Grape Valley
The Grape Valley with beautiful and elegant scenery is widely known for its vast area of grape vineyards and as a river valley inside the mysterious Fire Mountain. It is eight Kilometers in length north to south and two Kilometers east to west in width. The Buyiluke River (also known as the Grape Valley River) flows through it. The vale of the grape valley is narrow and long surrounded by flowing streams and green trees and grass.
On the two banks of the vale stands cliffs and piled up stones and on the hillside by the river of the vale are planted the most delicious grapes in the world. The whole grape valley is just like a sweet river that makes people feel especially sweet and happy because of its greenness and delicious grapes. When you look at it, you feel happy because of the sweet greenness, and when you think of it, you are so attracted by the sweetness of the grapes.
Nearly one hundred different varieties of grapes are grown in the valley including the seedless white grape, horse milk grape, white grape, red rose grape and Suosuo and so on, forming a natural museum of grapes. The vineyards of the valley cover an area of about 4266 acres and the annual production is about 14932 tons from which about 400 tons of raisins are produced. The Uighur people call the grape valley "Buyiluke" meaning a place with a lot of high-quality grapes.
In addition to the plantation of grapevines, peach trees, apricot trees, pear trees, guava trees, and mulberry trees are also planted in the grape valley when all the orchards are in full bloom the visitors are overwhelmed and find themselves in a fairyland of perfumed blossoms and colors. And the Uighur people, Hui people and Han people who live in the grape valley live a life representing the simple folk customs and telling of an ancient and rich culture.
The grape valley is a magical creation of the Flame Mountain of the forward exceeding belt on the south slope of Bogda on the eastern part of Tianshan Mountain during the creation of the Himalaya Mountains. The breaking up of Flame Mountain and the lasting erosion of the river leads to the formation of today’s Grape Valley. On Flame Mountain it was extremely hot and there was no life at all while inside the Grape Valley it is comfortably cool with an average temperature three to five degrees lower than that in the city in summer and is the cool kingdom in the fire state of Turpan thanks to the slow-flowing streams and shade formed by the green trees.
After traveling slowly for about one kilometer along the Grape Valley, you will arrive at the first appreciation zone of the Grape Valley Scenic Spot: Fruit Trees and Plants Appreciation Zone. The appreciation zone has an area of 255 mu and is a large-scale tourist sightseeing zone integrating drinking and dining, accommodation, folk singing and dancing appreciation, fruit trees and plants appreciation and fruit picking and tasting.
When you arrive at the sightseeing zone, you see No.1 Castle in the West Region with a height of 15 meters and a width of 18 meters. It has a refined conception and unique sculptors with the outside appearance carved with Uighur flowery bricks and a building with a gate with the symbols of a grape air drying room and mosque.
After you enter the sightseeing zone, you will be treated to folk singing and dancing, locally flavored snacks, folk weddings and folk craftwork exhibitions all portraying the simple flavor and customs of the Uighur people. In the sightseeing zone you can see various fruit trees including the peach trees, the apricot trees, the pear trees, the guava trees, the fig trees, the mulberry trees, and so on.
If you travel along the Grape Valley road for another five kilometers, you will arrive at the second sightseeing zone of the grape tourist zone: the Grape Valley Amusement Park. It is an appreciation zone of the culture of the grapes and the culture of the present day. After you enter Grape Valley Amusement Park, you will find buildings with all kinds of different styles hidden among the green woods and the ocean of grapes.
Located in the cavern of the Grape Valley, the Grape Valley Amusement Park was first built in March of 1981 and has developed into a national AAAA natural scenic spot with the combination of tourism, shopping, entertainment, drinking and dining, and accommodation after twenty years of development. Here you can visit the Uighur Folk Custom Museum and the quiet and deep grape-long corridor, and appreciate the beautiful singing and elegant dancing and the mysterious fall of the Thousand Tear Spring.
Furthermore, you can eat in the folk-flavored cafeterias of totally different styles and feast your eyes on the pearl and agate-like grapes as well as the hundred-year-old mulberry trees. The Grape Valley Amusement Park has been attracting the attention of the Party and the leaders of the country and you can still see the shadow of the former state leaders here. In March of 1988, Pengzhen, the chairman of the Committee, wrote the three Chinese characters of the grape channel which has become the symbol of the Grape Valley Amusement Park.
Location
It's located in the canyon of the Flame Mountain in Turpan, 13 kilometers away from the urban area.
Ticket Price: CNY 60
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 21:00