Mysterious Tuyuk Valley,Turpan,Xinjiang,china

Micheal MirAlim · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 4

Tuyuq is called TuYuGou in chinese language,it is a peaceful, ancient village is situated 70 kilometres east of Turpan in a lush gully carved into the Flaming Mountains. It is surrounded by vineyards and famous for its oval-shaped seedless grapes, the raisins of which are not only well known in Xinjiang but also in Beijing. Albert von Le Coq discovered the ruins of Buddhist cave temples here in 1905, 'clinging like a swallow's nest to the almost perpendicular slope of the mountainside'. These caves are thought to be the oldest in the Turpan area and date from the fourth century. Part of the monastery perched atop one of the cliffs fell into the gorge in 1916 during an earthquake. The famous Uighur legend of Tuyoq concerns six pious Muslims who sought refuge in the caves. According to the myth, when an imposter tried to pose as Allah these" six men, who were determined to test the power of this supposed deity, witnessed his fear upon meeting a black cat on the way to the mosque and knew immediately that he could not be their true god. The denounced Allah tried to kill the faithful Muslims but they fled to the caves of Tuyoq and a spider spun a web in the doorway to conceal the cave while two pigeons stood guard. Because of the extreme piety of the six men, a trip to the mosque in Tuyoq is considered 'half as sacred' as the pilgrimage to Mecca, and is rewarded with the title of “half a haji”.onfortunately enough that non muslim people may not visit this cave since it is regarded religious, holy place by the local muslim people so they don’t want other Nonmuslim people take it as “Museum”.
Tuyoq is a beautiful, timeless village with a friendly Uighur community. The mosque is on the road cutting between the lush vineyards up to the cemetery, behind which runs the gorge and the caves; its dome is visible behind the green valley and mud-brick houses. The caves are located one kilometre upriver in the gulley. Over 40 have been carved into the soft dirt and rock surrounding the gully, amidst verdant vineyards and the rugged backdrop of the Flaming Mountains. Only three of them now opened for visitors which kind of well preserved campared with others, caves contain traces of frescoes.after visiting the cavces leisurely stroll around the village is enjoyebale. Although there are no lodgings,formal resturants but you are invited by the hospitable local people to have a cup of tea or piece of bread or visit their houses.
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