Karez in Turpan.

Karez in Turpan After visiting the Flaming Mountains, we experienced the heat of Turpan and then visited the Karez scenic area. Karez has a long history and is used in various countries in Central Asia. It has a history of more than 2,000 years in Xinjiang. The Turpan Basin is located on the southern slope of the eastern Tianshan Mountains. The annual precipitation is only 16.4 mm, but the evaporation is nearly 3,000 mm. According to this natural condition, no crops can grow. Our ancestors cleverly used Karez to bring the snow water and groundwater from the Tianshan Mountains into the farmland, creating a vibrant desert oasis. It makes sense for people to call the Karez project, the Great Wall, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal the three major projects of ancient China. Due to the huge Karez project in Xinjiang, there are 1,784 Karez underground canals in Xinjiang, with a total length of 5,272 kilometers. There are 1,237 in Turpan alone, and others are in Hami and other places. On September 3, 2024, it was selected into the World Irrigation Project Heritage List. Karez, both Persian and Uyghur are called Karez. It is composed of vertical wells, underground canals, water outlets, open canals, and flood dams. People can see a pile of round soil bags on the gravel surface. They are arranged in order along the slope and extend to the oasis. This is the vertical well of Karez. The distance between the vertical wells varies with the length of Karez. Generally, there is a vertical well every 20 to 70 meters. A Karez has as few as a dozen vertical wells and as many as hundreds. The vertical wells are connected by underground canals. The vertical well is from deep to shallow. When the ancients dug underground canals, how could they ensure the correct direction? The ancients invented the oil lamp orientation method. That is, when digging an underground canal, hang an oil lamp on the centerline of the vertical well. The digger turns his back to the oil lamp and always digs his own shadow. In this way, different working points can maintain consistency without deviating from the direction. This is the oil lamp orientation method. Because of Karez, there are famous Turpan grapes, watermelons, strawberries, apples, dried apricots, pomegranates, cherries and other fruits, as well as corn, wheat, rice and other grains. And its rapeseed, gourd, various beans and other economic crops. The hot air on the surface of the scorching sun, Cool breeze at the bottom of Karez, The clear stream of the underground canal slowly sent, There is joy in the grape ditch. ​