Journey to the ancient city of Kucha كۇچار. Remains of the ancient city wall

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The first day

We arrived in Kucha at about one o'clock in the afternoon. The local airport was a somewhat surreal sight: a huge runway in the middle of an endless desert, on the edge of which a small terminal building crouched. And instead of the sun (which was not visible because of the desert dust raised by the wind), the entire district is evenly flooded with a bright milky yellowish light.

We went to the terminal building, got our luggage and went out to the forecourt. I somehow did not like the situation here (already to the levels of intuition) and I immediately rushed to the three taxis standing on the left. The taxi driver asked for twice as much as it was supposed to (instead of 30 - 60), and while my wife was indignant at local customs and urged us not to agree with the huckster, without much conversation I threw our bags into the trunk of the car. Meanwhile, while we were walking to a taxi, sorting out the price and loading our luggage, the station square quickly became empty (everyone meeting with those met instantly dispersed), the airport terminal was closed and only our and another taxi remained on the platform in the middle of the desert (people were busy with loading), Yes, a dozen empty cars with blockers on wheels, which were left by passengers who flew to Urumqi.

The airport in Kuche is called Qiuci (Kuche Qiuci Jichang) and is located about 12 km southwest of the Old City (about 15 km to the New City). The first impression of the “endless desert” surrounding it turned out to be a bit far-fetched: the road going from the airport to the north, after about 3 km, comes to the multi-lane Z640 (aka Tianshan Rd. within the city), along which we safely reached the New City.

Heap was one of three cities in which I did not book hotels in advance, since in both systems (ctrip and elong) only one Lido hotel was available for foreigners, located near the bus station. Therefore, I copied and printed on a piece of paper several names of hotels in the center of Kuchi from the Hong Kong version of the system, one of which was the main city hotel - ‎Kuche Binguan (Chinese 库车宾馆; address: No.17 Jiefang North Road, Kuche Chinese 解放路北17号).

We settled in without problems, the only thing for a long time and, in general, without much success, we bargained for the price of the room (we were thrown off only 20 and it turned out to be 260 per night, which is a little expensive for such a place) and somehow not immediately (after some bickering) received coupons for breakfast.

We sat down, drank tea and had a snack. I went to the reception and asked the girls to find us a driver for trips around the area. Later, in the evening, a young, thick guy appeared in a brand new Kia Sportage. We discussed with him what and how, agreed on routes and prices (not exactly cheap, but tolerable, especially in such places I prefer to take drivers “from the hotel”), after which we went “to the city”.

Since we were not able to buy the necessary railways in Urumqi. We still had tickets for a serious problem: how to get from Kucha to Turfan (which is about 800 km). Therefore, having caught a taxi near the main shopping center, we went to the local bus station (a taxi in Kucha costs 5th - this is the price of landing and the first 2 km, but all distances here basically fit into these 2 km and probably only to the railway. station will be more expensive).

At the bus station, they found out (with the help of sympathetic people, the girl controller with a smartphone translator especially helped) that there are no direct buses to Turpan from Kucha - you have to get to Korla (it's about 300 km to the east), and already there take a bus to Turfan (or to Daheyan - this is the nearest railway station to Turfan). At the same time, no one knew what time the buses from Korla to Turfan / Daheyan leave. Looking ahead, I’ll say that a day later, just in case, we stopped at the railway. station - suddenly something changed with the tickets, but in principle there were no tickets to the east.

The wife refused to visit the local “shopping plaza”, casting a trained glance from the entrance deep into the malls, and an attempt to walk along the main city square with a park and interesting sculptures was unsuccessful: as in Urumqi, everything is completely closed due to the enhanced security regime. Therefore, we photographed the central composition from the gate and recovered further - towards the hotel.

We returned not too late, had dinner at the restaurant at the hotel and went to rest. Tomorrow is a busy day: we go to the Kizil caves, to Subashi and look for the cave temples of Semusaimi.

Brief information about Kucha and its surroundings

A bit of history

The city of Kucha (Uig. Kuqar, Chinese. Kuche) is the administrative center of the county of Kucha (Kuchexian) - the easternmost county of the district (prefecture) of Aksu (Akesu Diqu), whose capital is the city of Aksu (Akesu), located about 300 km south of west of Kucha.

There are some problems with the Latinized name Kucha (see the options given at the beginning), as well as with its “subjectivity”. For example, the elong booking system has hotels in Kuchi as part of Akesu (after the search, it should be noted kuchexian), and ctrip finds hotels immediately by the name Kuqa. The story is the same with tourism resources: most of the local attractions are attributed to Kucha, but some list them as part of Aksu.

In ancient times, Kucha was the capital of the Yuezhi (Tokhars) state, located in the Tarim Basin on the northern branch of the Great Silk Road. The heap is mentioned in the Chinese chronicle "Book of Han" (Han shu) of the beginning of our era. as the largest state among the "Thirty-six Kingdoms of the Western Regions".

Already from the first centuries AD. Kucha became one of the most important Buddhist centers on the Great Silk Road. According to the Chinese dynastic chronicle "The Book of Jin" (Jin shu) in Kucha already in the third century AD. there were about a thousand temples and stupas, and the dominant school here was Sarvastivada. It was in Kucha that the famous Buddhist translator Kumarajiva (334-413) was born, who created a new school of translations from Sanskrit into Chinese.

