Shanshan County

Shanshan, Xianjiang province, China

Standing in the desert of Shanshan, which is next to the hottest town in China whose name is As hot as fire.

Even here there are irrigation ditches bringing the snow melt down from the mountains to a patch of land which contains all the raisin and sultana crop.
But where I am standing..... is just desert.

Live: Extreme heat activities in the desert 游客在新疆沙漠体验“火热”

Many tourists are now fascinated in seeking extreme heat activities in the northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region , as the temperatures stay high in July. Many tourists and locals bury their bodies in the sand for “sand therapy” in the Kumutage desert in the Shanshan County of Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which is a tradition of the locals and has attracted many tourists in recent years. CGTN takes you there to soak in the unique environment.

Breathtaking mirage in the deserts of Xinjiang, China

The breathtaking mirage of a lake surface appeared on Sunday in the vast desert of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. A rippling lake with rolling waves on the surface appeared in the barren desert on the rim of the Flaming Mountains in Shanshan county. Many tourists ascended to a viewing platform to appreciate the stunning scene.

Subscribe to us on YouTube:

Watch CGTN Live:

Download our APP on Apple Store (iOS):

Download our APP on Google Play (Android):

Follow us on:

Facebook:
Instagram:
Twitter:
Pinterest:
Tumblr:
Weibo:

Walking through China - October 10th 2008: Shanshan Desert Fun

a piece of it

Time Lapse: Paleontological Excavation of a Jurassic Turtle Mass Deposit

Sino-German Paleontological Expedition
Shanshan County, Turpan Basin, NW China
Late Jurassic Qigu Formation
Mesa Chelonia Site
First Test of Diamond Chain Rock Saw on Turtle Bonebed
October 12, 2011

The scientific description of this site has recently been published:
DOI: 10.1007/s00114-012-0974-5

One second of video correlates to approximately 30 seconds in real-time - the whole clip was 157 min in real-time. The time-lapse video has been created with GoPro Hero photos arranged with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and LRTimelapse.

Villagers in Xinjiang's Desert Town Reluctant to Move Despite Harsh Living Conditions

A state program to resettle residents from impoverished villages adjacent to northwest China’s Taklamakan Desert to nearby cities has become a hard choice for some of those who are reluctant in changing their habitual way of life.

45 year-old Zibidehan Subi is a Uygur housewife living in Darya Boyi, a lonely, sparsely populated oasis located deep in the Taklamakan Desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The village is home to 300 families, all are ethnic Uyghurs.

Subi has been living in a wooden house since she got married at 15. She says the biggest change in the village is the number of vehicles.

We enjoy living a nomadic life. But the children are elsewhere, so we need to go to see them. Otherwise, we don't have to leave the village, said Subi.

Ali Abdulla, her youngest son, goes to school in the Yutian county seat, some 250 kilometers away.

Gathering tree roots for cooking fuel is an traditional survival skill, as Darya Boyi is cut off from the outside world, and modern conveniences.

However, the old ways of living are changing among local youngsters. Ali says one question has always been in his mind, when can he leave the desert?

I want to take good care of my parents when I get a good job in the future,” said Ali Abdulla.

Villagers have survived in the Taklamakan for 400 years. However, the drying up of the Keriya River, and the encroaching sands have resulted in 50 families moving to the government-built resettlement houses on the outskirts of Yutian County.

Another 100 low-income families, including Zibidehan’s family, are expected to join them by 2018.

For her husband Abdulla Qasimu, living in a desert is neither bad nor good.

I have no skills other than herding. If I'm being relocated out of here, I can hardly make a living,” said Qasimu.

With inadequate water supplies, farming is not an option for Darya Boyi villagers. Many residents, especially the youngsters, say that relocation would be the easiest and quickest way to end their struggle in poverty.

Old villagers like Zibidehan say they want to stay in Darya Boyi and remain their habitual way of life.

