China is setting up a cultural diversity reserve in its northwestern-most Xinjiang, the only place where experts say the world's four important ancient civilizations of China, India, Greece and Islam, met and melt.

 

The reserve, the first of its kind in China, is located in Turpan of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, an intersection of the ancient Silk Road that connected China with south, west and central Asia and Europe.

 

The reserve is to protect the unique footprints left by different races and people with different cultures who traveled along the great Silk Road, said Prof. Meng Jian with Shanghai-based Fudan University who made a blueprint for the cultural reserve.

 

"We chose Turpan because of its heritages as a typical cultural melting pot," he said.

 

As a portal that linked the hinterland of ancient China and other parts of Asia, Turpan was where 11 ancient post and trade routes converged, Meng said, citing historical documents.

 

The documents unearthed in Turpan so far were written in as many as 17 languages, including Chinese, Sanskrit of India and Hebrew, Meng said.

 

In Tuyugou, a remote village hidden in Huoyanshan, or the Flaming Mountain, marks of culture melting are still visible: Uygur houses with wooden window frames featuring designs commonly seen in central and east China; stone drums near the front door and brick or wood relievo over the lintel, both traditional decorations of Han people.

 

Marks of other religions, such as the Christian Cross and swastika of Buddhism, can also be easily spotted on an old wood bed belonging to a local family in the Muslim-dominated area.

 

The frescoes in the grottoes in Tuyugou not only tell of the stories of Buddhas but also display the famous sun-and-moon design of Manichaeism from Persia.

 

The five followers of Muhammad, founder of Islam, and the first Chinese who was converted to the religion were said to be buried in Turpan while archaeologists also discovered the body of a shaman dating back to 1,000 years ago.

 

"These heritages are unique not only in China but also in the world and worth being protected," said Zheng Qiang, a local official of Turpan.

 

The local government and experts started the planning in 2006, inspired by the convention on cultural diversity approved by the United Nations in 2005, he said.

 

 

"Through founding a reserve on cultural diversity, we hope common people, both residents here and visitors, will be more aware of protecting cultural diversity and more tolerant to those different from themselves," Zheng said.

 

As there was no such kind of a reserve in the country before, Zheng said, they are still exploring how to do it.

 

Four pilot projects have been included into the blueprint: the Ancient City of Jiaohe, a major town on the Silk Road; the Grape Valley, which presents both natural beauty and flavor of traditional Uygur culture; the Flaming Mountains which boasts not only geographic uniqueness but also rich cultural relics; and the Karez, an ancient irrigating miracle based on an underground channel system fed by melted snow from mountains.

 

The government is increasing investment in archaeological excavation and cultural relics protection, and a brand new museum will open in Turpan next year, according to Zheng.

 

The central government has earmarked 200 million yuan (US$26.59 million) to protect the Yanghe tombs where Roman coins, China's oldest grapevine and marijuana were found.

 

Local archaeology authority also plans to develop a full record of culture relics unearthed in Turpan.

 

"More than 60 percent of the collections in Xinjiang's biggest museum in Urumqi came from Turpan and even more in museums abroad, " said Li Xiao, director of Turpan archaeology bureau. "It will be very hard to make a full list of them, but we will try."

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2007)