Flaming Mountain

The Flaming Mountain lies 10 km (6.2 miles) east of Turpan City and is very famous because of the legendary Monkey King from the novel Journey to the West. The monkey king in the novel kicked over an elixir oven in the heaven while fighting with gods, charcoals fell onto the mountain and started a lasting fire, and then he extinguished the flame with a magic fan. Actually, the mountain is made up of red sandstone laid down in Jurassic times. The red rocks glows and hot air curls up like smoke in the sunshine, so it is named. Situated on the route of the ancient Silk Road, the Flaming Mountain has many cultural relics.

Flaming Mountain was formed around a hundred million years ago. The whole mountain contains nothing more than these reddish slopes and gullies. At midday during summer time, the mountain looks like a huge flying red dragon setting off fires in the fiery sun and temperature can top 55 degree centigrade. The temperature of this deserted mountain is indeed the highest found in China. It stretches across the Turpan Basin from east to north measuring 98 kilometers long, 9 kilometers wide. It located at an altitude of around 500 meters with the highest point of 821 meters close to Tuyugou.

The foot of the mountain offers a great contrast to the barren, lifeless mountain, where the Grape Gully, Peach Gully, Tuyu Gully are located. These gullies are lush cultivated areas with greenery, flowing rivers. When autumn comes, these regions feature sweet fruits and ripe melons.