Here is how the pilgrim monk Xuanzang, who visited her during his trip to India, describes Kucha. in 630:

“The capital is about 17-18 li in circumference (8-9 km). They grow millet, wheat, and rice. They grow grapes and pomegranates. Lots of pears, apples and peaches. Local ores are yellow gold, copper, iron, lead and tin.

The climate is mild, [the inhabitants] are of an honest disposition. The writing is modeled on Indian, but heavily modified. The art of playing musical instruments is much higher than in other countries. Clothes - from the woolen fabric embroidered with patterns. They cut their hair and wear hats. Gold, silver and small copper coins are used for trading. The king comes from Quzhi, is not far off intellect and is under the influence of a senior dignitary. According to the local custom, when children are born, their heads are compressed with boards and flattened.

There are about 100 monasteries, about 1000 monks. They profess the teachings of the "small vehicle", the Sarvastivada school. The teachings of the Sutras and the institutions of the Vinaya are in accordance with the Indian models: those who study them follow exactly the original scripture. Confessing the "gradual teaching", they add to the food "three pure [kinds of meat]." Inclined to purity, committed to learning, and in their zeal they compete with the laity.

From Xuanzang's Notes on the Western Countries [of the Epoch] of the Great Tang, translated by Alexandrova (Samozvantseva) N.V..

During the Tang Dynasty, in 640, the Anxi Viceroyalties were established in Gaochang (Turfan) to manage the territories of the Tarim Basin, the center of which was subsequently transferred to Kucha.

In the Chinese western governorships there was a dual system of government: the Hans living in the garrison cities lived according to imperial laws, and the non-Han peoples were allowed to retain their traditions, their administrative and legal system, while local rulers received an imperial bureaucratic rank and were appointed heads of individual regions.

After the fall of the Tang Dynasty in the 9th century, the region of Kuchi became part of the newly formed Uyghur state of Qocho, which subsequently first became a vassal of the empire of Genghis Khan and the Chinese Yuan dynasty, and in 1390 was conquered and annexed to the Chagatai ulus.

Since ancient times, the oases of Kuchi have been inhabited by a Caucasoid people (Indo-Europeans), whom the Chinese called Yuezhi (in European literature - Tochars). The Tokhars spoke the Western Tocharian language (scientists refer to it as a Western Indo-European language) and had their own script based on the Indian Brahmi script. The Tocharian language existed until the end of the 1st millennium AD. and gradually disappeared to give way to the Turkic languages ​​after the conquest of Kucha by the Uighurs.

Modern Heap

Modern Kucha consists of the Old City (Lao Zhen), located on the site of the historical Kucha (objects 1-7 on the map), and the relatively recently rebuilt New City (Xin Zhen), which houses the county administration and other local institutions (8-14 and further east).

Built up mainly with traditional Uyghur houses, the Old City (1-7) is located on two sides of the Kucha River, while most of it (together with the historical center) is located on the right (western) bank of the river.

Within the city, the river can be crossed by two bridges: the northern (4) and southern (1) (the distance between them is ~1 km). Through the north bridge, skirting the old city, passes Tianshan Rd. (aka Z640 - exit to the national highway G3012).

Near the southern bridge on the western (right) bank of the river is the mosque Rasta Mescit (Rasta Mosque) (2) , and on the left (east) - the building of the main city bazaar (3) (besides this, open shopping arcades stretch along the road for a couple of hundred meters on both sides of the bridge).

From the south bridge to the northwest there is a straight and wide Resitan Rd., which in less than a kilometer goes to the city museum (“Kuche Palace”) (5) . Next to it (slightly to the north) are two other city attractions: the remains of the ancient city wall (6) and Grand Mosque (7) .

To the east from the south bridge is Renmin Rd., which merges into Tianshan Rd after about 2 km from the bottom (from the south). (aka Z640). On the opposite side (and slightly forward) from the junction of these streets is the beginning of the upward (northward) Jiefang Rd. - in fact, the New City begins here. Up and to the right (northeast) from the beginning of Jiefang Rd. there is a quarter measuring approximately 1 x 1 km, in which there is a park and a square with a monument (9) , local district executive committee (10) , banks, shopping centers (11) and so on. (the yellow circle on the map indicates the "main intersection" of the New City).

Approximately one and a half kilometers southeast of the Tianshan Rd. and Jiefang Rd. on the north side of Tianshan Rd. (on the left along the way) is the local bus station (12) (slightly north of it is the old airport, but since 2012 regular flights have not been operated from here), and even further and southeast (about 6.5 km from the mentioned intersection) on Huanghe Rd. there is a local railway. railway station.

Attractions in the city and its environs

There are no particularly interesting objects in the Heap itself.

The main city attractions are considered to be the "Kuche Palace" (5) - the former residence of the ruler of Kucha, reconstructed and converted into a museum, and the Great Mosque located next to it (Grand Mosque, Hanika Mescit) (7) , as well as nearby remnants of the Qing Dynasty city wall (6) .

But in the vicinity of Kucha there are several very significant historical sights and one outstanding landscape object (see the map below).

(1) Buddhist cave complex Kizil(Kizil (Qizil) Thousand Buddha Caves, Kezi'er Qianfodong 克孜尔千佛洞)

It is located about 70 km northwest of the city.

