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The Flaming Mountains (Chinese: 火焰山; pinyin: huǒyànshān) or Gaochang Mountains are barren, eroded, red sandstone hills in Tian Shan Mountain range, Xinjiang, China. They lie near the northern rim of the Taklamakan Desert and east of the city of Turpan. Their striking gullies and trenches caused by erosion of the red sandstone bedrock giving the mountains a flaming appearance at certain times of the day.

The mountains are approximately 100 kilometres (60 mi) long and 5–10 km (3–6 mi) wide and cross the Tarim Basin from east to west. The average height of the Flaming Mountains is 500 m (1,600 ft), with some peaks reaching over 800 m (2,600 ft). The mountain climate is harsh, and the extremely high summer temperatures make this the hottest spot in China, frequently reaching 50 °C (122 °F) or higher. One of the largest thermometers in China—a popular tourist spot—is on display adjacent to the mountain, tracking the surrounding air temperature.

Silk route

In ancient times, the Taklamakan Desert was avoided by merchant traders transversing the Silk Route in southeast Asia and oasis towns such as Gaochang, built at the foot of the Flaming Mountains on the desert's rim near an important mountain pass, became respite stops for traveling merchant traders. Buddhist missionaries often accompanied traders on busy international trading routes and during the times trade boomed on the Silk Route, Buddhist monasteries and temples were built in the busy trading centers and in nearby remote mountain spots.

The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves site lies in a gorge under the cliffs of the Flaming Mountains near the pass by Gaochang. It is a complex of seventy Buddhist cave grottoes dating from the 5th to the 9th centuries CE, many with thousands of murals of Buddha.

Literary fame

The Flaming Mountains received their name from a fantasy account of a Buddhist monk, accompanied by a Monkey King with magical powers, who runs into a wall of flames on his pilgrimage to India in the popular 16th century novel, Journey to the West, by Ming Dynasty writer, Wu Cheng'en. The novel is an embellished description of the monk Xuanzang who traveled to India in 627 CE to obtain Buddhist scriptures and went through a pass in the Tien Shan after leaving Gaochang.

Legends

According to the classical novel Journey to the West, the Monkey King created a disturbance in the heavens and knocked over a kiln, causing embers to fall from the sky to the place where the Flaming Mountains are now. In an Uigur legend, a dragon lived in the Tianshan Mountains. Because the dragon ate little children, an Uigur hero slew the dragon and cut it into eight pieces. The dragon's blood turned into a scarlet mountain of blood and the eight pieces became the eight valleys in the Flaming Mountains.

Footnotes

1. "Flaming Mountain, Turpan". chinahighlights.com. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
2. Keay, John (2000). India: A History. New York: Grove Press. pp. pp. 103, 124–27. ISBN 0-8021-3797-0. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
3. ^ Ebrey, Patricia (2006). The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge University Press. pp. pp. 106–7, 202. ISBN 0-521-43519-6. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help) Cite error: The named reference "cambridge" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
4. "Bizaklik Thousand Buddha Caves". showcaves.com. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
5. "Bizaklik Thousand Buddha Caves". travelchinaguide. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
6. "The Third Cross-Strait Conference — Post-conference Tour to the Flaming Mountains". University of Massachusetts.edu. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
7. "The Flaming Mountains (Huo Yan Shan)". travelchinaguide.com. Retrieved 2007-09-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)

External links

• Photo of the Flaming Mountains
• Xinjiang
• Gaochang
• Xinjiang is home to 47 ethnic groups
• Xinjiang Guide
• The Bezeklik Grottoes in the Flaming Mountains near Turpan - Photo

42°53′N 89°38′E / 42.883°N 89.633°E / 42.883; 89.633

• Turpan
• Geography of Xinjiang
• Sites along the Silk Road
• Cliffs of China