Turpan's history started with the ongoing struggles in the Han dynasty between the Chinese and the Xiongnu (Mongolian) tribesmen. Both peoples wanted this area as their power expansion base.

For many centuries, the region remained a contested area. During the Yuan dynasty, the Silk Road enjoyed a boom that was never seen before. Turpan took advantage of the opportunity and became a major oasis along the Silk Road.

Turpan Museum :The museum contains a lot of written material, excavated from some of the Tang tombs. Most interesting is the exhibits from the old Uighur capital at Gaochang, including documents relating to land tenure in the early 7c.

Ancient Cities : There are two well-known ancient cities close to Turpan, Gaochang (Kharakhoja) and Jiaohe (Yarkhoto).

Gaochang was founded by Chinese in the 2nd century B.C. as a garrison on the Silk Road. At its peak, Gaochang served as the capital of Xinjiang during the Tang dynasty. It was abandoned in 1275 for some mysterious reasons.

The city itself is rather large. Things to see include the Bell Tower and a few Buddhist temples. In the center of the city, there is a large temple. It is here that monk Xuan Zang from Journey to the West preached in A.D. 630 on his way to India.

Jiaohe is another ruined city that is 6 miles to the west of Turpan. It is probably the same size as Gaochang but better preserved. UNESCO has contributed to its preservation. The dry weather has helped city preserve its cityscape. It is a life-sized model of a Tang Dynasty city.

Astana Graves :This burial site, dated back to the 3rd century, is close to the ancient city of Gaochang. Although investigated by European archaeologists around the century, the bodies in the graves were not removed. Currently, there are only three graves open. Therefore, the entire visit only takes 15 minutes. Because of centuries of dry air, the silk wrappings on the corpses and even the food buried with them have survived in fine fettle. Wall murals depict the pleasures of family life and the beauties of nature, particularly of birds. Among the 10,000 relics excavated at Astana is a pair of woven linen shoes and a fossilized jiaozi (steamed dumplings) which is used to argue whether Marco Polo found or introduced spaghetti to China. Both specimens date from the Tang Dynasty.