(2) Buddhist caves of Kumtur(Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves, Kumutula Qianfodong 库木吐喇千佛洞)

They are located 30 km west of Kucha on the left (eastern) bank of the Muzart River below the reservoir. The complex consists of 112 numbered caves, which are divided into northern and southern sections.

(3) Buddhist caves and Kizilgah watchtower(Kizilgaha Caves, Kezi'ergaha shiku 克孜尔尕哈石窟; Kizilgaha beacon tower)

It is located 13 km northwest of Kucha.

(4) Ruins of the ancient fortress of Subashi(Subashi ruins, Subashi Fosi yizhi 苏巴什佛寺遗址)

The ruins of the Subashi fortress are located 23 km northeast of Kucha. They consist of two sections located opposite each other on different banks of the Kucha River (the distance between them is about 1 km).

(5) Senmusaimi Buddhist Caves(Senmusaimu (Simusimu, Simsim) Caves, Senmusaimu Qianfo dong 森木塞姆千佛洞)

The Semusaimi cave complex is located 45 km northeast of the city.

(6) grand canyon(Keziliya Grand Canyon; Keziliya daxiagu 克孜利亚大峡谷)

Located in the southern spurs of Tien Shan, about 64 km north of the city (40 km from Subashi) on the G217 road,

On the slope of the canyon (about 1.8 km from the entrance to it, at a height of about 30 m) are the Buddhist caves A'ai (A'ai Cave), discovered in 1999, with well-preserved frescoes from the Tang Dynasty period.

Map-scheme with names and distances:

Second day

Caves Kizil

We had a good breakfast: eggs, steamed mantou buns (mantou 馒头), fruits, etc., and at 9:00 we went to the Buddhist cave complex Kizil.

After leaving the city limits, the road (G217) goes north to a passage in the low Kultag mountain range (Uyg. Qoltagh, Chinese Queletage 却勒塔格山), which separates the Kuchi oasis from a huge semi-desert plain stretching for about 300 km from the west to the east between the foothills of the Tien Shan and the northern slopes of Kultag.

Closer to the foothills, to the right and to the left of the road, there are numerous erosional remnants of various shapes. These are the famous Xinjiang "wind sculptures", which are called "yardangs" and represent loamy ridges with steep slopes stretched along the prevailing winds, sometimes having a rather bizarre shape.

Although the whole area is painted in gray and yellowish tones, the variety of shades of these seemingly discreet colors is striking, and all together (shape and color) create a simply amazing picture.

The term "yardang" (Turk. steep slope, yar) was introduced in 1903 by the Swedish traveler Sven Anders Gedin. Currently, the Xinjiang yardangs are on the UNESCO "waiting list" as a candidate for recognition as a world heritage site.

On all tourist resources there is a description of the three main landscape parks of yardangs, while Kucha is never mentioned among them (judging by the photographs, it is quite deserved, because the scale here is still not the same).

The most famous reserve of the Yardangs (from which their fame actually came) is the Sanlongsha Yardang Formations National Geological Park, located about 185 km northwest of Dunhuang and 85 km from the ruins of Yumen Pass. This formation is about 25 km long and 1-2 km wide and includes a variety of yardangs up to 20 m high, many of which have their own names for their resemblance to various animals, structures and objects.

However, just off the road, you can see a solid stone stele with an inscription in three languages: "Pyramid Natural Landscape (Yadan Landscape)".

Not far from the entrance to a shallow gorge with a river crossing the mountain range at this point, there is a toll gate and a checkpoint. Having paid 20 (by the way, they pay when crossing the toll gate in both directions, we included this amount in hiring a car), we slow down near the checkpoint. At the exit, the documents are not thoroughly checked (you just submit your passports from the window and after a cursory glance, the policeman immediately returns them back).

The northern side of the Kultag is in places composed of reddish sandstone, which contrasts sharply with the yellowish-gray rock of the main ridge and the adjacent plain.

***

Three kilometers after leaving the gorge, we turn west (left) onto S307 and then the road goes through a rather boring pebbly semi-desert. After about 35 km, a little before reaching the oasis of the village of Kizil (Keze'rxiang), we turn at the sign to the south - this is the last 8 km to the Kizil cave complex (it, like many similar structures in China, is often referred to as the "Caves of a Thousand Buddhas in Kizil" (Kezi'er Qianfodong)).

Toward the end, the road climbs a low mountain range, and then descends along a serpentine in two loops into the valley of the Muzart River to the parking lot in front of the cave complex.

We got to Kizil at about 10 o'clock (that is, the journey took about one hour).

In the photo below: the view from the parking lot in front of the complex to the road we came along.

Only an organized group and with a guide are allowed to visit the caves, and only five caves are opened and shown. You can take pictures only from the entrance, and before entering the territory, all photo and video must be handed over to the storage room. The cost of the entrance ticket is 55yu.

In the photo below: view of the cliff with caves from the parking lot.

The whole tour of Kizil (together with photographing the caves from the monument to Kumarajiva) took us about an hour and already about 11 o'clock we moved back.

In the morning the road was practically empty, but on the way back (especially closer to the city) the traffic became more lively.

Just behind the toll gate is a small checkpoint building. Here you need to get out of the car and submit identification documents to the window. The driver's ID-card is read by a scanner, so the whole procedure takes just a couple of minutes with it, but our passports are taken deep into the office to the computers and something is done there for 10-15 minutes.

