The grapes in Turpan are ripe.

Fan Guoqiang

Turpan in Xinjiang can't go, nor can the grape valley in Turpan.

I first learned that Turpan is in Wen Jie's poems, and Turpan in Wen Jie's poems is a place full of love. Most of the people who pick grapes and fall in love at the same time are beautiful Uighur girls, and the infatuated Uighur boys play the lyre to express their secret love for the girl. These beautiful and moving stories happened in the grape valley in Turpan. Later, Wang Liping's western love song played on my eardrum many times: "The grapes in Turpan are ripe, and Alar Khan is ecstatic". I have never understood why grape ripening and ecstasy can form a chain relationship. I came to Xinjiang this time and learned that it takes about three years for a grape tree to grow and mature and bear fruit every year. Uighur lovers who have been away for three years may regard the ripening of grapes as a good opportunity to marry new people. Why can't Alar Khan, who values love more than life, be ecstatic about seeing her lover soon? With the imprint of Wen Jie's poems and Wang Liping's songs, the Grape Valley in Turpan has since become a charming fairyland in my dream.

The cadre who accompanied us to Shayibak District of Turpan happened to be a Uighur girl named Siren Ina, which means "sweet moon" in Uighur. The girl is beautiful, fair-skinned, slim, with watery eyes, two dimples on her face when she smiles, and her speech is very sweet. I heard her introduce that she graduated from Northwest University and studied Chinese translation. At this time, the car is playing songs such as Wang's "In that faraway place", "Lift your hijab" and "The Girl in Dabancheng". Sweet songs are accompanied by the girl's sweet voice and sweet smile. Before arriving in Turpan, we suddenly realized why the grapes in Turpan must be sweet.

Grape Valley, the rich place of Turpan grapes, is located in the northeast corner of Turpan, which is a canyon on the west side of the Flame Mountain. The terrain of this grape valley is natural. The annual temperature of Flame Mountain not far from the east is above 30 degrees Celsius. In midsummer, the highest temperature on the ground has reached 82 degrees Celsius. Locals say that burying sand can roast chicken eggs and sticking it on the wall can bake cakes. Up to more than 5000 meters, the top of Bogda Mountain, visible from the north, is covered with snow all year round. The valley where Grape Valley is located is close to the residual vein of Flame Mountain, and the underground temperature must be very high. Snow water from Bogda Mountain just flows out from the bottom of Grape Valley. I guess this cold and hot water is probably the most suitable spring for grape growth. Our car turned into the road leading to Grape Valley, which was actually in a ravine, and we could hear the gurgling water at the bottom of the ravine all the way. The water flows in the opposite direction to our car, and this road has been extending along this river ditch. Rows of mulberry trees are planted on both sides of the river ditch, and the trunks are very thick. The estimated age of the tree is not short. On the hillside on the left, two layers of adobe buildings are erected, and the walls are carved with dense holes. This is called "shade room" and "drying room", which is the place where Grape Valley people use the hot air of Flame Mountain to dry raisins. Every family has a "photo studio" like this, but it is not connected with the house, and it is on the right side of the road, next to the large grape field contracted by the owner. At this time, all the grapes have been harvested, and only the vines wrapped around the empty grape racks are remembering those lush and gloomy days.

Our car drove in this river ditch for half an hour and gradually reached the depths of the grape ditch. People began to gather together densely, and both sides of the road, which was not very wide, were filled with grape stalls and cooked food stalls. Tourists from south to north are bustling, and traders are enthusiastic about their business. There are thick vines overhead, and our car is moving slowly under the vines. We have never seen such a lively grape market, and it is inevitable to look around. Everyone seems to be excited to become children. But I saw a dazzling array of grape stalls, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and white, and all kinds of raisins piled into a square series, as if they were all happily inspected by tourists. Each pile of raisins is inserted with name labels, such as "Gold Made Gold", "Yellow Rose", "Wang Zhongwang", "Seedless White", "Hundred Kings", "Masculine Fragrance" and "Feminine Fragrance". It is said that Turpan has more than 1000 grape varieties. Vendors are also generous, repeatedly urging tourists to taste: "Try the fresh raisins in our grape valley. It doesn't matter if you don't buy it. " Indeed, many tourists are tasting it, but not many people give it away, and vendors are not annoyed. It's really nice to see tourists say a few words of praise after tasting.

