Located south of the city of Fukang in Xinjiang, 90 kilometres away from the east of Urumqi, the Heavenly Lake stands at an elevation of 1,900 metres. It is a world-famous mountain lake.

The Heavenly Lake, a barrier lake, was

formed after its river courses were blocked up by mud-rock flow of glaciers in ancient times. Although it encompasses more than 4.9 square kilometres, ninety-metre-deep, the lake enjoys a remarkable favour, which other famous mountains and great rivers inland could not enjoy. Legend has that it was the Fairyland Pool that the Queen Mother of the West (a mythological figure, usually described as a beautiful immortal, who dwells at J aspel Lake in the Kunlun Mountains and in whose huge palace grow the magic peach trees which bear the fruits of immortality once every three thousand years) met King Mu of the Zhou Dynasty and gave a banquet in his honour in those remote days. Another story says that it was a silver mirror of the Queen Mother of the West's inlaid

on her dressing table. All this is farfetched, but it covers the renowned scenic spot-the Heavenly Lake, with a more charming and mysterious colouring.

Over the centuries, many celebrities and scholars made trips to the Heavenly Lake with curiosity. Exclaimed with admiration by the unique, charming and wonderful sight, some people felt a strong urge to write poems and some could not help drawing pictures, and others celebrated in song in high spirits. Although many works written or drawn by the scholars or celebrities reached the height of perfection, they could not surpass the beautiful scenery created by nature.

When tourists visit the place, in which the beautiful scenery will attract them. An expanse of limpid water on the lake present itself before your eyes, and it is changing its charming colour, and the gentle wind rippled the surface of the Heavenly Lake and sunlight shimmered on the waters of the lake. When visitors look around, they can find the steep snow-capped ridges and peaks resemble warriors with silver helmets and in silver arm<;mrs, and also they look like fairy maidens in white. Under the snow line, pine trees stretche for hundreds of miles, it was so dense that you could not see the sun under the trees in the daytime. In the depths of the forest, the weeds are flourishing, bright mountain flowers in full bloom. The sheep grazing leisurely on the grassland are like moving clouds in the blue sky and the yurts look like snowlotus blooms in blossom, alongside the shore of the lake, the luxuriant and well-spaced branches and leaves are fondling the lovely shape of villas and pavilions. The performance of tinkling mountain springs and the chorus of the forceful soughing of the wind in the pines gave the mountain lake a kind of romantic charm of the Fairyland Pool.

The lake has been shrinking rapidly due to siltification resulting from damage to trees and grasslands around the lake since 1984. It is now shrinking at a speed of 200 square metres annually and it might disappear from the world within 80 years unless effective measures are taken. Effective measures have been taken to protect the lake. Ai; much as 65. 10 million yuan (US $ 7.84 million) collected from the state, local government and other channels have been invested. According to local government plan to save the lake, seven sand-control dikes and dams have been built. In addition, 4,000 square metres of drifting silt at the southern entrance of the lake where thawed snow from Tianshan Mountain flows into the lake have been cleared away. The government also replaced trees and grass in a 1. 92-million-square-metre area around the lake. To remove herdsmen from mountains and grasslands, the local government made great efforts to have built a homeland in the northern part of the city of Fukang. The crescent-shape Heavenly Lake, formed 2 million years ago as a result of glaciations, was named one of the first 44 Statelevel scenic spots in 1982. It is the only one in Xinjiang.

Noted for its dark blue waters and imposing mountains, the lake attracts about 500,000 tourists annually both at home and abroad.

The Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves

Situated 67 kilometres west of Kucha County , the Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves is the oldest of its kind in China and the largest ruins of Buddhist culture in Xinjiang. It is also the second largest treasure house of mural paintings the world over, next only to the Dunhuang Grottoes in Gansu Province. There are now 236 numbered grottoes in this cave, which houses nearly 10,000 square metres of mural paintings.

