Chapter 1

A little bit weird after visiting Sugong Tower because it looked like a mosque to us but it didn’t ‘say’ it was a mosque. Here is the official description of the tower:

Sugong Tower is the most representative building as well as the largest
extant ancient tower in Xinjiang. It contains the essence of traditional Chinese
architectural art and is designated as a base for patriotic education. The tower was
built by Emin Khoja in 1777 AD, the famous General of Qing Dynasty and
Governor of Turfan district raising 7000 taels of silver by himself, boasts a
history of more than 240 years, which show his allegiance and expresses his
gratitude to the the Emperor Qian-Long during his latter years. It makes himself
leave a glorious memory in the history for his safeguarding the unity of the
motherland all his life. On January 13, 1988, Sugong Tower was announced as
the National major cultural relics preservation unit.

Sugong Tower is made of stacked grey bricks, and basically no wood is used
except for the window lattice at its top. The tower is round and cylindrical,
gradually shrinking from the bottom up, with a diameter of 10 meters at its base
and tapering to 2.8 meters at the top. The tower is 37 meters high, surrounded by
14 windows for ventilation and light. Inside, a winding 72-step staircase built
with bricks goes straight to the top of the tower, which covers an area of about
10 square meters and can be used for keeping a lookout. The top of the tower is a
vaulted roof, decorated with cast iron. The surface of the tower is covered with a
dozen different shapes of geometric patterns, which are cycled with endless
variations through the stacking of ordinary grey bricks.

As the first king of Turpan, Emin Khoja was a patriot that emerged from the
Uyghur people. He made important contributions in opposing the separation of Nationalities , maintaining national unity, as well as safeguarding the interests of
the Chinese nation and the unity of the motherland.Læs mere