Jiaohe Ancient City, Xinjiang

Hot and sunny weather feels when he reached the site Jiaohe Ancient City at 11:00. The journey by bus takes two hours from Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Province. This place is hidden in the Valley Yarnaz and flanked by two rivers. Get ready for an umbrella or other head coverings. If necessary, prepare sunglasses as well. Temperature can reach 39-40 degrees Celsius when it enters the location of this ancient city.

The bridge width of 3 meters and a length of 5 meters to the entrance. Under the bridge, the creek flows. The water is clear. When crossing the bridge, visitors are immediately confronted by a wall 30 meters high ground. Footpath width of 2 meters uphill combed to the side wall of the left leads visitors deeper into the city.

Begin to look stunning scenery in front of the eye. An area of ​​220 thousand square meters looks like an ancient city. Building and home-like basin stretches as far as the eye could see. Some are as high as 3-6 meters. Almost all the buildings are not intact. In fact, there is an invisible function anymore. There are also stairs down to the cellar-like room. Still looks the remains of a neat arrangement of a city.

A guide this site says there are still many unsolved mysteries in the ancient city of Jiaohe this site. "Found cemetery containing graves of hundreds of babies," said the girl's guide. "Until now not known why there are many graves here baby."

This ancient city was built more than 2,300 years ago. Jiaohe is the capital of the State Cheshi. Jiaohe name, in Chinese, means a meeting place of two rivers. From historical records, in this ancient site, there are hundreds of houses for 700 heads of households. Population of 6,500 people and there are 865 soldiers.

The city is built on the plains of the valley with a length of 1650 meters and 300 meters wide. Its location, which is flanked by two rivers, forming a natural defense. Incidentally this also explains why the city does not have a wall of defense. Conversely, a steep cliff with a height of more than 30 feet on all sides of the river acts as a natural wall.

Jiaohe distinguishes itself from other ancient cities because of three features. First, only two city gates, gate south and east. Secondly, there are three sides of the cliff walls that cover this ancient city. Third, all the buildings were dug from the earth, and rarely use the wooden building.

At the end of the 8th century, the city was invaded by the army led by Genghis Khan's Mongolia. Residents flee. Jiaohe city destroyed continuously until the beginning of the 14th century. The city was later abandoned until more than 2,000 years. Miraculously, because the dry climate and remote location, the ancient city of Jiaohe remain intact until now.

The site of ancient city of Jiaohe, which became part of the Silk Road in the past, is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This site was partially excavated in 1950 and has been protected by the Chinese government since 1961.