We would love to live an easy life till we die. Conditions are harsh, but that’s the life of nomads. Allah made me a herdswoman; that’s my life. It just like the five fingers cannot be the same; life is what you make of it,” said Zibidehan. More on:

Subscribe us on Youtube:
CCTV+ official website:
LinkedIn:
Facebook:
Twitter:

Grape Harvesting Begins in Xinjiang

Grape harvest season began Wednesday in Shanshan county, a major grape production center in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region after days of scorching weather.
More on:

Welcome to subscribe us on:
Facebook:
Twitter:
LinkedIn:
Instagram:

Video on Demand: cctvplus.com
If you are in demand of this video footage, please contact with our business development team via email: service@cctvplus.com

Time lapse: How to move a 120 kg power unit up a dusty desert hill for a paleontological excavation

Sino-German Paleontological Expedition
Shanshan County, Turpan Basin, NW China
Late Jurassic Qigu Formation
Preparations for the Excavation of a turtle bonebed
October 12, 2011

One second of video correlates to 15 seconds in real-time. The time-lapse video has been created with GoPro Hero photos arranged with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and LRTimelapse.

Kashgar Travel, The Xinjiang Autonomous Region

Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis county-level city with 3,979,921 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 819,095 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of Kashgar District and Shule County now linked by urbanization. The city itself was home to 506,640 inhabitants. It's located in the western extremity of the People's Republic of China, near the border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region which has an area of 162,000 square kilometres (63,000 sq mi). The city's urban area extends for 555 km2 (214 sq mi).

Sandstorm in Kumtag Desert near Shanshan (Xinjiang, China) during our dinosaur dig field season 2012

This is active sedimentology at work :-)
One of the strongest desert sandstorms I have experienced so far.
Hint: I cannot advise to use a camcorder under such weather conditions - even today there are often grains of sand blocking the lens lock...

Footage: Towering wall of sand engulfs part of Xinjiang

A devastating sand storm swept across Shanshan county, near Turpan in the east of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on Saturday, engulfing the area in yellow sand and cutting visibility to less than 100 meters. Video clips recorded by local residents show walls of sand several hundred meters high sweeping across the region.

Subscribe to us on Youtube:

Download for IOS:

Download for Android:

Follow us on:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Google+:
Tumblr:
Weibo:

Urumqi Besieged by Armed CCP Troops

Follow us on TWITTER:
Like us on FACEBOOK:

Within the space of three days, two social
conflicts have taken place in Xinjiang.
Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) Standing Committee, has traveled to
Xinjiang to support a crackdown with high-pressure.
Meanwhile, thousands of armed police with tanks
and military trucks have appeared in Xinjiang.
Questions remain over whether the Chinese
Communist Party's tough position in Xinjiang will
help relieve tensions with the Uyghur community.

On June 26, an attack took place in Lianmuqin Town,
Shanshan County, Turpan, Xinjiang Province.
State-run Xinhua News Agency claimed that 35 people died.

2 days later, a bomb explosion took place
in the Hetian area in Southern Xinjiang.
The number of casualties is unknown.

On the morning of June 29, Yu Zhengsheng, a member
of the Standing Committee, and Chairman of the National
Political Consultative Conference, arrived in Urumqi.
Other members of Yu's party included Meng Jianzhu,
Sectary of CCP Politics and Law Committee,
and Guo Shengkun, Minister of Public Security.

After the officials arrived, they held a
conference with local government officials.

Yu Zhengsheng claimed that the strategy of a crackdown
and use of high-pressure, should continue to be adopted.
This is to maintain a stable society in Xinjiang.

Meanwhile, after a couple of days' of silence,

media in China have started communicating
the CCP's tough attitude towards Xinjiang.
Even if it's hard to know the details of the event from
state-run media, people can easily feel the tension in
Xinjiang from the threatening words used within reports.

Xia Ming, Politics Professor from New York City
University, stated that the CCP has never
stopped its systematic control over mosques.
The Uyghur ethnic group is Islamic,
while the CCP preaches atheism.
The conflict between them has always been present.
Violent crackdowns can never help relieve the tension.

Xia Ming: The way the CCP deals with Islam is
similar to the way it deals with Tibetan Buddhism.
They try all means to force people away from their religion.

The CCP even claims that all religious activities are illegal,
including preaching, and activities held in mosques.
The Koran is listed as a forbidden book, and Muslims
are at risk if they teach their child the Koran at home.

