Entry 3: An Accepting Place
January 9- 700 AD

Next on my journey was a city that contained multiple salt lakes that were harvested and traded. This was named Turfan, and it reminded me of Dunhuang. The climate was deathly hot, but like Dunhuang, Turfan contained many Grottos and Buddhist cave murals. Many devout Buddhists lived in this town. The majority of traders that set up markets carried fruits, melons, and grapes. Many travelers were sleeping in this town before heading west on the silk route. Buddhist tales were encrypted on the cave walls in order to preserve the religious routes in the town of Turfan. Housing was unique in this town, most of the houses that I saw were cave dwellings, houses were carved out of the huge cliffs that surrounded the city. The culture of Turfan was very diverse. I spoke with many Muslim women and they all commented that this area did not feel like China because of the diverse culture. Turfan was both the most accepting city I had ever been to in terms of tolerating differing religions, and the most tolerating of woman religious practitioners. Muslim women many times were wearing head coverings. Many old people lived in this town, some of which were over 100 years old.