Midsummer in Turpan, the hottest town in China

The heat in Turpan is so soporific that we have little energy to do much at first, and we soon fall into an easy rhythm for our four days here. 

The Turpan Depression is one of those areas that because of its peculiar geography, has been settled for centuries, so there’s plenty to see and do. But it’s also so hot it’s locally nicknamed “the Oven”. 

2,000 years ago, it was a crucial point along the northern Silk Road (the one that also runs through Bishkek) and the two nearby cities of Ediqut and Astana (not to be confused with the new capital of Kazakhstan) were important and wealthy centres of power, though now both of them lie in ruins. 

Ancient civilisations

From 200-400 AD, the there was a flourishing civilisation centered around the Turpan Depression. This civilisation a mixture of Indian and Persian cultures, was later absorbed by the Uighurs, who made it their capital from the 9^th to 13^th century. 

At the same time, a rich intellectual and artistic culture developed in Astana, where the cultures of the original Indo-European inhabitants and the (pre-Islamic) Uighurs came together. It was not until the 14^th century that the Uighurs of Turpan converted to Islam. 

We spend the mornings poking about the shops in Turpan, which are an odd mix of shiny boutiques (I buy a delicious pair of pale blue kitten heeled sandals with diamante buckles), TSUM-like department stores and markets with bales of sparkly fabrics, kitchen implements laid out on white groundsheets, and dubious meats hanging from metal hooks, dripping blood and meaty juices and covered in flies. 

John’s Information Cafe

When the noon heat becomes too intense, we head to John’s Information Cafe, an open air restaurant under a rush canopy, for an extended lunch. We start off with some local Xinjiang beers and a large bowl of potato chips straight from the skillet. Then there is the main course, a huge pile of thin noodles tossed in oil, with slices of peppers, onions and tomato, and slivers of red chilli. Just as we’re congratulating ourselves on having eaten the whole plateful the forgotten side-dishes arrive: creamy cubes of silken tofu topped with spring onions, baby spinach sautéed in garlic, and spicy potatoes.

Afterwards, sleepy with good food and beer, we walk back to the hotel, careful to stay under the vines, because the heat really is almost unbearably intense now. As Turpan is on Beijing time, despite being physically about two time zones west of Beijing, the hottest time of the day is around 5pm. Even when we rouse ourselves at six or seven, it’s still burning hot. 

In the early evening, whole families of Uighurs, mother, father and single child, are out, lazily cruising the streets on their mopeds. The father is in front, driving, the young mother sits ‘side saddle’ behind him, and squeezed between them is a little son or daughter.