China - Turpan and rest of Xinjiang

We had two bush camps along the way to Turpan, the lowest city in China. It was always difficult to find a suitable bush camp in China. The first was off the main highway. Over the night, we were rudely interrupted three times because mobile phone services van decided to come up through our camp. The second bush camp was a bit more successful - camping on the shore of Bosten Lake, where we had fireworks to help David and Monica celebrating American Independence Day. Two pictures of sunrise over the lake.

Also attached a couple of photos of unusual hill formation of the Gobi desert. There are plenty of oasis town along the way. We stopped at Kuqa to visit the animal market. Remarkable what they sold there. They traded all kinds of livestock: donkeys, goats, sheep (with very large bums of fat - the larger the more expensive, see picture), horses (see picture of a horse on its two hind legs in the far distance), cows/bulls, etc.

It was a very hot day when we arrived at Turpan: 42degC. It is after all China's hottest city. Apart from its Silk Route connection, Turpan region is in the lowest landmass in China, second lowest in the world (next to the Dead Sea). It is in a basin with Gobi Desert to the north and Taklimakan Desert to the south.

Turpan has a few things to offer for visitors: "Sand Therapy"- as posed. Buried in a shallow trench where the heat eases the mussles and joints.
Sand Dunes - camel rides, boarding/tobogganing, microlite -becoming like a fun park.
Karez irrigation schemes - one of the three major irrigation schemes in China. They are now no more than tunnels and open drains where locals wash themselves and anything they care to wash in the stream. Water is highly poluted for drinking. (see photo: Le checking the cool water)
JiaoHe Ruins - remains of an old city where two rivers met in the days gone by.

A couple of other photos: buildings with plenty of holes. They are for drying raisins - this is a raisin producing region of China. Also, a photo of oil pumps in the desert.