The ride to Turpan is a fascinating journey. In vast stretches, the road from Urumqi, the capital of the mainland's northwestern Xinjiang province, appears to be a trail of gravel that lines a bumpy way to the foot of surrounding mountains.
But it is only a surprisingly short distance before the stones give way to meadows sprinkled with dandelions, or to patches of parched earth sprouting tufts of grass. At times, two wildly different types of vegetation exist on opposite sides of the road.
Riding the minibus through parts of this eclectic study of topography is akin to riding a boat in a stormy sea: there is little rest or relief for your body as you are tossed and jostled about for parts of the 200-kilometre journey. The road is narrow and sometimes busy, especially coming out of Urumqi where trucks are driven head on leaving just seconds to veer out of each other's way.
Scattered across the desert are oil rigs, dust-layered chemical factory towns, sand huts where television sets are visible through their small entrances, and single rows of narrow restaurants offering chicken and lamb. Men appearing the size of ants toil on a distant highway being built parallel to the road being traversed.
A sign at one point reads 'Drink Xinjiang beer. Make friends with the world'; other signs remind travellers of the mainland's economic 'open door' policy. Water from a freshwater lake can be seen snaking through the scorched earth; mountains rise and drop in the distance.
Our guide described the Turpan Basin as the 'hottest, sweetest and lowest' place on earth: hottest, because summer temperatures often reach 40 degrees Celsius (we were lucky, it was at least 10 degrees lower); sweetest, because it produces grapes; and lowest, because its depression is 155 metres below sea level, ranking it among the lowest spots in the world.