The check was eventually over, our passports were returned to us, and at about 12:15 we landed at a small market about 150-200 meters north of our hotel. We agreed with the driver that he will arrive at the hotel by 15:00 and we will go to the Simsim (Senmusaimi) caves and Subashi.

We bought a hefty (3 kg) melon at the market, had a bite to eat in the room (we overcame only half of the melon - the rest was left for the evening), rested and at 15:00 went in search of Simisim.

Failure with the Senmusaimi caves and the ruins of the ancient city of Subashi

The Buddhist cave complex Senmusaimi (Simsim) is located in the southern foothills of Kultag to the east of the valley of the Kucha river crossing the mountains (approximately on the same line with Subashi). I didn’t know his exact location and, in general, all the information about Senmusaimi was collected bit by bit from various sources, but the council in the hotel lobby (in the person of the driver, the senior manager and a couple of caring men) after heated debates exactly established what, where and how and why the driver after leaving the city, he turned rather confidently onto a pebbly plain and moved east.

The Semusaimi cave complex was created during the Wei and Tang dynasties and is the largest in the eastern part of Kuchi. There are 54 numbered caves located on the slope of a round hill, which is approximately 700 m in diameter, which are divided into eastern, southern, western, northern and central sections. The style and themes of the drawings are the same as in the Kizil caves, but the numerous images of animals are a feature.

The whole pebbly plain north of Kucha, several kilometers deep and it is not clear how wide, is a gigantic construction site. A 12-year plan is being implemented here to create the Kuche Chemical Industrial Park, which includes refineries and petrochemical enterprises, as well as a textile factory.

The whole territory is dissected by good roads (with interchanges, bridges, conduits, dams, etc.) and brand new power lines, but so far only a new thermal power plant, several substations and stone crushing and concrete plants scattered throughout the territory are visible from the industrial facilities. The work is in full swing and there is no doubt that by 2020 all the plans of the party and the government will be fulfilled (God forbid that according to the highest environmental standards).

Since where the Chinese are, there is order, all objects (and possibly the entire zone of the industrial park) are fenced with endless barbed wire fences with checkpoints. After some wandering along the roads, we bumped into such a checkpoint (a small capital house in which a local watchman lives with his family). No objects were visible beyond the checkpoint, but after long conversations between the driver and the guard, two unpleasant things came to light: 1) travel to the area where the Senmusaimi caves are located is allowed only for locals living there; 2) the situation is exactly the same on the western side, so we most likely will not get into the Kumtura caves either.

In general, I reacted calmly to the exclusion from the route of the Kumtura caves, but the inability to visit Senmusaimi frankly upset (for some reason I really wanted to see them). But there was nothing to do, and we went further - to the ruins of the ancient city of Subashi.

The ruins of Subashi are located 23 km northeast of Kucha. They consist of western and eastern parts, located opposite each other on different banks of the dry channel of the Kucha River (the distance between them is about 1 km). The western part, located right by the road, is well preserved and visited by everyone. In the eastern part, you need to buy a separate ticket and go on foot (on the bridge over the canal, in which the river now flows, and further along the dry pebble bed).

Subashi Fortress was founded in the 1st century AD during the Han expansion to the west, but its main heyday came during the Sui and Tang dynasties (6th-9th centuries). One of the famous historical events associated with Subashi is that the famous pilgrim monk Xuanzang stayed here for two months during his "Journey to the West".

During the internecine strife of the 9th century, Subashi fell into decay: the city was plundered, Buddhist temples and monasteries were destroyed, and Subashi was completely abandoned already in the 12th-13th centuries. after the final Muslimization of the local population.

In the 90s of the last century, during excavations near Subashi, several “Tarim mummies” were discovered, among them the famous “healer from Subashi” (Subashi witch): the mummy of a woman in a high pointed cap, a fur coat and with a bag containing a knife and various herbs.

Left: photo of the mummy "sorceress from Subashi", and on right: reconstruction of its appearance.

The parking lot is located on the opposite side of the road, next to a narrow but full-flowing canal, through which the Kucha River now flows. Here we talked with a young Italian couple who arrived in a city taxi - the first and last independent travelers whom we met during our one and a half month trip to China (we actually saw Europeans only five or six times, not counting of course Chengdu and Beijing).

The ruins themselves look rather ordinary (there are a lot of such historical sites in Xinjiang and Gansu), but against the background of the mountains and in the milky-yellow diffused light, everything looks very cool. Plus, as usual, an incredible number of shades of yellow and gray.

The dimensions of the fortress are quite impressive for a provincial garrison: 680 m long and 170 m wide. All buildings were built of mud brick (adobe, adobe) of various sizes, and the palace and temples, among other things, were covered with plaster and decorated with stucco (stucco).

In Subashi, the most noticeable and impressive are the ruins of two large structures: the Hall of the Western Temple (pictured below - on the right) and the Stupa of the Western Temple (pictured below - far left).

From the ticket office (in the photo below - in the background) looped paths in the form of wooden decks diverge across the territory. Almost immediately to the right (pictured left) are the mighty walls of the Western Temple Hall.

Pictured below is a view inside the Western Temple Hall.

