he stopped for a while to rest and lecture. Legend has it that the king grew so attached to him that he would not let him leave. Determined to continue his journey, Xuanzang went on a hunger strike. On the fourth day as he began to fail, the king finally released him to continue on his way.

I love his long, energetic stride. The combination of his flowing cloak and his backpack reminds me of wings:

A new visitors center prepares modern travelers for their stay in Gaochang:

Famous local heroes from the last two millenia are honored with life-sized statues:

I especially appreciate seeing women among the heroes:

Other than the two women, my favorite statue is of Eein Hoja (1694-1777), who "made extraordinary contribution to the unification of motherland" and for whom the Emin Minaret, covered in a future post, was built to honor:

The text in the museum is written in three languages: Arabic, the language of the local Uygher  (pronounced WEE gur) people, Chinese, and English. I love the positive slogans we saw all over China. I think they are part of President Xi Jinping's campaign to "Make China Greater." (My words, not his.)

Gaochang was built in the first century BC. Situated on the north rim of the Taklamakan Desert, it was a key location on the Silk Road and was a popular trading stop for caravans.

From a distance it looks like stone formations, not man-made buildings:

But as we drew closer, we could see these were indeed ruins:

After we roamed through the "Terraced Houses," we made our way to the "Buddhist Temple":

At one time this perfectly round building within a square, which is either the "Preaching House" or a storage area, depending on which source you consult, had a domed roof:

The walls are covered with Arabic writing: 

Inside:

Perhaps this niche was once the backdrop for a large Buddha:

We gathered for a lecture inside the central courtyard:

Michael talked about the importance of sharing ideas, relating it to India's Buddhism and China's Taoism. He encouraged us to be open to new perspectives, reminding us that there is often a common thread running through what seem to be very different points of view. As an example, he pointed out that the central teaching of Buddha was compassion, the central teaching of Confucius was benevolence, and the central teaching of Christ was charity.

We all had headsets that allowed us to hear Michael Wilcox's wonderful lectures, even if we were wandering around a little while he spoke:

The paparazzi were always standing by, watching us:

. . . often unabashedly taken pictures of us:

On our way out we ran into a group of ESL teachers from BYU out on a sightseeing trip. They had a BYU flag on a stick. How random! In a country this big in a site so remote, our two groups converged on the same place at the same time. Amazing.

As we made our way back to our buses, we noticed these oblong cantaloupe-looking fruits for sale. We would later learned that they are hami melon, and that they are very tasty:

A bag of light raisins was a reminder that many of the dried fruits in China come from this region. They aren't necessarily grown here, but the hot, dry weather makes it a perfect place for processing fruit:

On our drive away from Gaochang, we couldn't help but be in awe of the surrounding landscape.

That a city could exist in this region--without any of our modern amenities such as refrigeration--is mind-boggling.

We passed what I think are movie sets:

I'd like to know more about these last pictures. It would have been fun to see something being filmed there.