Climate change drying up 'amazing' Chinese channels

Collecting water from a karez in Turpan. “Our
ancestors were amazing because they built these
 without machines,” Salayidin Nejemdin,
whose family has grown grapes there
 for generations, said of the karez channels.

TURPAN, China — It is an improbable journey that begins on the highest peaks of the Tianshan Mountains, where glacial snowmelt descends across one of the world’s most arid landscapes to reach the lush oasis communities of this ancient Silk Road outpost.

Powered by gravity, the water — pure and cold — makes the entire voyage underground, traveling through scores of subterranean channels, some of them 15 miles long and 100 feet deep, that were built 2,000 years ago by the pastoralists who settled this inhospitable corner of China’s far western Xinjiang region.

Known as karez, the system of channels is an engineering marvel that has long fascinated scientists and filled this city’s ethnic Uighurs with pride.

“Our ancestors were amazing because they built these without machines,” said Salayidin Nejemdin, 29, whose family has been growing grapes in Turpan for generations. “Without them, we would not be able to live in such a harsh place.”

Read The New York Times story - “In a Parched Corner of Xinjiang, Ancient Water Tunnels Are Running Dry.”