Murals and other forms of Buddhist art found in the Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves showcase a splendid culture that once prospered in Kucha, an ancient oasis kingdom in what was known as the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). With Kucha town as its centre, the ancient Kucha kingdom once stretched its territory to the foot of the southern hills of the Tianshan Mountains in the north and the Taklimakan Desert to the south, today's Baicheng County to the west and Yanqi Hui Autonomous County to the east. I ts first settlers consisted of Aryan people speaking Tocharian B, or Kuchean, one of two extinct Tocharian languages of the Indo-European language family. Later on the Huns, the Turks and other ethnic groups, including the Han Chinese, also settled there. According to the Han Dynasty historical records, the kingdom had a population of some 80 , 000 in the period of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD 23). The oasis was an important centre on the northern branch of the Silk Road. Buddhism was introduced into Kucha at the turn of the 1st century AD. In the 3rd century, it had already become an important Buddhist centre. In away, the Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves were like a melting pot in the 3rd to 9 th centuries, in which legends and myths and arts from ancient India, Greece, Rome, Persia and Central China combined to find expression in Buddhist art. Many of the Kuchean monks travelled to Central China to introduce Buddhist teachings. According to a history book of the Jin Dynasty (265-420), "the Kucha Kingdom, about 4,140 kilometres away from Luoyang (in Central China's Henan Province) has built more than 1,000 Buddhist pagodas in the city. The royal palace buildings are so splendid, as if they were mansions of the divine beings." Since the early 20 th century, archaeologists have discovered hundreds of caves that contain remnants of Buddhist art in the region formerly under the rule of Kucha Kingdom. Apart from spreading Buddhism into inland China, Kucha also exerted its influence upon the Tang-dynasty's music and dance in the 7 th _9 th centuries that had multi-national origins, and upon the development of folk music in inland China as well. The Han Dynasty had already introduced lively music from Kucha to Chang' an (today' s Xi' an) as musical marches. Between the 6 th and 7 th centuries, a number of Kuchean artists brought their music theories to Chang' an and other parts of inland China. Their names were recorded in historical records. Xuan Zang (602664), an eminent Tang-dynasty monk, who went to India in search of Buddhist scriptures, spent more than a month in Kucha. In his report to the Tang-dynasty court, about his pilgrimage in India, he wrote that woodwind and string musical instruments as well as dance and music in Kucha "outshone" all the other Kingdoms and states he had visited along the way. From the Han Dynasty, the Kucha Kingdom maintained relationships with the central Chinese authorities, often subjugated to the dynastic rule of inland China. During the Tang Dynasty in 658, it became a protectorate of the Tang Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Kucha became a county in the Qing ranks of governance.

A bronze statue of Kumarajiva (334-413) sitting in meditation stands in front of the Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves. Few tourists to the Kizil grottoes can ignore the serenity, which the statue of Kumarajiva conveys. Born in Kucha, Kumarajiva followed his mother, a Kuchean princess, into a monastic life at the age of seven when she became a nun. He grew up with Hinayana (Little Vehicle-a school of Buddhism) Buddhism, converted to Mahayana (Great Vehicle-a school of Buddhism) Buddhism in his teens and went on to become a specialist in Madhyamika philosophy. In 383, Kucha came under the rule of the Jin Dynasty (265-420). In 401 Kumarajiva arrived in Chang'an (today's Xi'an) , where he began to teach and translate Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. More than 100 translations are attributed to him. Kumarajiva's career had a pr~found influence on Chinese Buddhist thought, not only because he made important texts available to Chinese believers, but also because he did much to clarify Buddhist terminology and philosophical concepts. He and his disciples established the Chinese branch of the Madhyamika, known as the San Lun, or "Three Treatises" School.

In the early years of the 20 th century, the missing parts of murals that had been chipped off and stolen by the Russians, the Japanese and the Germans. From Cave No 207, the Germans cut off as many as 12 fragments from murals, which included among others, a head decorated with white pearls; a red haired head of a monk; and a Bodhisattva. The Germans also took away two large bagfuls of ancient documents written on birch bark and wooden slips. German scholars in Museum (catalogue) of Indian Art in Berlin noted that they now have 328 square metres of murals taken from the Kizil Caves in Berlin. With careful measurements and examination, the missing mural parts altogether amount to around 470 square metres.

The Aay Grotto

On a cliff of 30 metres above ground in a gorge lying 60 kilometres north of Kucha County , the grotto is name Aay, after the proximity of the nearby ancient city. The archaeologists excavating the grotto found that it had 15 square metres of coloured frescoes, as many as 26 Han inscriptions from nine surnames of probable donors.

