Tarim River, northwest to the Taklamakan Desert, means "a wild horse without a rein" in Uygur language.
In the past, the river used to be known for its wild flow and changeable course, just like a wild horse that is hard to control.
The first division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Group built a barrage in the upstream area of the river in 1972, diverting its water into three reservoirs to serve over 1,200 sq km of farm land in Alar irrigation area, situated to the south of the Tianshan Mountain in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Thus the "wild horse" of the river has since been tamed.
Near the dam is the Xianglong Lake with a typical southern-wetland style design.
The lake features clear water and meandering banks. Over the lake stands a bridge that looks quite like the Wuting Bridge, a landmark of the Slim West Lake in Yangzhou of East China's Jiangsu Province.
The Wuting Bridge in Yangzhou, so named because of its five pavilions, was built in 1757 to commemorate the visit of the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
In contrast, the bridge in the frontier city was built by Yangzhou-born investor Li Xueshu, in a bid to improve the environment.
Li used to run a restaurant in his hometown before he moved to Xinjiang. After he heard a young diner from Xinjiang complaining that it was hard to find Yangzhou food in his hometown, Li decided to develop his career in the western region.
He started running his food business in 1985 in the Arksu area, where Alar is situated. His business has grown significantly over nearly 20 years of development.
After thorough research of many places in Arksu, Li finally chose a swampland near the dam on Tarim River as a starting point for his investment in tourism.
He invested in transforming the swampland into a clean lake park and building a bridge reminiscent of Wuting Bridge, vowing to bring half the beauty of Slim West Lake to Xinjiang.
This bridge also has five pavilions, with one in the center and the other four surrounding it, bringing to mind the picture of a lotus blooming in the water.
In addition to the bridge, a blue-wall green-roof gazebo in the park adjacent to the lake is a major attraction. The gazebo provides a long-range perspective of the park and a nearby river network, with Tarim River flowing in the east and the source of the Tarim, where the three streams of Arksu, Yarkant and Hetian meet, in the south.
With farm product processing, construction materials and cotton textiles as its pillar industries, Alar has registered an annual average gross domestic product (GDP) of more than 2 billion yuan in recent years, with agriculture contributing about 60 percent of its GDP.
Source: China Daily
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