Hetian

The ancient city of Niya

The capital of the Yutian

Hetian is a pearl on the Silk Road famous for its unique ruins of ancient city and specialities as Hetian jade, silk, carpet. It is located at the northern foot of the Karakorgan Range and on the southern fringe of the Taxkorgan Desert with an elevation of 1,372 metres.
Used to be the place where the states of Pishan, Yutian, Yumi, Qule, Jingjue and Shulu were established; in 1883, was established as a prefecture to be supervised directly by the court; in 1920, was changed to a prefecture. Local highlights are Hetian jade, sheep, silk, carpet.

Hetian Museum displays a large quantity of artifacts, including terracotta animals and figures, clay figurines, coins, clothing, silk and carpet fragments, fresco samples, jade lamps, Tibetan bronzes, jewellery, chased silver and gold utensils, documents and carved wooden beams from Niya ruins. The museum also exhibits well-preserved mummified corpses of two Buddhist monks. The feet of the 5th or 6th century AD mummies are bound to keep them rest in peace instead of wandering.

The ancient city of Niya, another Pompeii-like city on the Silk Road, lies 150 km from Minfeng, an oasis county in the Taklamakan Desert. The ruins are believed to be the ancient Kingdom of Jingjue, one of the oasis states recorded in the Chinese Han Dynasty chronicles.

The capital city of the ancient Kingdom of Yutian, lying about 10 km from Hetian and covering about 10 square km, is one of the oasis states in the Chinese Western Region along the Silk Road.