Two Uygur farmers discovered the Aay Grotto while scouring the local mountain sides in search of materials for herbal medicine in September 1999. They reported the news to the local government, which immediately dispatched a team of 20 archaeologists to the site. Like the Kumtura Grottoes discovered west of Kucha earlier 20 th century, this grotto looks to be the work of the Tang-dynasty artisans. Although solitary, the Aay Grotto is better preserved. This is an important find because few grottoes from the Tang Dynasty have been discovered to date in Xinjiang.

Located on the north rim of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, Kucha County is home to more than 300 grottoes, which record the importance of Buddhism in the region over a millennium-long period between the 1st and 12 th centuries. On the basis of field reports of inscriptions and photographs of the frescoes, the Aay Grotto is very likely an 8 th century work from the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. Reports also reveal the grotto contained a 45-centimetre-high square altar base which forms three 60-centimetre-wide passages against the front and sidewalls of the chamber. The rock walls of the cliff-face chamber were chiseled flat, coated with a mixture of mud containing straw and wool, and topped with a white layer of mud and lime on which frescoes were drawn. In total, the grotto's wall area measures about 150 square metres, one-tenth or 15 square metres of which retain scenes from well-preserved frescoes. Painted on the left wall were six Buddhas including Baisajyaguru-vaidurya-prabhasa (God of Medicine), Vairocana and Manjusri (Buddha of Wisdom) with several inscriptions in Chinese characters. Paintings on the right wall have peeled off badly, with only images of Avalokitesvara (Goddess of Mercy) and Maitreya and sitting Buddhas being identifiable. On the front wall are paintings illustrating the story of Amitayus Sutra. In the middle is the image of Amitayus (Buddha of Boundless Life), flanked by Avalokitesvara sitting on the lotus throne and Mahasthamaprapta. There are 21 Devas and men on each side wearing streamers and short robes. Above the Amitayus are three nirmanakayas, flanked by flying Apsaras, as well as musical instruments including bells, drums, waist drums, zheng (a 21-25-stringed instrument) and pipa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted finger-board). Below the Amitayus Buddha are paintings of pavilions, verandas, pools, lotus throne and cranes in the typical Han-style of the time. The frescoes depict the pure land where Buddha Amitayus or Amitabha is worshipped. Colours, content and painting skills are fairly representative of the Tang Dynasty. For instance, the 260 figures are all portrayed as full and round, typical of that period. The artisans from Chang' an (today' s Xi' an) and Luoyang, the then capitals of the Tang Dynasty, painted the Aay frescoes. While warm tones are predominated at Mogao in Dunhuang, the Aay Grotto was painted with pale pinkish gray, white, and blue. Another unique feature of the Aay Grotto is its Chinesecharacter inscriptions. Other grottoes contain the names of usually just one donor, and in a local script. Chinese characters recording the donors' names appear in 26 places in the Aay Grotto. This is the largest Chinese-character 'name list' ever found at any site in Kucha County. On the significance of the Chinese characters, they indicate the spread of the Han culture of the Tang Dynasty to the western regions, including present-day Xinjiang and part of Central Asia. Han soldiers were garrisoned throughout the region at the turn of the 7 th century. Soon after her seizure of power in 692, Empress W u Zetian (624-705, reigned 690-705), the only female emperor in Chinese history, established a military outpost led by the Anxi Military Governor governing four towns, including Kucha. Some 30,000 soldiers were under his command.

The Aay Grotto, 27 kilometres to the south of the ancient city of Aay, was a significant military fortress where Tang soldiers were stationed. It was very possible that the Aay Grotto was a military shrine paid for by the local soldiers. Multi-name donor inscriptions are rare in Xinjiang's other grottoes. Another theory lies in the fact that the grotto was opened by Chinese craftsmen, possibly smelters, who had migrated from East China. Four iron and copper smelting sites have been found near the Aay Grotto.

The Karez Underground Irrigation Channels

The karez underground irrigation channels are mainly concentrated in Hami , Mulei and Turpan in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, of which the Turpan Basin is the most, being approximately 1,100 kilometres. The karez is a special irrigation system, consisting of the ground channels, the underground channels, and the waterlogging dams. This kind of irrigation system came into being more than 2,000 years ago. Generally speaking, each karez is as long as 3 kilometres, the longest being 20 to 30 kilometres. The grandeur of the karez can be compared with the Great Wall and the Grand Canal as well.

