The Fruit valley in Xinjiang

The Fruit Valley is known as No.1 Scenery of li”which is located at the region of 40km northeast of Huocheng County，and it is the only passsgeway that must be passed by Urumqi-Ili Highway of National Highway 312.The ancients have inscribed the poem for praising it that”The oddness of the valley is well matched with Guilin；while the cliffs and stones are stranger than the rocks of Yandang Mountains”.The entire valley is 28 km long，and the surrounding mountains are steep covered densely with spruces.The Urumqi-lli Highway winds in the scenic valley and one will feel like flying in the air if he travels in a car with the blue sky and hilltops on the top，and the spruces at bottom of the valley just look like the matchsticks.The valley is the gifted treasury endowed by nature with countless wild fruits and abundant medicinal resources：and the wild flowers are blossoming with strong fragrance of fruits diffusing from spring to autumn，making it a veritable”Fruit Valley.

The fruit valley is also called”Taleqi Daban”，which is a famous gorge channel to Sayram Lake in the north，and Ii River Valley in the south.It was the throat of the northern new Silk Road to Central Asia and Europe in ancient times of China，thus it was also knownas”Iron Pass”.At present，it is the place where National highway 312（first-class highway section of Urumqi-Ii Highway）passes.The valley is famous for its numerous wild fruits；and in the valley，there are overlapping ridges and peaks，rotary canyons，lush pines and birches，fruit trees，blossoming wildflowers，various waterfalls and springs；due to the amazing landscape，it was called”The Wonderful Wonderland”by Qi Yunshi of the Qing Dynasty.

The Fruit Valley is the only way which must be passed through if driving from Urumqi to Yining，and the National Highway 3 12 just winds forward right in the valley.When in spring and summer，it becomes the most beautiful valley in western Xinjiang from last third of May to September annually.One can take the pictures of the overlapping forest belts and ridges on any of the slopes in this valley The fruit valley is located in the pass of the western Tianshan Mountains which is the throat of entering li Valley；it has been famous for the strategic location since ancient times.It is said that before Yuan Dynasty the valley was still an ancient herding route without any cart.In the last year of the Southern Song Dynasty，when Genghis Khan took the westward expedition，the second prince Chaghatai”dug the rocks to make roads，and built forty-eight wooden bridges”in order to accelerate the pace of march and finally thenatural barrier of the valley was excavated through，which accelerated the pace of combat and contributed to the military victories of Genghis Khan，and more importantly，it opened the passageway from the Central Plains to Yili River Basin，and made a shortcut for the new northern route of the ancient silk road Before the excavation the new northern route of the ancient Silk Road led to Suyab and other places in Chu River basin is by way of Tacheng and Bortala; after the excavation, Chinese and western businessmen and envoys started to take this route via the Fruit Valley. Subsequently, the Yuan and Qing dynastiesstationed army here for guarding, and also built post houses to serve the passing soldiers and businessmen. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty pacified the rebellion of Junggar nobles in Yili River basin, and then he set the political and military center of Xin jiang at Huiyuan City at the riverside of lli River, built the lli General Mansion to govern the vast region in east and south of balkhash lake and the south and north of the tianshan Mountains. Later, the Qing Regime built another two post houses of Toutai and Ertai in the valley to be responsible for passing imperial decrees and military situation of border defense. After that, the valley became more bustling, presenting its importance Owing to the location of the transportation hub, many ancient politicians and travelershad lingered in the valley and written many famous poems and essays that passed down to posterity. Li Zhichang described the valley in the Changchun’s Pilgrimage to the West, “The ridges and peaks around are high and deep; the sheltering pine and birch woods are over one hundred feet high; there are more than ten thousand trees from the top to the bottom of the mountain, with numerous streams surging into the gorge, winding for sixty or seventy Li Lin Zexu of the Qing Dynasty also made a record of”path winds along mountain ridges in his diary when he went by the Fruit Valley, meanwhile described it as”The natural picturesque landscapes. fascinates step by step”. Hong Liangji of the Qing Dynasty praised the valley in his poem, “Never shall I complain the long distance of horse-riding just for coming to view the magnificent mountains; climbing up to the peak, I feel as if my conical bamboo hat is floating over the clouds, sudden encounted waters fall like arrow, while twenty seven bridges traversing from east to west”. All these fascinating scenes are still existing today, and many novel scenes have been added such as the modern asphalt roads, steel fly bridges, the flowing cars and carriages, huts and villas with a combination of Chinese and Western elements, surveyor’s poles and tents of mountain prospectors, and the new town Ertai exclusively for resting of travelers and avoiding summer heat hiding deep in the valley, all of which have attached new contents to this fairyland on earth.

Songshutou（pine peak）-“Pine Peak”is the tiptop of the fruit Valley which directly reaches down to Sayram Lake from the north，and to the fruit valley from the south Sayram lake is also called santaihaizi，which is one of the attractions as well as the fruit Valley in Xinjiang.The route down from the south of Pine Head to the forest farm of ertai is the precipitous part of the Fruit Valley with winding mountain roads and secluded valleys.There is a spectacular mountain waterfall pouring down in a valley，which is like white silk hanging in the air.The name of Ertai means”two posts”：the military post of the Qing army and the mail post.The grasslands and huts here enhance each other’s beauty making the place the best resting place for tourists.Down southward from Ertai，the mountains are gradually lower，and the valley mouth is becoming wider；there are sprucesand the staggered strange poplars and willows growing on both sides of the road，as well as the apricot and wild fruits with eyeful green.

Ertai and Toutai-Both Ertai and Toutai are the post huts at that time for the passing messengers and businessmen to have a rest，Ertai was built in yuan dynasty.it is said that there were only two small inns with humble rooms in Fruit Valley at that time；and there were only fort barbettes guarded by soldiers in Toutai where has no inn at all The fruit Valley is abundant in resources，where the river beaches as well as the mountain slopes of the valley are full of wild apples，apricots，and walnuts，that is how the name”Fruit Valley”came Yelu Chucai of the early Yuan Dynasty described the valley in hisRecords of Westward Journey，”there are pear-leaved crabapples everywhere，and the trees cover the sky，and no sunlight can leak into the woods”，and the pear-leaved crabapple referred here is wild apple.There are also hundreds of herbs in the valley，such as dangshen（Codonopsis pilosula），angelica sinensis，fritillaria，radix angelicae pubescentis，zhenjiao，eupatorium fortune，franzenbach rhubarb，red paeonia，melastoma candidum（white paeonyroot）and so on.In some ditches，the melastoma candidum can cover an area of three or four mu，and the rare medicinal herb cordyceps sinensis may even grow under the roots of melastoma candidum.The valley is also rich in limestone and coarse grindstone；the resources volume of birch and pine are considerable as well. There are many hares, foxes, wolves. bears. wild boars. red deer and other rare animals that haunts in the thick forest forming a natural zoo of ecological harmony.

hancheng

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