 Looking
at the Flaming Mountains in the distance from the city of Turpan,
one can see nothing but glowing, barren, red sand. But the Grape Valley
of the Flaming Mountains, fifteen kilometers from the city center,
is a world of unique beauty, presenting a striking contrast with the
hot, dry and barren outside.
Cushioned by green grass and graced with green trees, the valley is
a world of green wit brooks, canals and sparkling springs; there is
a poetic flavor to the idyllic beauty of the valley. Scattered everywhere
in the valley are trees: mulberry, peach, apricot, apple, pomegranate,
pear, fig, walnut, elm, poplar and willow; also watermelons and muskmelons,
making the valley into a “garden of one hundred flowers”
in spring and an “orchard of one hundred kinds of fruits”
in summer. In the valley there is a reception center where dense grapevines
interweave with each other and winding paths lead to secluded places
with clusters of grapes within easy reach.
Eight kilometers long, half a kilometer wide and inhabited by about
6,000 people of the Uygur, Hui and Han nationalities, the Grape
Valley has more than 400hectares of cultivated land, 220 hectares
of which is grape growing area. Grapes growing in the valley are
of several strains, including the seedless white, rose-pink, mare-teat,
black, Kashihar, bijiagan and suosuo. There is a fruit winery producing
several kinds of wines and canned grapes. |