There is a legend about why the grape valley is rich in grapes. It is said that when Tang Sanzang went to the Western Heaven to learn Buddhist scriptures, he passed by to enjoy the cool, and his disciples drank mountain spring water and ate grapes brought along the way. The grape seeds they planted inadvertently accidentally fell into this grape ditch, sprouting, flowering and bearing fruit. Since then, this inaccessible canyon has gradually become a grape kingdom. Of course, this is a myth. However, according to ancient records, grapes have been planted around the Flame Mountain in Turpan for more than 1000 years. Generation after generation of grape valley people grow grapes for a living. Grapes have nurtured generations of grape valley people, and grape valley has gradually become famous for its high yield and high quality. In the uninterrupted changes of the times, many people in the Grape Valley have stepped out of the Grape Valley, and they have brought the technology of growing grapes to all parts of the world. However, many people from other places came to the Grape Valley and joined the ranks of the Grape Valley people. At noon, we had a snack at a deli. Just as we sat down under the grape trellis, the owner of the deli served cut watermelons and cantaloupes, and we chatted with him while eating melons. This is a young Uighur. I heard him say that he is 32 years old. A foreigner who came to this grape valley from Hami a few years ago. He signed a contract with the local government to plant grapes on three acres of wasteland, with a contract period of 30 years and a rent of 200 thousand. Besides growing grapes, he also deals in cooked food. His cooked food stands under his grape trellis, and he also employs several helpers. Xiao Chen, a driver in Shayibak District who knows his background, whispered to me: "Don't underestimate his youth, he has now become a Bayi with hundreds of thousands of waist." It seems that the historical tradition of Grape Valley also attaches great importance to openness and introduction.

The main scenery of Grape Valley is not in the peripheral market town, but in the deeper amusement park, which is really a tourist boutique carefully created by Grape Valley people. After decades of carving, it has become a national four-a scenic spot. Although the area inside is not large, it is a scene of walking, with reasonable layout, staggered houses and scattered mountains and rivers. The overall theme of the whole scenic spot is to make a fuss about grapes. There are Uygur dwellings, Wang Art Museum, the Queen Mother of the West, the West Wine City, the Grape Picking and Tasting Garden and the Grape Museum in the park. Visitors can see the perfection of this grape valley in a short time and accept the influence of its folk customs. The most pleasant thing is the grape gallery that runs through the whole garden. The grape trellis in the gallery is shaded from the sun and covered with dense grapes. The grapes here seem to be reserved for tourists. At this time, the warm sunshine is transmitted from the gap of the grape trellis, and it is refuted, leaving a broken shadow on the ground. All the tourists are full of flowers. At the entrance of the corridor, there are some beautiful young Uighur girls dressed in costumes. They perform Uygur songs and dances for tourists. If tourists want to take photos with them, they will be happy to accompany them, but each photo costs five yuan. This rule of charging for taking photos with people is not uncommon in many scenic spots across the country. Unexpectedly, Turpan Grape Valley, which is called "Peach Blossom Garden" in the distance, is not exempt from customs. It seems that the concept of market economy has also penetrated deeply into the minds of people in Grape Valley. For simple people in Grape Valley, this may not mean moral degradation, but a leap in thinking that keeps pace with the times.

When I left the Grape Valley, I carefully selected and bought 20 bags of raisins. Although it is far from home, I decided to donate money to buy it. I want my friends in my hometown to taste authentic fresh raisins from Turpan, and let everyone share this sweet friendship from the northwest with me.