Xinjiang begins building airpot in ancient city

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-12 16:11

TURPAN -- The construction of a new airport began Wednesday near the site of a 2,200-year-old ancient city, named "the most well-preserved earth constructions worldwide" by archaeologists, in northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, a local official said.

The Jiaohe Airport, 35 kilometers from the ancient Jiaohe City, is in the northwest suburb of Turpan, 10 kilometers from downtown Turpan and 180 kilometers from Urumqi, the regional capital, said Duan Zixin, general manager of Xinjiang Airport Group Company Ltd..

The total cost of the airport is estimated to be 400 million yuan (about $59 million) and it will be funded from three sources of the central government, civil aviation's special fund and the regional government, Duan said.

The construction work will be completed in May 2010 and by 2020 the passenger total is expected to reach 400,000, and the cargo throughput will be 1,300 tonnes, Duan said.

The airport is expected to bring new business to the ancient city, which was built by Cheshi States in 200 B.C. and boomed during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 A.D.) before being abandoned in the 14th century, Duan said.

City walls, streets, temples, residences, governmental institutions and military camps could still be found in the city, which used to be one of the main stops of the 2,000-year-old Silk Road, a 7,000-kilometer-long trade route linking Asia and Europe. "Tourists would see the city ruins from the air," he said.

The residents live on grape farming and are expected to expand into tourism. "I will make a good fortune if many tourists come," said a native named Tuerdi who plants grapes there. His house had been named as a tourism guest house by the local government.