Turpan–Hottest Place on Earth?

I’m not sure if it is the hottest place, but it is definitely the hottest I’ve ever had a chance to visit. Day time temperatures get to around 65-70C, which is around 150-160F! The bellow giant thermometer shows 65C. This is the home to the Bull Demon King and Iron-fan Princess.

Do you think people live in those conditions? Of course they do. They adapt to it and make very interesting architectural changes to their houses.  

Turpan is located in western part of China, in Xin Jiang province, about 150 miles east from Urumqi. We rented a car from our hotel – with a driver – to take us there. It was not cheap, but money spent is totally worth the experience we got from the trip, and convenience of a good car, with good AC, with local driver who knows how to drive Chinese highways is really priceless.

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34 thoughts on “Turpan–Hottest Place on Earth?

      1. You’ve just amazed yet another Texan….well, a Texas transplant down in San Antonio…and nope, it doesn’t get quite that hot here either.
        Really nice photograph…it has a very ‘alien’ appeal to it, completely foreign, completely beautiful.

  1. Hi,
    That is very hot, you would definitely need AC to keep comfortable. What a good idea to get a car and driver.
    I absolutely love the temperature monument, I have never seen anything like it, what a totally unique idea. I love all the carvings around it as well, it really does look stunning. 🙂

  2. Great trip, I’m certain. I would not give anything for my trip to Mongolia, which is so unlike China. If you get near enough to travel on into Mongolia…do so. The people are very friendly. See my writings on Mongolia. http://wp.me/pEzJc-3l
    Nancy Boyer of Boyer Writes

  3. wow…that is amazing! I’ll bet you can fry an egg on their sidewalks! That’s a cool looking tribute to the temperature gods….would that be Pele? 😉 Seriously…you have great tips. Thanks for posting!

  4. Did you bring your own thermometer to confirm the temperature? I have a really hard time believing it.. in the middle of the desert in Saudi Arabia, it was 45 degrees!

    1. based on Internet searches it states that temperatures at the Flaming Mountain are often in their 50th or higher. We were there at the end of July, one of the hottest times of the summer, so it getting this hot is not a surpirse.

    1. as long as you don’t have to spend more than 20-30 minutes in it…we didn’t came by the car, looked at all, got back in the car. Driver kept it running with AC on….

  5. Wow that IS hot! And I thought I was sweatin’ it up here in Bali… it’s positively chilly compared to where you’re at.
    Some of your photos have an incredible surreal dimension to them, hyper-realistic actually.. very cool 🙂
    Thnx for ‘liking’ my blog too!

  6. Now THAT is a thermometer. I also love the pictures of the housing ventilation system, which reminds me of FLW’s ventilation openings in the Pope-Leighy house at Woodlawn. Bet Witold Rybczinsky would find those interesting. How do the occupants close up the vents in colder weather? And, by the way, thanks for visiting my blog and liking my garden post!

    1. like during any summer, t-shirt, shorts. We had Sheraton’s nice big Toyota with AC so entire drive was just fine. We didn’t spend whole a lot of time outdoors, maybe 15 minutes at the Flaming mountains, another 5-10 at other stops. It was hot, didn’t want to be outside for longer than that.

  7. Thanks for stopping by Enthusiast Photographer! That is an interesting shot, and I had no idea it was so hot there! That is pretty crazy! It is always a big advantage to have a local driver who knows the deal. I’m hoping to travel to China and Japan in the next few months, and have a couple of ideas for good photo opportunities.

    I’ll check back – you get around quite a bit! Cheers!

    Lee…

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