Hong Kong's Ming Pao reported that numerous trucks
with armed troops were sent to Renmin Square, Urumqi.
The troops all wear helmets, and are holding guns.

Some of the roads in the city were blocked, with the centre
of Urumqi, and government buildings, closely guarded.
This level of activity is rare.

Commentator Lin Zixu: Discontent exists all over China.

In recent years, struggles for human
rights have taken place one after another.
Nevertheless, what the CCP fears most is that those
activities are systematically organized to turn against it.
What has occurred in Xinjiang over this
last couple of days has frightened the CCP.

As reported by Radio France International
(RFI), terrorism is against the law.
However, without being investigated by independent media,

and without knowing more details, the CCP is evading
serious matters by defining the Xinjiang events as terrorism.

Alim Seytoff, Director of The U.S. Uyghur Congress,

stated that from recent events in Xinjiang, people can see
the disastrous effects caused by the CCP's ethnic policies.
Now the CCP is trying to save face.

Li Zixu: After the conflicts took place, the
CCP immediately defined it as terrorist attack.
Anyone or any group that is against the CCP
dictatorship has always been labeled as evil.
This includes labels such as anti-China forces, hostile
forces, terrorists, Tibet-split forces, Taiwan-split forces,
Xinjiang-split forces or Mongolia-split forces, etc,

In recent years, many conflicts that took place in Xinjiang
have been defined as terrorist attack by the CCP.
The most severe one was the July Fifth event in
2009, which caused the deaths of about 200 people.

RFI stated the harmonious co-existence of different
ethnicities is fundamental to the stability of nature.
However, this harmony can never be realized under the
CCP racial crackdowns and racial discrimination policies.



《神韵》2013世界巡演新亮点

Chinese Stilt Walker Succeeds in High Wire Challenge

A Chinese stilt walker successfully completed a challenging walk on a 50-meter-long steel wire suspended 10 meters above ground in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Friday.

Thousands of people came to Shanshan, a county in the Xinjiang city of Turpan, to watch Saimaiti Yimin's show, which combines traditional Uygur high-wire walking, known as dawaz, and stilt walking.

Wearing 52-cm-high stilts, Yimin completed the high-wire walk in 10 minutes and 36 seconds, hoping to set his fourth Guinness World Record.

Through this challenge, I celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, show people the good and positive aspects of Xinjiang, and promote the tradition of stilt walking and dawaz culture, he said.

Yimin set his first Guinness World Record in 2003, when he completed a 79.7 km stilt walk in 24 hours, from the Shanshan County to Urumqi wearing 80-cm-high stilts.

His second Guinness World Record was set in 2005, after he took 49 steps on 16.14-meter-high stilts.

Yimin set a new record just one year later when he completed 27 steps on 16.41-meter-high stilts.

A certificate issued by local authorities to confirm this latest challenge will be sent to Guinness World Records headquarters in the UK for further verification, according to Yimin's assistant. More on:

Subscribe us on Youtube:
CCTV+ official website:
LinkedIn:
Facebook:
Twitter:

Time-Lapse of Dinosaur Skull Excavation, China, October 2011

Sino-German Paleontological Expedition
Shanshan County, Turpan Basin, NW China
Late Jurassic Qigu Formation
Mamenchisaurid Skull Site
Removal of jaw fragments floating on weathered surface of the hill side
October 8, 2011

Time-lapse Xinjiang/China

Traveling the Silk Road 4

Traveling around Turpan, Flaming mountain, Tuyoq village, Shanshan, Kumtag desert and Bezeklik thousand Buddha caves.

Voyage au Xinjiang

Un voyage au Xinjiang, étonnante province de l'ouest de la Chine, à la culture moyen-orientale.
Photos : Pascale Goswami
Musique:Shiranjan (Uyghour folk misic by guitar)
Ancient Uyghour dance

Time lapse: Fossil turtle shell excavated by three turtle researchers

Sino-German Paleontological Expedition
Shanshan County, Turpan Basin, NW China
Late Jurassic Qigu Formation
Excavation of an articulated turtle specimen
October 9, 2011

Three seconds of video correlate to one hour of excavation.