Kuqa

Kuqa County is located at the southern foot of the central Tianshan Mountains and the northern edge of the Tarim Basin. It is adjacent to Luntai County to the east and Taklamakan Desert to the south, is the eastern end of Aksu region. The county is 193 kilometers long from north to south, and 164 km from east to west, with an area of 15,200 square kilometers. Its 755 kilometers from Urumqi, the capital of the autonomous region.zuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

TopographyzuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

The surface of Kuqa County slopes down from northwest to southeast, with the highest elevation around 4550 meters, lowest 922 meters. Can be divided into the northern Tianshan mountain area, alluvial fan-shaped gravel Gobi area and southern alluvial plain area.zuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

ClimatezuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

Kuqa County is located in the warm temperate zone, it has a dry air with hot summer and cold winter, annual temperature difference and daily temperature difference are large. Due to the complex nature of the land, there are obvious regional climate differences.zuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

History zuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

Kuqa is known as “Kizil", with a long history and splendid culture. Kuqa was the largest of the 'Thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions', with a population of 81,317, including 21,076 persons able to bear arms.Historically, it has been a bridge between China and the Eurasian continent. The Chinese and western cultures have been integrated here and have become the birthplace of Kizil culture. The ancient Kuqa is not only the political, economic and Buddhist center of the Western Regions, but also an outstanding representative of music and dance in the Western Regions. As early as the Han and Tang Dynasties, Kuqa was hailed by the West as the "Western Music Capital"zuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

Kuqa was an important Buddhist center from Antiquity until the late Middle Ages. Buddhism was introduced to Kuqa before the end of the 1st century, however it was not until the 4th century that the kingdom became a major center of Buddhism, primarily the Sarvastivada, but eventually also Mahayana Buddhism during the Uighur period. In this respect it differed from Khotan, a Mahayana-dominated kingdom on the southern side of the desert.zuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

According to the Book of Jin, during the third century there were nearly one thousand Buddhist stupas and temples in Kuqa. At this time, Kuqanese monks began to travel to China. The fourth century saw yet further growth for Buddhism within the kingdom. The palace was said to resemble a Buddhist monastery, displaying carved stone Buddhas, and monasteries around the city were numerous.zuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

Now Kuqa has become an important petrochemical base in Xinjiang, a coal, electricity base, tourism base and a central city in the southern part of southern Xinjiang, and has entered the ranks of national-level high-quality cotton base counties, Xinjiang's food base and livestock husbandry base counties.zuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

WeatherzuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours

zuASilk Road Adventure & Private Tours - Silk Road China Tours