Hetian located in the southernmost of Xinjinag was famous as Yutian Kingdom in ancient times. As a principal route through along the silk road, It witnesses the cultural and business exchanges between western and eastern. There are a lot of interesting historical tales, ancient huaman landscape and cultural relics of Buddhism which all reveal its brilliant and colourful civilization. Besides, peculiar natural sceneries and characteristic ethnic customs, as well as its majestic and grand artificial landscape, have attracted a large number of tourists from all over the world. It is well known for various kinds of enthic products involving silk, carpet and particularly Hetian Jade. Those whose appearence is as white as sheep fat are assessed be the best Jade. There is no railway line passing through Hetian. You can reach Hotan easily with daily flights from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. Or travel on quality new sealed asphalt highways from Kashgar, Aksu, Korla and Urumqi.
Major attractions:
Niya Ruins:
Locating in the desert which is 150km to the north of Minfeng County, Niya Ruins extends 20km and widens 10km and can be divided into six kinds of buliding groups. Those ancient buildings all have received a good protection, and include pagoda, building half under the earth, single-log bridge and so on. A large amounts of cultural relics were discovered here. Most of them are various kinds of things made of wood, and also little of cooper or iron, of stone and wool fabric. All of these discoveries have a great value to study the civilization of that time and for this reason in 1996, Niya Ruins was listed in the name of state-level key Cultural relic preservation organ.
Mysterious Leiquan
Leiquan is just a clear spring in the boundless Gobi, never stop flowing or reduce the amount of water. According to a legend, Leiquan was a tear of saint and the ember hillside near it just like saint’s shy face. Washing face with spring can make your face more clear and your eyes brighter. In the foot of hill, two trees grow with their roots intermingled together under the earth and branches independently in the air. Leiquan nurishes large area of beautiful flowers and green grasses. Once visit here, you would fancy in a fairy land.
Sangzhu Rock Painting
180km away from Hetian city, the sight was carved in a piece of rock in Pishan county. Facing to the gravel beaches, the pictures with the length of 33 meters and the height of 13 meters show images of people, animals or other unknown symbols. It is generally acknowledged as a work of primitive society in China, which probably was used to present the life in the ancient times. Sangzhu Rock Painting was evaluated as the preservation and administration of cultural relics of Xinjiang in
1962.
Silk Village A local silk village called Uygur Silk Village of Jiya. Here you will see the whole process of traditional Uygur silk making called Atlas loved by central Asian Uigur and Uzbek women since Han Dynasty second century. In the village, farmers still raise silk worms and will show you the whole procedure of making the beautiful floral silk material.
The Hetian Museum The Hetian Museum locating in the centre of Hetian city,was built in 1995. It contains over 9000 cultural relics; most of which were discovered by archaeologists after 1949. Many exhibits not only represent the long history and brilliant culture of Hetian, but also express the key function of silk road bridging the western and eastern. Its exhibits include textile technology, pottery, paintings and Buddhist culture.