The path goes north along the outer wall of the Western Temple Hall (on the left photo - on the right at the crop of the photo) to the farthest ruins of one of the stupas (on the left photo - far in the center), and then turns east (left) towards the Western Temple Stupa .

On the way to the Stupa of the western temple, they crossed paths with the Italians coming towards them (they walked “correctly” - clockwise) and exploited them for photographing together.

In the photo below: Italians against the background of the wall of the Hall of the Western Temple.

In the photo below: Stupa of the western temple "in the interior".

The path bypasses the Stupa of the western temple from the back and from here you can clearly see the modern steps leading to the top of the stupa (it seems that, contrary to strict Chinese rules, a small Buddhist sanctuary is equipped there).

In ancient times, the stupa was probably a traditional structure of this type: a high platform with a staircase leading up, on which a rounded anda(the body of the stupa), crowned with an "umbrella". Judging by the appearance of the ruins and the period of construction, it was a “Gupta type” stupa (see).

In the right photo below, at the top of the platform, a modern structure with two arched openings is clearly visible.

From the Stupa of the western temple, the path goes straight and down to the ticket office past the pebble mounds, under which the unexcavated ruins of buildings and structures are probably hidden (or maybe excavated and backfilled).

One of the main problems of archaeologists during the excavation and restoration of adobe and similar structures in terms of material is the subsequent conservation of what was excavated and restored. Walls exposed to rain and wind (in ancient times they were coated with protective plaster) after cleaning them from the soil, they collapse very quickly, so excavation and conservation should go more or less synchronously.

Conservation of structures made of sandstone, clay, adobe, etc. it is carried out by their continuous processing from special sprayers with a solution of "liquid glass". Although "liquid glass" (an aqueous solution of sodium or potassium silicates) is a fairly cheap reagent, the gigantic volumes and technical difficulties in performing such work (which are often carried out in a remote desert area, on the cliffs of gorges with cave temples, etc.) lead to the fact that projects for the chemical conservation of such facilities are very expensive.

From the side, the walls of the Hall of the western temple seem even more majestic, especially in comparison with human figures.

We returned to the ticket office, went out to the parking lot and already around 17:15 we were in the city.

We asked the driver to drop us off at the market, where we bought five kebabs, pita bread and tomatoes (we decided to have dinner in the room).

We watched how lavash is prepared.

Apparently, this bakery is popular: pita bread is packed in large colorful boxes and solid uncles come to pick it up in expensive cars.

We had dinner in the room. The lamb shish kebab seemed too fatty to us (fortunately there was something to drink), and the appetizing-looking pita bread was tough and completely insipid. The mood was lifted by melon and tea with honey and a wonderful local tincture.

We decided not to experiment anymore in the future, if possible, we ate bozas, local dumplings and steamed buns with meat filling. And of course, we ate wonderful local watermelons and melons from the heart.

In the evening we didn’t go anywhere – we rested. Tomorrow morning we are going to the Grand Canyon.

Wiktionary has the article "heap" In a figurative sense, a large amount of something. See heap paradox. Contents ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Heap (values). Image of the inhabitants of Kucha on a fresco in Kizil. Kucha (also Kuche and Kuchar) ancient Buddhist sovereign ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Heap (values). Bunch of Uig. Chinese 库车县 Country PRC Status county ... Wikipedia

In ancient times, Gutsy (see Eastern Turkestan) was a district town of Xing Jiang province, by the river Kungei Koksu; surrounded by a high mud wall. The surroundings are well cultivated and covered with gardens. They export coal, copper, iron, ammonia, sulfur, salt, ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Altai (city, China) Altai city 阿勒泰市 Country ChinaChina ... Wikipedia

NEWARK (Newark), a university city in the USA, in the northwest of Delaware (see DELAWARE (state)), a suburb of Wilmington (see WILMINGTON (city in the east of the USA)). Population 30 thousand people (2004). Petrochemical, radio-electronic industry. ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

"Yarkand" redirects here; see also other meanings. Yarkand Urban District يەكەن ناھىيىسى 莎车县 Country China ... Wikipedia

The ancient city of Kucha is one of the most historically significant cities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. When it comes to traveling in XUAR, we definitely visit cities like Kashgar, Turpan or Ghulja. However, there are many other small towns and villages worth visiting.

If you love the history of the Silk Road or love the rich Uyghur culture, these are the places you will enjoy visiting.

So let's go...

# 5 place - Watchtower

Despite its relative obscurity, Kucha has a history dating back a thousand years and used to be considered the largest center of Buddhism and the Silk Road.

There are a number of significant archaeological sites near Kucha including Subash, an ancient city, the Cave of a Thousand Buddhas, and a watchtower.

The tower reaches a height of 13.5 meters and is located 12 km. north of the city, so it's not hard to visit. In ancient times, this tower served to warn the inhabitants of Kucha about the upcoming enemy raid.

# 4th place - Great Mosque in Kucha

The mosque was built in 1559 and is the second largest after the mosque Eid Kah in Kashgar. Over the past few hundred years, it has survived fires, earthquakes and erosion, several times restoration work has been carried out in the mosque.

Thousands of Kuchi Muslims gather here on Fridays to pray. The mosque is located in the city center, for a small fee you can take a tour inside.

# 3rd place - Thousand Buddha Caves

caves of a thousand buddhas are located 67 km to the west of Kucha county. They are the oldest of their kind, as well as the largest remnants of Buddhist culture in Uighuria. This is a real treasure trove of wall art. About 10,000 m 2 of wall paintings are stored in 236 caves.

