Music leads the way part two: Kuqa and Korla
cctv.com 09-08-2004 12:50
Lifting your veil is a folk song. It was first collected by a Chinese Han musician Wang Luobin more than half a century ago. Since then it is known all over china and people all love it, Today we follow the wonderful music to this Xinjiang Kuqa and Korle. Let's unveil another beauty of China.
The vastness of Xinjiang is breathtaking. And the beauty of it leaves you gasping. The road stretches on and on and on and the landscapes look so close yet so far away. The sheer scope of nature here leaves the car looking like a little ant moving under the equally endless sky. Heaven is indeed pretty close here, when you look at the land below. The folk song "Lift Your Veil" was born here in Xinjiang and originally sung by the Uygur people, who are a fun loving, always cheerful, and sometimes very mischievous lot. You can tell that from the wicked humor of Lift Your Veil. The famous Chinese Han musician, and music collector, Wang Luobin took this song out to the rest of the country, and we all fell in love with it. Now we are going back to the heart and soul of it. Join us for a journey to a wild wild west that will fulfill your pursuit of the wildest, in the heartland of Xinjiang.
The southern flanks of Tianshan mountain, outside the city of Kuqa. The bizarre terrain looks barren, and boundless. It's at once exhilarating, and at the same time slightly numbing. The yellow earth takes on a glamorous red flame around sunset time. Local Uygur people call it Danxia, which means raggy Little hill. This land has been sculpted by a strong wind that always blows in the same direction, and the gentle erosion of occasional rains. Sitting in the middle of this landscape, is the city of Kuqa,our destination and a little green oasis in the desolate cradle of the Gobi desert.
The city of Kuqa is quite small. But it was once an important stop on the ancient Silk Road. Kuqa was also once the center of the ancient Qiuci Kingdom. For over a thousand years, the mighty kingdom flourished but now few traces of that glory are left. Only the great stories live on.
Kuqa city is divided into the new district and the old. The old district is where you can still see the traditional white adobe homes, the typical Uygur homes. It is also where you can find many distinctively arabesque style mosques. This is the main mosque in Kuqa, generally called the Kuqa Mosque. It's the second largest mosque in Xinjiang, right after the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar. Made of bricks, it was reconstructed after the original mosque was burned down in 1931.
