 Scenic Tianshan Mountains
The Tianshan Mountains, renowned for natural beauty, lie in the middle of the vast area of Xinjiang. There the far-stretching Gobi Desert, grand icy peaks and snow-covered mountains, quiet valleys and vast expanse of grassland plus the hospitable, music and dance-loving ethnic minorities with different folk customs are major attractions for tourists to explore mysteries on the silk Road.
Kuqa-strategic pass on the middle Silk Route
Kuqa was one of the big powers in the Western Regions called Qiuci in the old times. It had been a center of politics, economy, culture and Buddhism in this area from the second to the 14th century. Apart from the natural scenery, large numbers of temples and ruins of ancient fortresses, Kuqa is well-known for the well-preserved Kizil and Kumutula Thousand-Buddha Grottoes. In these art treasure houses are large amounts of murals which are invaluable materials for the research of cultural interflows between the East and the West, the development of different nations, and the music, dancing, sculpture and architecture of ancient China.
Qiuci music and dancing
The music and dancing of ancient Qiuci have been considered as representing that of the Western Regions. The arts had great influence on Chinese music, dancing, acrobatics and theater in the past and were widely acclaimed in Japan, India and Arabia. Qiuci musical instruments include konghou-a string instrument, panpipe, reed pipe, five-stringed pipa, bili-a wind instrument and jie drum.
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