Travel Notes of the Western Regions丨30 Days in Northern and Southern Xinjiang丨Southern Xinjiang丨Kuqa County – Kuqa Palace – Restan Road – Aksu (12)

Refers to the part south of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang

Including Kashgar region and Aksu region

Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Hotan Prefecture

Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, etc.

Mainly Uighurs

Accounting for more than 80% of the population in southern Xinjiang

In addition, there are Han people and Tajik people.

Mongolian, Kirgiz and other ethnic minorities

Compared to the picturesque Northern Xinjiang

The environment in southern Xinjiang is much worse.

Almost the entire southern Xinjiang was

Tianshan Mountain and Kunlun Mountain form a complete circle

The environment is very closed

Whether it is the warm Indian Ocean current in the south,

Or the warm Atlantic current from the west?

Can't reach southern Xinjiang

As a result, most areas in southern Xinjiang

The climate is very harsh

The world’s second largest mobile desert

– Taklimakan Desert

Located in the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang

Although the environment of the Taklimakan Desert is relatively harsh,

But there is something hidden under the desert

Huge oil and gas resources

It is China’s huge energy treasure house

Among the thirty-six countries in the ancient Western Regions, they were famous for their music and dance.

Qiuci Kingdom (pronounced the same as "Autumn Porcelain")

This ancient country in the Western Regions was once the Silk Road

An important town in the North Road of the Taklimakan Desert

Religion, culture, economy, etc. are extremely developed

Grotto art has a longer history than Mogao Grottoes

In addition, the iron smelting industry is also well-known

Many countries in the Western Regions gave their iron tools to Qiuci

Qiuci music and dance once moved the world

After being introduced to the Central Plains, it also became widely spread

It became a part of the court music of many dynasties.

An important part of

The 筚篥(bì lì) was invented by the Kucha people.

It was quite popular in the Tang Dynasty

Later introduced to Japan

Became a traditional musical instrument of Japanese gaku

Li Longji, a famous musician from the Tang Dynasty

He is also a player of Qiuci musical instrument - Jie drum.

Famous musicians under Li Longji

Li Guinian was also a master of playing the 筚篥

The greatest translator in Buddhist history

Kumarajiva (344-413)

Was born in Kucha

Kumarajiva is a key figure in the spread of Buddhism to the east

was the first person to translate Sanskrit scriptures into

eminent monk translated into chinese

More than two hundred years earlier than Xuanzang

And now Buddhists recite

Many scriptures still come from his translations

When Xuanzang arrived at Kucha

A king named Bai ruled Kucha

Xuanzang was received here by the princes and nobles

warmly welcomed by the common people

It can be seen that Qiuci in the Tang Dynasty was still a devout Buddhist country.

Nowadays, except for museums

There is no trace of Buddhism anymore

▲Documentary "New Silk Road"

Kuqa Palace

It was built in the 24th year of Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1759).

The full name is "Kuqa Hereditary Prince's Palace"

"Prince Huibu" is the "King of Uyghur"

Commands most of the Uyghurs in the southern Tianshan Mountains

The current Kuqa Palace was in 2004

According to the memories of the last prince Dawut Maihesuti

Rebuilt on the original site

Tickets are 55 for adults and 30 for children

The main tourist area is the Wangfu Cultural Relics Exhibition Hall

Kucha Museum, ancient city wall and other exhibition areas

Kucha Museum is not much different from

History, Buddhism, ethnic folklore,

Five aspects of production tools and traditional craftsmanship

Shows the past life of the ancient kingdom of Qiuci

You can vaguely see the prosperous scenery back then

This one is on display in the museum

Qiuci Music and Dance Relic Box

The original is now in the Tokyo National Museum

A priceless treasure

1903 Japanese Otani Mitsui expedition

Excavations at the ruins of the Subashi ancient temple in Kuqa

It was discovered half a century later

There are traces of painting on the outer color of the box

Peel off the outer layer to reveal the original painting on the box

for buddhists

What a holy and noble relic the relic box is.

The people of Qiuci will actually represent the common people in the world

The music and dance are depicted on the relic box

Maybe in the hearts of Kucha people

Heaven is such a lively and joyful world of music and dance

A mummy on display at the Buddhist Rhyme Museum

Let me really see it for the first time

Xuanzang described in the Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty

People from Qiuci whose flat heads are beautiful

A little different than imagined

I originally thought that the people of Qiuci regarded flatness as beauty.

