Photos

Silkroad feed: Tien Shan

To pass from Turpan to Ürümqi means crossing over the mighty Tien Shan. We did it by train and by bus. And --lo and behold--, the landscape here at 1'780 m asl. looks like in the Swiss alps! The pagoda tells of the whereabouts, however. The Tien Shan range might be the longest mountain chain in Asia, reaching from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Xin Jiang to the border of Mongolia and reaching up to 7'439 m asl. (Jengish Chokusu, formerly pik Pobeda). The trees, the multiannual herbs all look familiar, but actually the species are not so familiar: Tien-Shan fir, Tien Shan apple, Tien Shan Walnut and so on.

The cultured apple tree, Malus domestica has its origin clearly in the Tien Shan; recent studies at Oxford University revealed that the wild growing forest species Malus sieversii in the Tien Shan (see picture) is the genetical ancestor of all cultured apple trees on earth.