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The annual 13th Silk Road Grape Festival in Turpan is underway to commemorate the 2113th anniversary of the forming of Silk Road.
The Silk Road stretches 4,000 kilometers in China, with 2,000 kilometers within Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The grape festival was first held in August 1990. As part of the festival's exhibition of tours, trade, and culture, the Urumqi Border Trade Fair will also be held to attract investment for local economy.
The Grape Festival is not just an ode to Turpan's most important agricultural product, but a chance to celebrate the local way of life.
Turpan is a Silk Road settlement that remembers the names of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. Populated by the Muslim Uygur people today, almost every household has a hand in the grape business, from wine to sweet dried raisins.
Local tours invite you to retrace Marco Polo's footsteps, and desert landscapes let your imagination run riot with the mirage of Silk Road caravans traversing the hot sands.
(China Daily September 3, 2004)
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