The Astana Tombs

 Located over 40 kilometers to the southeast of Turfan City , covering an area of 10 square kilometers, the Astana Tombsare the graveyard of the residents lived in the Gaochang City in the Jin-Tang times,including largesized familu graveyard. Between 1959 and 1975,here had been excavated 13 times, a great number og cultural relics have been unearthed, including Chinese documents, textiles, epitaphs, coins, clay sculptures, pottery, wooden wares, silk-paintings, crops and foods,etc., and total number of them reaches tens thousands. Known as “the Underground Museum ”, the Astana Tombs afford valuable materials for studies on ancient society, economy, politics,culture, religion, art, and cultural exchanges between China and West, and so on. Now it is a listed as a major cultural site under state protection.