The Ancient City of Jiaohe is located in the Yarnaz Valley 
thirteen kilometers west of Turpan. It was first the capital 
of the State of South Cheshi, which was one of the thirty-six 
states in the Western Region. As described in the dynastic 
history book The Notes on the Western Region, A History of the 
Han dynasty, “The State of South Cheshi made the city of Jiaohe
its capital, which was circled by rivers flowing by the city, 
hence the name of ‘Jiaohe’ (the city of joining rivers).“ Built 
on a loess plateau 30 meters high, the ancient city is 1,650 
meters long and 300 meters wide. The city has no walls and
is protected by the natural fortification of the preci-pitous cliffs. During the Western Han dynasty, the central government established “Jiaohebi” (an administrative division) and appointed and dispatched a commanding general officer to the Turpan area. During the period from the Northern Wei to  the beginning of the Tang dynasty, Jiaohebi was Jiaohe Prefecture under the jurisdiction of Gaochang Kingdom. The Anxi  Military Viceroy‘s Office,the highest civil and military administrative organ set up by the Tang government in the Western  Region, was first established in the city. Between the middle of the eighth century and the middle of the ninth century, 
the city was occupied by Tibetans. After that, it was called Jiaohe Prefecture and fell under the jurisdiction of the Huigu 
Gaochang Kingdom. At the end of the thirteenth century, it was destroyed in Mongolian aristocratic  rebellions. The size of the existing ruins indicates its great prosperity during the Tang dynasty. There are two city gates.The main southern gate is in ruins. The eastern gate is relatively well-preserved, with visible gateways and 
mortise openings for mounting the gate lintels. There are hideouts built in the gate for soldiers to defend the city.    
The ruins of the buildings, divided basically into temples, civilian dwellings and government offices, have an area 
of 220,000 square meters. Entering the southern gate, one can see a 10 meter-wide and 350-meter-long main  street leading to the biggest Buddhist temple located in the north-central part of the city. The tower in front of  the temple gate is still intact, and standing on top of the tower one can enjoy the panorama of the whole city. 
There are still some more temples in the city. In the southeastern area of the city are located administrative office buildings and official residences which are the only big buildings built of bricks and tiles. According to researchers, the magnificent, half-underground,two-story building is probably the seat of Anxi‘s Military