The capital of the ancient kingdom was also called Kucha. The kingdom stretched from the foot of the southern slope of the Tien Shan mountains in the north to the Takla-Makan desert in the south.

The frescoes and other Buddhist art found in the grottoes represent the rich culture of the once prosperous kingdoms of Kucha.

# 2nd place - Tien Shan "Mysterious" Grand Canyon

Yes, yes, that's what it's called: the Tien Shan "Mysterious" Grand Canyon. There are many different names for this place, such as the Grand Canyon of Xinjiang. But I think they should call it "mysterious". Ha!

If you are a photographer (or a beginner like me =)), www.. Similar to the Antelope Canyons in Arizona (USA), the red sandstone walls in this canyon surround you at every turn.

It is best to walk along the canyon in the afternoon, when the sun gradually goes into sunset. You will reach the canyon from Kuchi in 1.5 hours.

# 1 place - the good old town of Kucha

Like most cities in the southern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Kucha boasts of having an "Old City" and a "New City" at the same time. www.. Kashgar can no longer boast of this, as their "Old City" is already almost completely destroyed.

The ancient city of Kucha, with the exception of a slight facelift, remains largely untouched, making it a pleasure to walk around and enjoy the ancient Uyghur architecture.

In the evenings, I like to go to the markets, enjoy delicious drinks, food and local ice cream. You will need these ingredients to enjoy walking along the streets of this unique oriental town.

Conclusion

Traveling around Kucha will not be to everyone's taste, as getting to the city is not exactly easy, there are few hotels, and the lack of luxury that tourists are looking for.

Kucha is a very beautiful city that has absorbed the ancient culture of the Uighurs. I'm glad I had the chance to visit this city!

Have you been to Kucha before? What is your favorite place?

Journey to the ancient city of Kucha كۇچار – about the crossroads of Buddhism and Islam, the watchtower of the Great Silk Road Kizil Gaha, the Sharia court, and why does the Cave of a Thousand Buddhas have “ears”?

Kucha (Kuchar) (Uyg. كۇچار, Chinese 库车 was mentioned in ancient Chinese as 龟兹) is an oasis in the Aksu district, Xinjiang. Located at an altitude of 1057 m above sea level, at the foot of the Tien Shan.
The ancient city of Kucha was once commercial center of the Great Silk Road. Gold, copper, lead, tin and leather were exported from the city. The Kuchinsky land that has dried up today was once fertile, the city was famous for its abundance of fruits, the monk Xuanzang 玄奘 (602–664) wrote in his notes. The city was also a major center of Buddhism. According to Xuanzang, there were about 100 monasteries and 1,000 monks here. However, only a few monuments of Buddhism have survived to this day: the Cave of a Thousand Buddhas in Kyzyl, the Caves of Kamtura, Kyzylgakh, Senmusaimi, the ruins of Subashi. The Cave of a Thousand Buddhas in Kyzyl is the most valuable and one of the oldest in the history of Buddhism.

After the transition of the Uighurs from Buddhism to Islam, the city of Kucha experienced a rebirth and again became an important point, now of the Muslim world. This is clearly shown by the Kuchar Halqa Jamasi mosque built in the 15th century. AD by black hojas, the second largest after Id Kah.

Kucha was guarded by wide walls, and in the vicinity of the city there were watchtowers. One of these towers, the watchtower of Kizilgakh, has survived to this day and still proudly continues its watch alone.

First Impressions

The train journey from Korla to Kucha takes only 3 hours. It's amazing that these two cities are separated by only three hours, and what a huge difference between them. Kucha is a completely Uyghur city, because it has all the attributes: Uyghur supermarkets and restaurants on every corner, one-story clay houses with artfully decorated doors, beautiful domestic pigeons of rare breeds soar in the sky, an overabundance of police cars and surveillance cameras, and of course the Uyghurs themselves. According to official statistics for 2013, Uyghurs occupy 87.68% of the population of Kuchi, and according to unofficial statistics, probably all 97%. The Han people have their own, separate area (on the map below 8-14) from which they apparently rarely leave, because they are not visible at all in the Uighur regions. Infrequent contact with the Han population explains why many local Uyghurs have little to no knowledge of Chinese.

On some signs, the city is now referred to in Uyghur as كۇچا (Heap) without the R.
Taxi prices here start from 5 yuan, there are already two night surveillance cameras installed, we saw this for the first time, because usually one camera is enough. In the meantime, I had my own GoPro camera attached to my briefcase, and I wanted to relive those moments over and over again by watching the video when I got back from Watan.

Unlike Korla, Kucha is more casual and doesn't try to impress because it already has a reputation among tourists from all over the world. It was nice to meet a lot of foreigners here, because these people cross oceans and thousands of kilometers just to see our historical monuments.

Budget

Food prices are the same as Urumqi. Taxi from 5 yuan. To the Cave of a Thousand Buddhas in Kyzyl about 200-250 yuan, entrance 70 yuan. Ticket to the Grand Canyon 40 yuan. Hotels here are much more expensive than Urumqi or Kashgar, from 300 yuan and more.

