The Hometown of Silk and Jade

Hetian, named Yutian in ancient times, means a place, which produces jade and stone in Tibetan language. It was a strategically important place among the south way of Silk Road. Hetian city, which we still can see nowadays, had come into being since the Ming (1368—1644) and Qing (1616—1911) dynasties. In early Qing Dynasty, Yutian was changed to Hetian that pronounces the same as today's. In 1983, the government was established in Hetian, which became the center of Hetian area.

Hetian area is divided into one city and 7 counties. It occupies an area of 24.55 square kilometers and has a population of 1,553,700, which nearly 96.9% of them are Uygur people. Being bounded on the south by Kunlun Mountains, the physical features of Hetian area is high on the relief map in the south but low in the north. Starting from Kunlun Mountains, Yu Longkashi River and Ka Lakashi River meet and gather into Hetian River in the deep desert, which flows to Ta Limu River in a northern direction. Hetian River is a shortcut to pass through Ta Kelamagan Desert from south to north, and it is also an ideal route for tour exploration in desert. There are also Ka Liya River, NiZui River and Ya Tongguzi River, etc., flowing northern to desert.

A distinctive temperate continental desert climate dominates most area of Hetian. It is not too cold in winter and too hot in summer. The annual precipitation of the area is thin and it prevails southwest wind with the strongest speed of 26 meters per second. With too much dust and sand, Hetian is seriously eroded area by the sand. It is also the area, which gives the earliest sign of spring in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. During March and April, spring is in the air here, blooming with peach and apricot flowers.

In 1st century B.C., Buddhism was introduced to Yutian. This is the earliest record about Buddhism in China. Till 11th century AD, Hetian came to the world of Islamism after Islamism was brought in by the force.

During the reign of Han Dynasty, Yutian was the closest vassal state in Tibet. After the dynasties of the Wei, the Jin (220—581), the scope of Yutian had developed almost the same as nowadays. Pisha government was set up in Yutian in Tang dynasty. Since then Yutian had been an important place on the way of Silk Road, which was Four Towns of An’xi area together with Shule, Qiuci, Yanqi. Hetian has been famous of great production of crops and fruits since ancient time and also well known of jade, silk and carpet, which is the famous hometown of jade, silk, carpet and fruit. Rich in natural recourses such as gold and jade, etc. and suitable for farm and pasture, it is really a fertile land.

More than 1,000 years ago, Yutian’s music became all the fashion in China and made Chinese people intoxicated and stupefied. Music and dance of Hetian still have the unique artistic charm till now.

The transportation in Hetian mainly depends on civil aviation and high way. It opened up airlines to Urumqi and Aksu and long-distance bus to Urumqi, Kashi and Yecheng city.

Written by www.travel-silkroad.com
Translated by Beijing Star-light Translation Center
September 12, 2002