Aydingkul Lake, Jiaohe Ruins, Karez, Turpan, China

This morning we visited the Jiaohe Ruins.  The city was established during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BC) as a garrison and 6500 people lived here.  It is one of the oldest and best preserved ancient cities in China and inhabited until the 14th century AD.

This restaurant uses plastic bags rather than wash the dishes-

We visited Aydingkul Lake which is the third lowest lake in the world at 154 meters below sea level-

We also visited the 18th century Emin Minaret.  It's an Afghan style mosque with flowers and waves carved into the 40 meter tall tower-

We stopped at the Karez irrigation site.  A karez is a means of irrigation, found only in China, Afghanistan and Iran.  It's a way to effectively use ground water.  The Uighurs (pronounced WigWam!) dug a head well on higher ground with a long underground tunnel dug to transport the water down to the farms below.  Vertical wells were dug every 20 meters to provide access.  The water flows by gravity alone and the underground tunnels prevent evaporation.  Some of these 1000 karez were made over 2000 years ago and there are 5000 km of tunnels, all dug by hand!

We're bushcamping in the Flaming Mountains tonight!  The legend says that a hero slayed a child eating dragon and sliced it into 8 pieces.  Each piece today is a valley.  It's the dragon's blood that gives the color to the mountains.

Turpan, China

Today was a big driving day from just east of Korla, almost to Turpan.

We needed propane but they only have LPG - liquid propane gas so the gas station called the police to come and make sure it was okay.  How many Chinese does it take to fill a propane tank?  SEVEN!  4 different workers, who each had to look at the bottle and discuss, 2 real policemen and another young man wearing a Los Angeles SWAT police t-shirt.  It was quite the ordeal and then they escorted us to a  nearby supermarket-

This fellow has been living in the cab for who knows how long!  

We went through a mountain pass on a divided highway, but for some odd reason, the speed limit dropped to 40 km/h-

Our guide was worried that Will was speeding and would get a fine.  There are cameras everywhere and many police checks.  The citizens are super paranoid.

Snickers in Chinese-

We're bushcamping close to the Jiaohe Ruins at Turpan.