A Taste of Turpan

As an important hub in Ancient Silk Road, Turpan is located in a depression with the area of more than 1000 square kilometers of the eastern part of Xinjiang and some 80 meters below the sea level. And nearby the Moon Lake, the lowest water surface is 154 meters below the sea level, the second lowest continental point in the world after the Dead Sea.

Turpan is actually the hometown of grapes and melons. The water came from the surrounding mountains and underflow nourished the depression. And the local people developed a unique irrigation system. It is called Karez Well, by which water is introduced to the agricultural oasis surrounded be desert.

Grapes

Turpan is famous for its grapes production. Turpan is beautiful and romantic land especially in the summer, when people inter in the land of Turpan, they feel like they have been interred in the land of fairies. The Grapes Valley, about 8 kilometers in length, is one with grapevines grown on the slopes of the both sides, and deep into the valley, there is a tourist resorts, shaded by grapevines and from late June to early October. Clusters of grapes hanging overhead and the mineral water flowing from under the rocks make the resort a great attraction.

Musailaisi

Musailaisi is a kind of drink popular among the ordinary Uighur people in the southern part of Xinxiang. And this kind of drink is totally made out of fresh grapes but is not wine we generally know. It has the color of light coffee and tastes light sour and sweet and smells fragrant. It is considered to be a crack cordial full of nutrition and the local Uighur people call it “Dola” which means medicine in Chinese. Musilaisi contains a little bit alcohol and has the function of muscle stretching and blood activating.

Hami Melon

This is a very special variety melon in which the seed originated in the Xingjiang area of China. Oblong in shape with yellow skin and green streaks throughout, the Hami melon has a juicy orange flesh. Its flavor profile is reminiscent to a very sweet cantaloupe, with more flavor and firmer crunchy texture.

The Roasted Whole Lamb

The roasted whole lamb is a well known dish in Xinjiang that can compete with Beijing Style Roast Duck and Crispy Skin Suckling Pig in Guangzhou. There are many restaurants around the whole Xinxiang where tourists can easily access to the original form of these dishes in food streets. Especially in Kashi and Hetian in the south of Tianshan Mountain and you can feel the delicious smell around there. The roasted whole lamb is famous and expensive mainly because of the unique cooking method in addition to the strict material selection and the lamb produced in Xinjiang is free of general lamb smell and the meat is very delicate enjoying a wide spread fame on the meat market domestic and abroad.