China: Grape-drying buildings or chunche, used to make raisins, Turpan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

Chunche is a Uyghur word that refers to a kind of building used to make raisins in Turpan. The building has a dark interior, and the walls are covered with a large number of holes to allow wind to pass through and assist in the drying process through evaporation. Chunches are usually built in high, windy, areas due to the need for the wind.

The Turpan Oasis was a strategically significant centre on Xinjiang’s Northern Silk Route, site of the ancient cities of Yarkhoto (Jiaohe) and Karakhoja (Gaochang). Chinese armies first entered Turpan in the 2nd century BCE, during the reign of Han Emperor Wu Di (141-87) when the oasis was a centre of Indo-European Tocharian culture.

Turpan retained a distinctly Buddhist character until the time of the Chagatai Khanate in the 13th century, when Islam gradually became the dominant religion.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia