Silk Road China Tours

• By admin
• In SilkRoadKnowledge
• 2024-01-22

Karez - the well-being of the Xinjiang people

 GBQSilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

When it comes to Turpan, Xinjiang, people will immediately think of the sweet grapes there. But behind the overflowing fruit fragrance is the tenacity and wisdom of the people of Xinjiang.GBQSilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

Xinjiang Turpan belongs to the inland desert climate, the terrain is high in the south and low in the north. In a year, the God only gives Turpan 16mm of precipitation, while the evaporation is as high as 3000mm. But God is fair sometimes.GBQSilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

When it comes to the long summer, the temperature of 50 degrees Celsius can melt part of the snow and ice in the Tianshan Mountains and then guide the basin through the gravel Gobi layers to become groundwater. And how to use this water for irrigation has become a problem that those people in Xinjiang who want to wear water have to consider.GBQSilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

GBQSilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

Anyone who has traveled to Xinjiang will find that when you drive through the Turpan Basin, there are small mounds of dirt that are closely connected around the refreshing oasis. Beneath the mounds is Turpan's extremely dry but fragrant secret, the Karez. For the residents living there, it is not only the pride of the Turpan people of all generations, but also one of the most ingenious water conservancy projects in ancient China.GBQSilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

GBQSilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

But the Qanat is not a literal well, but an underground river used for irrigation in desert areas. Its function is to draw the groundwater at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains to the surface for the social production of residents around the basin. To do this, they first had to find a water source near the Tianshan Mountains. Then, from the villages with water needs, they dug shafts in reverse, with each interval controlled between 20 and 50 meters, so as to collect groundwater from various places and increase the water potential. Finally, according to the potential, a culvert is dug out at the bottom of each well to communicate with each well, thus forming an underground water diversion channel.GBQSilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

Seeing this, some people may think that it is too simple, and it is not as simple as the underground drainage system of modern cities. But two thousand years ago, the Turpan people did not have modern equipment to dig Wells, nor did they have water pipes and concrete to transport against seepage. Its advent, not only let the desolate desert on the earth directly born oasis civilization, but also put this invention in the present, fully qualified to be nominated for the Nobel Prize.GBQSilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours