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Home > Travel China > China Destinations > Ancient City of Jiaohe
Ancient City of Jiaohe
China, an East Asian country is one of the world’s oldest civilizations. It has a vast cultural history of more than five thousand years and an outstanding natural beauty. On the other hand, this country has remained a comparatively isolated and secluded one, and being a land of mystery, this country is not known to the western half of the world. However, China is rapidly developing and has grown in the phase of modernization, with an immense speed and is also welcoming the outer world to interact and do business with them.
The PRC, People's Republic of China comprises most of the cultural, historic and geographic area known as China. Since its founding in 1949, it has been led by the CPC, Communist Party of China. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1,300,000,000, most of who are classified as the Han Chinese ethnicity. It is the largest country in area in East Asia and the fourth largest in the world, after Russia, Canada and the United States. The PRC borders 14 countries comprising Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrayzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Vietnam.
The Ancient City of Jiaohe is 10 kilometers west of the Turpan city in the Yarnaz Valley. Jiaohe means intersecting rivers and the ruins are located on top of a 30 meter cliff carved out by two long dried up rivers. Around 2000 years ago, Jiaohe was powerful and important. It was the capital of the state of South Cheshi, one of the kingdoms of the Han dynasty and was eventually incorporated into the Uighur Empire in the 9th century BC.
The city was at its cultural peak under the Uighurs, but Mongol rebellions led to its demise and by the Yuan dynasty Jiaohe was deserted. The dusty ruins reveal the structure of the city which includes the impressive 1,650 meter long city walls and the huts, temples, watchtowers, courtyards, streets and wells. A Buddhist monastery that completes with dagoba stands in the center of the city and inside there are the remains of several headless statues of the Buddha enclosed in niches.
The Ancient City of Jiaohe, justifiably so, enjoys a very positive reputation with worldwide travelers, and is one of the most visited place surrounding the Turpan city.
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