Baked to perfection

By Alexis Hooi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-23 10:30

Turpan boasts some of the sweetest fruit in the country.

The highest temperature in the city itself was nearly 50 C, while the monthly rainfall level is never more than the length of a thumbnail.

At tourist sites like the aptly named Flaming Mountains - red, eroded sandstone cliffs that look like tongues of fire - locals challenge you to stay in the open for more than 5 minutes without sunscreen or an umbrella's shade.

Welcome to one of the country's furnaces.

Located at the northern edge of Xinjiang's Turpan Basin, the second lowest point on earth after the Dead Sea, the city of Turpan is surrounded by desert country at its most fiery.

But the heat, combined with the warmth and ingenuity of a people used to living in these hellish conditions, also makes this one of the most charming oases on the Silk Road.

For one, Turpan boasts some of the sweetest fruit in the country.

From the famed Hami melons to more than 100 varieties of grapes, the dry and hot conditions ensure that fruit grown here contains high sugar concentrations.

Located at the northern edge of Xinjiang's Turpan Basin, the second lowest point on earth after the Dead Sea, the city of Turpan is surrounded by desert country at its most fiery.

But the heat, combined with the warmth and ingenuity of a people used to living in these hellish conditions, also makes this one of the most charming oases on the Silk Road.

For one, Turpan boasts some of the sweetest fruit in the country.

From the famed Hami melons to more than 100 varieties of grapes, the dry and hot conditions ensure that fruit grown here contains high sugar concentrations.

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