Turpan is a city just southeast of Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of western China. The city is ancient, dating back over 6,000 years. The name ˜Turpan" comes from the Uyghur language for "lowest place", as it lies in the Turpan Basin, with an elevation of less than 500 meters. The population runs around a quarter million, with close to three-fourths of that being Uyghurs, and the rest being comprised of twenty other ethnic groups.
