Turpan Desert Botanical Garden

　　　　    The Turpan Desert Botanical Garden is affiliated with the Xinjiang Institute of Biology, Pedology and Desert Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is one of the 12 botanical gardens directly under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the only desert botanical garden in China’s arid northwest region, and also the lowest-altitude botanical garden in the world. Located about 10 kilometers southeast of Turpan City, at an altitude between -95 and 76 meters, the garden lies within a 6,000-hectare area of wind-eroded shifting sand situated among three townships in the heart of the Turpan Basin: Qiatekale, Aydingkol, and Yar. The area features extensive wind-eroded Yardang landforms, flat shifting sands, and crescent-shaped dunes, as well as the buried ruins of ancient cities and the world-renowned underground irrigation system of the arid region – the karez wells. This is the second-lowest land point on Earth, often referred to as the “Wind Storehouse” and the “Land of Fire.” There are an average of 26.8 days per year with winds of force 8 or higher, reaching up to 68 days at maximum, with wind speeds exceeding 40 meters per second. The area has the highest wind-sand mobility rate in the nation; the average annual accumulated temperature is 13.9 degrees Celsius. The extreme maximum temperature reaches 47.62°C, while the extreme minimum is -28°C. In summer, sand surface temperatures can exceed 80°C. The average annual precipitation is just 16.4 millimeters, with an annual evaporation rate of 2,837.8 millimeters. The average annual humidity is 41%; the annual sunshine duration is 3,049.5 hours, with a sunshine percentage of 68%. The total annual solar radiation is 139.5 kilocalories per square centimeter.