Tour 5 sites near Turpan, China

We hired a taxi to tour five other sites today: Flaming Mountain and the canyon, Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, Astana Cemetery, and Gaochang Ruins. 

Flaming Mountains (Chinese: 火焰山; pinyin: huǒyànshān) are barren, eroded, red sandstone hills in Tian Shan Mountain range, Xinjiang, China. They lie near the northern rim of the Taklamakan Desert and east of the city of Turpan. Their gullies and trenches caused by erosion of the red sandstone bedrock give the mountains a flaming appearance at certain times of the day. 

 The mountain climate is harsh, and the extremely high summer temperatures make this the hottest spot in China, frequently reaching 50 °C (122 °F) or higher. Some vendors sold sand boiled eggs at 3 RMB now, although it was only possible boiled after 48 hr summer sun. We saw two hiking trails up to the top of the canyons but had no time or energy to do them under hot sun. 

Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves (Chinese: 柏孜克里千佛洞; pinyin: Bózīkèlǐ Qiānfódòng) is a complex of Buddhist cave grottos dating from the 5th to 14th century. They are high on the cliffs of the west Mutou Valley under the Flaming Mountains, and most of the surviving caves date from the West Uyghur kingdom around the 10th to 13th centuries.

Astana Cemetery (Chinese: 阿斯塔那古墓; pinyin: Āsītǎnà Gǔmù) is an ancient cemetery For the descendants of Chinese settlers in Gaochang from the 4th century to the first half of the 8th century. The complex covers 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi) and contains over 1,000 tombs. Due to the hot and dry environment, important artifacts have been well preserved at the tombs, including natural mummies.

Gaochang (Chinese: 高昌; pinyin: Gāochāng; Old Uyghur: قۇچۇ, Qocho), is the site of a ruined, ancient oasis city on the northern rim of the inhospitable Taklamakan Desert. The archaeological remains are considered in some sources to have been a "Chinese colony", that is, it was located in a region otherwise occupied at the time by West Eurasian peoples. A busy trading center, it was a stopping point for merchant traders traveling on the Silk Road. It was destroyed in wars during the 14th century, and old palace ruins and inside and outside cities can still be seen today.