These areas in Xinjiang are extremely arid. Take Turpan area for instance, an annual precipitation is merely 11 millimetres only while the rate of evaporation being 3,000 millimetres. Under such harsh conditions, surface irrigation seems impossible. Fortunately, Turpan is a basin surrounded by snow-capped mountains, which prove to be the source of abundant underground water. Making good use of the land inclination, local people succeeded in building such irrigation channels. Though simple yet quiet effective in construction, the tunnels and wells represent gigantic engineering masterpiece. First, many perpendicular wells have been sunk at intervals of one or several dozen metre. Then underground tunnels have been dug, linking up the bottoms of all the wells. The sand and gravel thus excavated are usually piled around the mouths of the wells, making them resembling miniature volcano craters. The depths of the wells vary from those on high ground, which are as deep as 10 to several dozen metres, to those close to the outlet of the water, which are only a few metres. According to The Historical Record, Emperor Wudi (156 BC-87, reigned 140-87 BC) of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) mobilized tens of thousands of people to construct the irrigation project under harsh conditions. The deepest well is more than 120 metres underground.

The Karez Underground Irrigation Channels in Turpan impressed the tourist most. But the network of channels cannot be introduced to all the areas in Xinjiang, due to geological differences throughout the region. A bold plan proposed by T. Co Tso (board chairman of the US-based Institute of International Development and Education in Agriculture and Life Science, also a long-term adviser to China's agricultural development) channelling water from the Tongtian River in nearby Qinghai Province to the western part of Xinjiang, and reservoirs built in the upper reaches of several rivers flowing westward to neighbouring countries. The four ancient water conservancy projects in China are the karez , an irrigation system of wells connected by underground channels used in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Dujiangyan Irrigation Project in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the Ling Canal in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou .

The Lop Nur Mummies

In January 2001, a team of Chinese archaeologists discovered dozens of remarkably well-preserved mummies scattered about a sand dune on the western edge of Lop Nur, a desolate area in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Yang Lian, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who led the group in early January 2001, said that never before had such a large number of mummies been found in a single graveyard anywhere in the world. Yang said the exact number of bodies was undetermined as they were buried in layers in what experts believe is an ancient cemetery. Other bodies are lying on top of or partially protruding from the sand, as well as inside semi-deteriorated coffins. It was estimated there were well over 100 mummified bodies. The sand dune where the mummies were found covers 2,400 square metres and rises as high as 7 metres. It looks like an isolated island in a sea of sand. The mummies lying at the bottom were older than those on the top layer as the sand dune was formed. On the mummified body of a boy about 6 or 7 years old, a plump eyelid is still intact, and his long brown hair still flows down his back. His skin has turned black. Xia Xuncheng, a researcher with the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, who was on the January trip said that the mummified bodies found in coffins were wrapped in leather and were not treated with any form of embalming, unlike Egyptian mummies. In Egypt, corpses of pharaohs or wealthy men underwent a complicated embalming process. The Lop Nur mummies were preserved naturally in the sandy area, which has annual rainfall of 13 millimetres and a yearly evaporation rate of up to 4,000 millimetres. The discovery of the mummies is of great academic value to the study of social development in unrecorded history. Xia, who has studied mummies in China for decades, has made a careful study of a 3, 800-year-old female mummy who lived in the ancient civilization of Lou Lan. Based on the sand found in the woman's lungs, experts believe Lop Nurbecame an arid land some 4,000 years ago. Archaeologists have theorized that the newly found mummies were IndoEuropean men, judging from the facial structure and size of the bodies. The experts believe the bodies were entombed more than 4,000 years ago. Further testing will be done to determine the exact period of burial. The recently found tomb is adjacent to Lou Lan, one of the busiest commercial cities on the ancient Silk Road, and Taiyang (which means "sun") Cemetery, where mummies had been found previously. It is amazing that so many ancient bodies were found in such good shape. Further study of the mummies would aid Chinese scientists' research on ancient Xinjiang and the development of civilization in Central Asia.