Only after listening to the tour guide’s explanation

Only nobles are qualified to have their heads crushed

In 1978, Kuqa County Cultural Relics Management Office

Under the base of the pagoda in the ancient city of Subash

A shaft tomb was discovered

Unearthed fragments of painted coffins, tomb beasts, and iron daggers

and a complete female skeleton from the Han Dynasty

The skeleton is 175 centimeters tall and about 20 years old.

There are some baby bone fragments inside the abdomen

The identity of the skeleton remains a mystery.

▲Photographed at Kuqa Palace

The small palace garden is very unique

Planting grapes and gourds

There is also a lotus pond that is rare in southern Xinjiang

▲Taken in Kuqa Wangfu Garden

The furnishings of the former royal palace on display in the exhibition hall

There is a real princess living in the palace

She is the fifth wife of the prince

She is also the last princess

The princess’s residence is not big but very exquisite

Visitors can also take photos with the princess

There is a fee of 30 yuan per person

▲Photographed at the residence of Princess Kuqa

This small road directly opposite Kuqa Palace

It is the main road of Kuqa Old Town.

The Islamic-style Restan Road

This road is about 1 km long

Stretching all the way to Kucha Ancient Ferry

Street photography

Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves

It is the earliest grotto excavated in China.

There are 339 grottoes discovered

There are more than 80 caves that are relatively well preserved.

The total area of ​​the murals is about 10,000 square meters

Aryans lived here before BC

Located in Kizil Township, Baicheng County

It takes 2 hours one way from Kuqa

We didn't go this time

I felt a little regretful afterwards

Must eat food

There are not many restaurants on Restan Road

Most of them were not open when I went there.

Passing by Hulsan Restaurant

The big pot at the door is cooking

Steaming chicken drumsticks with rice

It makes us salivate

So I went in and waited for the rice to be cooked.

The restaurant is small but very clean

The boss and his wife don’t speak Mandarin

He even told us that we would have to wait for a while

I quickly waved my hand and said: It’s okay, it’s okay

Of course, you can’t find it on the street except your house.

This is the second restaurant that is open.

It took forty minutes for the rice to be cooked

I can't say it tastes particularly good.

But it’s better than being clean and affordable

This meal is 15 yuan

I heard people say that the white mulberries in Kuqa are super sweet.

It's a pity that this season is gone

Another specialty of Kuqa is Kuqa naan.

Described as "Kucha Nang, as big as a wheel"

There is a big Nang city here

But the door was closed when we went there

There are also many small naan shops on the street.

It’s only 4 yuan a large piece and tastes great

When I first arrived in Qinghai

Seeing what happened after leaving Yangguan in the west

G3011 Liuge Expressway

That was the first time I experienced the desolation of the Northwest

But now that we have arrived in southern Xinjiang, we have truly realized

The loneliness of the ancients walking in the desert

I respect them even more.

▲Taken on G3012 Tuhe Expressway

▲Taken in Jiamu Service Area

Aksu snack street

All snacks from Mainland China

Nothing special

There are fruit shops all the way outside the snack street

Any fruit you pick up is so sweet

The stalls sell everything at a fixed price

You will almost never encounter random bidding or shortfalls.

You must buy apples when you arrive in Aksu

Local apples are crisp, fragrant and sweet

It's the best I've ever tasted

▲Taken in Aksu

Not far from the snack street

Healthy eating street

It is the busiest dining street in Aksu

▲Taken at Aksu Healthy Eating Street

Shenhuo BBQ Nang Pork

The upper and lower floors of the restaurant are packed with seats

They all look local

This should be the right choice

These two pages are special dishes

The price is relatively moderate

Every guest at the table ordered grilled lamb chops

Starting from one kilogram

We discussed it with the boss

Asked for half a kilogram

This grilled lamb chop is really out of this world!

Place the lamb on the coals

Grilled carefully until crispy on the outside and slightly dry on the inside

There is also a layer of fat in the middle that is not greasy at all

There's not a lot of meat in the whole lamb chop.

But it tastes dry and delicious

Later we discovered the barbecue in southern Xinjiang

Although it is better than Northern Xinjiang

But the more authentic southern Xinjiang barbecue

The more you pursue the just-cooked state

There's still a little bit of stuffing in there

And only add a little salt

Although it also smells good, I’m not completely used to it.

Aksu has a large number of Han people

The barbecue here will be spiced with chili peppers and other spices.

It tastes so perfect

Also ordered red willow barbecue and coriander dried beans

Hongliu BBQ is average

I fell in love with coriander dried beans as soon as I tasted it

This meal costs 173 yuan