Ancient City of Gao Chang


The Ancient City of Gaochang lies at the foot of the Flaming Mountain 40 kilometers southeast of the
Turpan County seat, which has been a must passageway for communication between the East and West
since the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, and an important section of the ancient Silk Road.

The foundation of the Gaochang Ancient City was laid in the first century B.C. which was called Gaochang
Wall and then renamed as the Gaochang King Capital in the sixth century. The total area of this city is
about two million square meters.

Ascending a height to enjoy a distant view, one can see the whole city in a plane shape of an irregular
square, which is divided, into three parts the exterior city, interior city and the palace city. The layout of the
city was very similar to those of the then Chang An City (everlasting peace) of the capital of China in Han and Tang Dynasties.

The walls of city are well preserved. The outer city is in a shape of rectangle with perimeter of about 5 kilometers, occupying an area of 2 million
square meters. The walls were built by ramming and the foundation is 11.5 meters high and 12 meters wide. There are outstanding battlements
on the outside of the city walls - “Mamian” structure. The west city has two gates, from one of which, the small town outside the city gate can still be
seen. The southeast and southern part of the outer city is the temple area. The bigger temple area lies on the southwest part of the city. The
original of the ruins are the gate of temple, yard, main hall, pagoda basement of storied niche, and some remaining mural and figures of Buddha
can still be vaguely seen in the niches. Some ruins of “workshop” and “fair” still exist in the southeast and northeast outsider the ancient city,
perhaps the workshops ruin of small handcraft industry.