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25 years ago I travelled in the Taklamakan Basin which lies to the east of Afghanistan in Xinjiang, NW China. The local Uyghur people and their forebears had pe
by ilamont 6y ago
25 years ago I travelled in the Taklamakan Basin which lies to the east of Afghanistan in Xinjiang, NW China. The local Uyghur people and their forebears had perfected over millennia various techniques related to growing and preserving grapes. It's a sub-sea level depression, one of the driest and hottest spots in Central Asia - so hot that local people warned me not to park my bicycle in the sun or the tires might burst. For thousands of years the people there have maintained underground irrigation channels which bring water from the mountains hundreds of km to the north to irrigate grapes and other crops. The covered channels go right through the towns and even in the early summer were filled with rushing water. Grape trellises were growing over many of the sidewalks throughout the city of Turpan (with stern signs in Arabic script and Chinese not to eat them, ignored by local kids) providing shade as well as grapes. The countryside nearby had these brick buildings with gaps between the bricks used for rapid drying of grapes to be made into the best raisins I've ever had.
- mc32 6y agoQuite interesting! Also what was the reason for the warning against eating?
- etimberg 6y agoExample of the vines in case anyone is also curious https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9532058,89.1822778,3a,75y,243.36h,88.3t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNlxPGTjet5HcRrpKAXyOuSVISsMzyAHjr0-EwL!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNlxPGTjet5HcRrpKAXyOuSVISsMzyAHjr0-EwL%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya146-ro-0-fo100!7i9728!8i4860 https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9532058,89.1822778,3a,75y,24...
- jiggawatts 6y agoThat got me "exploring" virtually in the area, and I came across this scene of people apparently... "picking" rocks? Or something? https://www.google.com/maps/@37.1544659,79.9629378,3a,90y,8.42h,87.97t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOH2Qwj1KxbjK_w3MoFNrRw8_0VrLdW7Oia92FL!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOH2Qwj1KxbjK_w3MoFNrRw8_0VrLdW7Oia92FL%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya279-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120 https://www.google.com/maps/@37.1544659,79.9629378,3a,90y,8.... You seem to know that part of the world. Do you have an explanation of what's going on there?
- neartheplain 6y agoThe underground canals sound like qanats, an ancient irrigation technology that originated in Persia and then spread to China and elsewhere: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qanat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qanat
- vram22 6y agoBeat me to saying the same thing, by an hour:) I've always thought qanats were a cool idea.
- jandrese 6y agoThe also sound like the Puquios used in South America.
- hinkley 6y agoI always thought digging a qanat must have been miserable work, but the fact is that the human body’s peak endurance comes at a temperature that is pretty close to ground temperature. Runners and cyclists and gardeners know that a nice 55° day you can just go forever without stopping because your body isn’t wasting any energy on perspiration. And in fact if you do stop for long you just get cold.
- Clewza313 6y agoTemperatures in the Taklamakan can reach 50°, but that's Celsius, not Fahrenheit.
- abdupattoh 6y agoI have the same wonderful memory of Turpan in 2000. Clay structures for making raisins were scattered around the villages. Hottest place I have been in my life. Great food.
- dr-detroit 6y agoJust let a little air out of the tubes youll be fine
- samatman 6y agoThe Taklamakan is a basin (so lower than everything around it) and used to be an inland sea. But it isn't below sea level, everything is above 1000 meters. One of those obscure corners of the Earth I have always wanted to visit...