Kuqa

Kuqa has seen days far more glorious than at present. From the first through seventh centuries, Kuqa was the center of a Buddhist kingdom of the same name, and the most populous oasis city along the Tarim Basin section of the Silk Road. More than 80,000 inhabitants once lived in this small town, then known as the largest of the “Thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions.” However, like some other Silk Road oases, time has not been friendly to Kuqa, where it has slowly faded away into obscurity.

A modern visit to Kuqa is still delightful, witnessing locals in brightly colored garb shopping the markets, tasting the delicious Uyghur snacks, or walking through the old roads full of blue-painted doors. On the outskirts of Kuqa lie crumbling adobe ruins of a long forgotten Buddhist complex lasting a thousand years, from the 3rd to 13th centuries. Subashi is the name- the “headwater of a river” – which lies either side of the Kuqa River in a desolate, yet starkly beautiful desert. Slightly to the north of Kuqa lies an impressive cathedral of cliffs, known as the Tianshan Grand Canyon. Nearby, ancient caves still adorn brightly colored paintings of Buddhist art. Kuqa, now an obscure town in Xinjiang, China, holds many secrets of days long gone, where the imagination runs wild.