Important sights in Kucha

The Uighur part of the city, the most important and interesting part of it, is marked on the map 1-7 . Here are the remains of the ancient city wall, the palace of the ruler of Kuchi, the same mosque Kuqar Halqa Jamasi(Great Mosque) and traditional Uighur houses.

Kuqar Halqa Jamasi Grand Mosque of Kucha

The mosque is located at: 库车县旧城黑墩巴扎, marked on the map with a number 7 .

The mosque was built in the middle of the 15th century. AD by black hodjas on the orders of Isaac Abduvali. This is the only mosque in all of Watana that still has a building Sharia court. The area of ​​the mosque is 1165 m², the capacity is more than 3000 people. In 1931 part of the mosque burned down. Local respected aristocrat Alim Haji restored the burnt part at his own expense. In 1934 the construction was completed. Inside the mosque one can admire the high level of art of Uyghur calligraphy as well as woodcarving. Since 1976, it has been under protection as an important historical site, so it is not possible to enter the mosque everywhere. However, the Uighurs still pray here.

Palace of Khans Kuqarhan Ordisi

Located at: 库车县林基路街, marked with a number on the map 5 .

Click on images to enlarge them

The real palace was destroyed, in 2014 a new palace was built in its place. The entrance fee is 55 yuan and this is a real robbery for this place. Indeed, in the new palace there is nothing interesting or historically valuable, it is just a hotbed of propaganda. True, the last Bek Kuchi, Davut Mahsut, nevertheless had a chance to live here for the last 10 years of his life.

Remains of the ancient city wall

A wide clay wall 7 meters high was built around the 5th-6th century AD. Marked with a number on the map 6 , located near the main mosque and the palace.

Bazaar

If time permits, it is worth taking a walk through the bazaar. Here Uyghurs sell atlas, traditional medicines of Uyghur medicine, household utensils, etc. Marked under the number on the map 3 .

Walking along the sultry Kucha, we stumbled upon a beautiful building with Uighur restaurants. It was cozy and cool inside, friendly Kizchaq treated us to fresh juice. You can't wish for better for exhausted wanderers like us. On the map, this place is somewhere between the point 2 and 7.

However, all the most interesting is waiting for you outside the city.

Kizil Qargha Tower

This tower, 13.5 meters high, is located just 12 km north of the city (figure 3 on the map), so it is easy to visit. The tower was built in the early period of the Great Silk Road, once it guarded the inhabitants of the city, warning of an impending enemy raid. This one of the oldest towers of the Great Silk Road that has survived to this day. Now it stands here watching the course of our history, we switched to a new religion, the authorities changed and a new political system came, and the tower continues to stand here, reminding us of the connection of times, the experience of history and respect for it.

Not far from the tower are the Kizil Qargha caves. There are about 47 temples there, images are preserved only in 10 of them. Unfortunately this cave is closed to tourists.

Next stop Thousand Buddha Cave…..

On the way there, we discovered an amazing picture of "wind sculptures", which are called "yardangs"(Uig. steep slope) and are loamy ridges elongated along the prevailing winds with steep slopes, having a rather bizarre shape. Interestingly, there are Yardangs on Mars as well.

Vatan yardangs are currently on the "waiting list" UNESCO, as a candidate for recognition as a World Heritage Site
Although the whole area is painted in yellowish tones, the variety of shades of these seemingly discreet colors is striking, sometimes there are shades of red here and all together (shape and color) create a simply amazing picture.

Cave of a Thousand Buddhas in Kyzyl

The mood was pretty spoiled by the checkpoint station (checkpoint), which stands on the road to Kyzyl. But I will write about this later in the chapter “Political situation”.

Kyzyl is located 70 kilometers from the city (figure 1 on the map), on average it takes about an hour. The scale of the cave is truly amazing, its length is about 2 kilometers, so all its temples simply do not fit into the camera lens. At the foot of the cave sits thoughtfully Kumarajiva (344-413 AD), a Buddhist monk, scholar and translator.


You can take pictures with a professional camera only at his monument, in front of the stairs leading to the caves, you need to hand over the cameras. This is due to the negative effect of the flash on the sensitive paint layer of the frescoes.

The sight of the frescoes took our breath away, seeing them in photographs and live is a completely different experience! We were amazed by the fine art of painting, the color scheme and the presence of fresco details, because it was all painted 1200-1700 years ago. Unfortunately, tourists are shown only 5-6 temples of the earliest period, when the frescoes were still painted in blue. Every temple has night surveillance cameras.
Everything takes place with the obligatory accompaniment of the workers of the Caves, who are mostly Uyghurs.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

However, the most interesting temples are located on the other side of the Cave, they are built in a later period and belong to the era of strong Uyghur influence, so they are painted in red tones. Various studies write that there is a huge hall with the remains of clay sculptures of Buddhas.

When I heard that they would only let us into five temples and hide all the most interesting things from us, I began to resent that they wanted to hide the Uighur history. Suddenly, one of the workers carefully took me out of the temple and said in a whisper that the cameras installed in the temples were also recording conversations. This is done to carefully monitor what the guide says and what the tourists say to him. Even the Cave of a Thousand Buddhas in such a remote place also “has ears”. Eh .... and here we can not hide from politics.

