While the Silk roads are of very important cultural significant I find the areas included not always of high value. Most people will auto-tick this with a visit of Xi'an, a magnificent city and well worth a 3 day trip, or some WHS enthusiasts will tick this off by going to Luoyang to visit the grottoes. While I've also done both there are many reviews about them already and as it's been over 4 years since the last review I thought I can focus on a less visited part of the Chinese section.

A visit to Turpan, Xinjiang (well, if you want to call it China is debatable but I'm not political) gives you several highlights of the area to fill a good 3 day trip. There are the Karez Wells, the hot 70 degree Celcius desert, Grape Valley, and there is a the silk road. There are two spots actually, but only Yar City is an easy reach by taxi without leaving the city limits. There are no police checks but there is no public bus, and taxi apps aren't used until further notice. It's best to get contacts from a driver who either waits or you can ask the reception or security guards to call you a taxi. Sometimes they will also show up randomly.

The entrance cost is typically steep for China's sites and you don't even get a proper museum. There are a few halls about the history and then you need to take a bus to the actual town - and of course you also need to take the bus to the actual site although I don't remember if it's included in the ticket or extra like most Chinese sites. I also don't remember it is possible to walk instead but trust me, you don't want to do that! The road is very narrow and the temperatures can be soaring hot. Usually visiting Xinjiang is only good in summer and this spot gets extra hot. In fact, everyone will recommend you only visit this early, early mornings because when I left at lunchtime it was already brutal, baking hot. When you get to the site you can start ascending the ramp to the ancient city remains.

The town was built on a plateau, not as extreme as Sigiriya. The river surrounded the rock like a natural moat and the walls were steep enough for a natural wall, a bit like Butrint in Albania. It's quite smart to pick the location but just like Butrint over time the importance of such a position wasn't necessary anymore and the town became abandoned. When you reach the top of the ramp which apparently had two gates, you enter the town proper. As I mentioned before, some sites on the Silk Roads are a great visit, some are not. It's pretty run down and the sand-brick buildings are either gone, only walls remain, or they look like caves now. I mean, they were basically cave houses but it doesn't look like anything was standing at the places signs sometimes. At the end of the rock are a couple of larger structures that are more picturesque, a huge temple and some taller structures, possible also temples. I have to excuse myself for caring less at that time because the lack of shade and constantly gulping on the water bottle to keep hydrated made me care less and less as the visit went on. It also made me think if living up here is really smart after all but I suppose being inside the buildings with Netflix and a Sony PS5 then you'd...wait, they didn't have those back then?

While I recommend the Silk Road I can't recommend Yar City as great location to see the importance of the Silk Road, but rather that it's an old town that used to exist and the road passed through. At least they didn't rebuild the site like Jiayu Pass for the Great Wall.