The Grape Valley
By admin on 2015-01-12

The Grape Valley in Turpan (tǔ lǔ fān 吐鲁番), Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (xīn jiāng wéi wú ěr zì zhì qū 新疆维吾尔自治区) has already won a great fame in the world, as it is a place with both beautiful landscapes and unique cultural features. The valley is a world of green with brooks, canals and sparkling springs. 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.

Introduction 

"...Grapes in Turpan grow up; Anarhan (ā nà ěr hǎn 阿娜尔罕)'s heart is ecstatic..." This folk song of the last century is well known in China. Turpan, a place truly flowing with milk and honey in the Turki language, is famous for its fruits. Among them, grape is the most famous.

Every August the sweet air will herald the vintage. The best place to enjoy the grapes is Grape Valley.

Located in the Flaming Mountain (huǒ yàn shān 火焰山), 13km (8miles) of Turpan, the Grape Valley runs 8km (5miles) from north to south at a width of 0.5km (0.3miles). This green paradise of 400hectares (988acres) is covered with layer upon layer of grapes.

It seems that all the water in the desert of Turpan flows into the Karez systems (kǎn ér jǐng 坎儿井) in the Grape Valley. Every single grape is crystal and watery-some are as green as emerald; some as red as agate, some as small as pearls while others are like olives. Among dozens of kinds of grapes, Wuhebai (wú hé bái 无核白) (white seedless) grape is reputed as a green pearl with the sugar content as much as 22%. The seedless white grapes have the advantages of the sustainability from the dryness and the salty soil, the length of age up to 100 years. Also the grain is big while the fruit is small, is juicy and seedless, easy to eat fresh or more suitable to be made into the dry grapes. It is called the China Green Pearls at international markets. The Tulufan (tǔ lǔ fān 吐鲁番) winery in the Grape Valley produce many kinds of good-quality wines, among which the whole juice wine is greatly needed all over the country.

Escaping from the fiery Flaming Mountain, you may take a seat under the vintage frames, savor various grapes, enjoy the beautiful Uygur girls in their ornate costumes, and be fully intoxicated by this refreshing palace of grapes!

In the grape corridor shadowed by the piles of greens which shed from the sunshine, you can play with the cool spring water, taste the delicious grapes. It will give you a fantastic feeling as if you were in a wonderland. Taking a walk along the grape corridor, you will find drying rooms on nearby slopes. Every year over 300tons of raisins are made here.

Mellowness penetrates your heart as the sweetness of grapes melts in your mouth. This unique experience in the Grape Valley will leave you with an enduring memory!
 

History

According to documents, early in the two thousand years ago, Zhang Qian (zhāng qiān 张骞) (an imperial guard) had brought the seeds from here to central plains. In Southern and Northern Dynasty (nán běi cháo 南北朝), Turpan had become an important planting base of grape. In Ming Dynasty (míng cháo 明朝), the seedless white was widely planted. And in Qing Dynasty (qīng cháo 清朝) the scale of grape planting was quite large.

China Silk Road Turpan Grape Festival

In recent years, the people of Turpan take full advantage of festival culture as the carrier of ecological culture, and every time the autumn season of ripening in August, will hold a grand "China Silk Road Turpan Grape Festival", to propagate the Silk Road culture, excavated Turfan folk Art. The grape harvest season is a season to harvest happiness and love. Grapes are presented among friends and relatives, and as tokens of love between the young people. People sing of grapes and paint grapes and hold parties in vineyards where Chinese and foreign tourists gather to savor the Xinjiang specialty.

People There

The local residents mostly are Weiwuer Tribe (wéi wú ěr zú 维吾尔族). The melons and fruits planted everywhere by them are peach, jujube, walnut, fragrant pear, apple, pomegranate, fig, watermelon, muskmelon etc. The Grape Gully is really a treasure place of melon and fruit. There are over 30,000 Weiwuer tribe people living in the Grape Gully. They cultivate with cautious and conscientious effort and everyone is good at singing and dancing and hospitable warmly.