Brief Introduction: Tuyuq is located in the east of Turpan city 55km,and the Tuyuq Mazha village is just built in the grand canyon of Tuyuq, surrounding around the grand mosque. It has a history of more than 1700 years. The Tuyuq mazha village is the first islamic holy land in China,known as the mecca of China. It is also an important relay station for Buddhism to spread to China. The thousand Buddha caves in the Tuyuq canyon is one of the three famous Buddhism grottos in xinjiang. The well-preserved raw earthed buildings in the village can be called "the first earthen village in China".

The ancient Uyghur traditions and folk customs have been completely preserved in the village. The People here communicate in the Uyghur language, believe in Islam and wear the most distinctive ethnic costumes. Even in the Mazha village the main means of transportation for visiting friends and relatives is still the classic donkey cart.

Tuyuq means "a dead road, a blocked road" in the Uyghur language. "Mazha"is the transliteration of Arabic, meaning "holy land", "saint's tomb", which mainly refers to the mausoleum of the islamic dignitaries. Mazha village can be named after "mazha", which seems that is not an ordinary village.

In the Mazha village,there are a large number of traditional Uyghur folk houses, all of which are yellow clay earthen buildings, all of which are civil structures, some of which are cave dwellings, some of which are two-story building structures. Some caves are dug out from the hills and slopes, while others are built from yellow clay.The doors and windows of the ancient dwellings are very simple, but it contains much profound culture. The frames of doors are carved with various patterns of carved wooden door handles, with flower shapes, geometric shapes and fruits shapes

The agricultural structure here is simple, mainly growing the world-renowned Turpan seedless white grapes. The soil in Tuyuq is the most suitable for the cultivation of seedless white grapes. The Tuyuq mazha village can be the hometown of seedless white grape.

On the hillside next to the mazha village there are dozens of large and small tombs of the Islamic saints and missionaries . So that the village was named "mazha village", also known as tomb village. For thousands of years, it has been a holy place of worship for Muslims ,which was called the eastern mecca.

What kind of honor did the Tuyuq Mazha village win?

In 2005, tuyuq mazha village was rated as a famous historical and cultural village in China, which is the first ancient village in xinjiang province to win this honor.

On Dec.17, 2012, Mazza village was announced by the ministry of housing and urban-rural development, the ministryof culture and the ministry of finance as the first batch of Chinese traditional villages.

Historical legendary story:

When Muhammad founded Islamin the 7th century, his disciple Yemu Naha and five others came to China to preach Muslim.They traveled all the way from west to Turpan, where they met a shepherd with a dog. Afterwards the old shepherd became the first Chinese who believed in Islam in the history. Then they went together to Tuyuq, practiced in a cave. Six people and one dog eventually became into holy. After their death posterity buried them in this cave.

Nowadays there are six earth tombs and an irregular stone in the cave. The stone is shaped like a dog, so it was chosen to represent the shepherd dog which walked with the sage.

Therefore, Tuyuq mazha is also known as "the tomb of the seven sages", which can be regarded as the largest Islamic holy land in China and well known as "the mecca of China".

The cemetery is still revered by Muslims. For devout Muslims, it is said, it is still spiritual and can help them out of trouble. Heretics with evil intentions would be punished.

Local Muslims say that before the hajj they must go to the Tuyuq Mazha. According to the record from German explorer , Mr. Kirk, until the beginning of the 20th century, there were still Muslims from Turkey, Indiato make a pilgrimage here. Nowadays an endless stream of Muslims from the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, as well as Germany, Turkey and other places still come here to make an annual pilgrimage .

The Level : Reputed as the Eastern mecca

Admission fee: 50 yuan RMB

Opening Time:

Peak season: 8.00 A.M to 9.00 P.M ( 21st April to 20th October)
Off season: 10.00 A.M to 6 P.M.( 21st October to 20th April )

Visiting Time: 1-1.5 hours

Travel Tips: 1, Tourists must respect local religion;

2, If you wanna take photo for the villagers, you should get their permission first;

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More Pictures:

           the cemetery of sants                                             the old mosque                                                    islamic earthen windows