1 · POSITION
Turpan, in Xinjiang, lies about five hundred feet below sea level, the second-lowest point on earth after the Dead Sea, and was an important stop on the Silk Road. The register holds it as an oasis whose hospitality was water brought underground from the mountains. [1]
2 · THE KAREZ
The karez carried water from the mountains into the desert through underground channels, and on that water an ancient culture of the vine grew: the dry, sunny basin is ideal for grapes, and its Grape Valley grows hundreds of varieties. [1]
3 · THE RUINED CITIES
Jiaohe, first built in 2 BC, was the capital of the Jushi kingdom and was destroyed by Genghis Khan’s forces in the thirteenth century. Gaochang lies some thirty kilometres from Turpan. Beyond the town run the Flaming Mountains, a range of red sandstone a hundred kilometres long. [1]
4 · ON THE ROAD
The register files Turpan with the other oases of the Silk Road — Dunhuang, Kashgar and the Hexi Corridor — as stations a caravan could not do without. [1]
5 · ⚑ CANDOUR
⚑ Only one source was read, a traveller’s account of 2014; the depth below sea level is given in round feet. The age of the karez is not dated here. [1]
Sources & Further Reading
Sources checked 22 October 2026.