About propaganda, Islamic and communist destruction of temples

The guide specifically tells and points to the Buddhas whose faces were allegedly scratched by the Uighurs after the adoption of Islam. Although there are indeed several such Buddhas here, it is surprising why the same faces of other Buddhas next to them are not touched? The “Islamists” turned out to be very inconsistent ... But if this was nevertheless done by the Islamists, then this is a clear example of what blind fanaticism leads to, and not only religious fanaticism, because the Red Army also destroyed churches.
When I asked about the destruction of the frescoes by the Red Army, the guide glanced nervously at the security cameras.

Then tourists are shown a whole separate temple, destroyed and converted into a personal temple of a Chinese Korean 韩乐然 (HAn Le ran) (1898-1947) who allegedly was engaged in the restoration of the Cave after the raids of foreign archaeologists, who took sculptures and frescoes with them. On the walls, which once had buddhas, are now written in crooked white characters about the destruction of the cave by foreigners and about its restoration. In general, comrade 韩乐然 wanted to save the caves so much that he decided to write about it on the site of the ancient buddhas.

The entire tour took about an hour. My fitness tracker showed 26 floors and 12,000 steps, although I didn't even notice that the cave was that high.

Buddhist Caves of Kumtura

Name in Chinese 库木吐喇千佛洞, indicated by a number on the map 2 . Located on the banks of the river Muzet. The cave was built in the 6th century and existed and was completed until the 11th century. There were more than 112 temples in the cave, 80 were preserved, only 10 were well preserved. This cave is considered an important monument of Uighur culture, the red frescoes depict not only Buddhas but also fragments of Uyghur fairy tales, stories and dances. Uyghur writing is present on the frescoes themselves, and many Uyghur manuscripts were also found in the temples. Fragments of frescoes were taken out by the Japanese explorer Kozui Otani, the Soviet orientalist Oldenburg and the German archaeologist Albert von Lecoq.
Since 1961 it has been an object protected by the state. Since 1999, under the auspices of UNESCO. In 2012, the government allocated 16 million yuan ($2,367,564) for restoration.
The cave is closed to tourists.

Click on images to enlarge them

The ancient city of Subash or the ruins of an ancient fortress

In Chinese, it is called 苏巴什佛寺遗址. It is marked on the map under the number 4 .
It was here that in 1990 several “Tarim mummies” were found, among them the famous “sorceress from Subashi” (Subashi witch): the mummy of a woman in a high pointed cap, a fur coat and a bag containing a knife and various herbs. As well as the Buddhist sharira - VI - VII centuries.
There were Buddhist monasteries in which the monks lived and meditated. The city was founded in the 1st century, the period from the 6th to the 9th centuries was its heyday, and the 11th-12th centuries were its decline. Subsequently, the city was completely abandoned.

Thousand Buddha Cave Senmusaimu

Marked on the map under the number 5 . In Chinese it is called 森木塞姆千佛洞.
It was built in the 4th century and was used until the 10th century. Only 57 dilapidated temples have survived. It is very difficult to get there, the road is often blocked and taxi drivers also do not know how to get there.

Grand Canyon Kiziliya

If you dream of visiting the Grand Canyon in the USA, then Kuchinsky Canyon will be of great interest to you. It is in no way inferior to Canyon in the states. The length of the Grand Canyon is approximately 3.7 km. The maximum depth is about 100 m, the width is from 0.5 to 50 m. The average height of the area above sea level is about 1600 m, the highest point is 2048 m.

The view of bright red-brown rocks, decorated with exquisite carvings, pleases the eye of everyone who has been here.

Political situation, 2017

Everything changed here with the arrival of the dispathic Chen Quanguo in 2016, as secretary of the XUAR Communist Party. Chen Quanguo was formerly the secretary of Tibet and gained a bad reputation for his love of checking and controlling.

And here, on Vatan, he went along the Tibetan path.

On the way to Kyzyl, a large checkpoint station (checkpoint) was waiting for us. The scale of the point resembles a border point of some Central Asian country - it feels like you are going to another country, not a city. Cars are passed through an x-ray car scanner that checks for explosives.

All passengers are required to get out of the car and undergo a security check. Foreigners are taken to a separate window, where their passports are scanned and asked about the purpose of the trip. Tourists who travel with travel agencies are easily missed. There are many questions only for single tourists or tourists from Muslim countries and “stans” of Central Asia. Police checkpoints are surprisingly mostly Uighurs.

Chinese citizens who pass through the checkpoint will have to go through a whole separate process. They take a sample of their voice, eyes, check their phones for the presence of Islamic extremism with the help of a special apparatus. In general, a full bouquet, it remains only to pass medical tests ...
Kashgarians, Khotanese are not allowed through and sent back to Kucha. In front of my eyes, a whole dozen Kashgar dehkans were sent back.

My professional camera was being checked for photos of police convoys when the cop's eye lingered on my GoPro camera, which had completely slipped my mind. In short, it was taken away from me, explaining it as a “law”. I asked what kind of law and is it on paper? When I suddenly noticed the surprised faces of the Uyghurs standing in line and the furious look of an impudent policeman. Is it really such a cheeky question to ask about the law and ask for it to be presented on paper? In developed countries, which China is so eager to join, this is the usual norm and is not surprising.

The policeman replied that his words were the law. “So the law here is created by the one who holds the gun in his hands,” I thought ...

Conclusion: Cameras like GoPro are a must, but it's best to hide them, don't pass them through the scan, and don't show them to the police.