the Turfan Basin

the lowest basin in China	the lowest basin in China

The Turfan Basin extends approximately 550 km east-west by 100 km north-south within northwest China and is located between branches of the intracontinental Tien Shan orogenic belt. At present it is an intermontane foreland basin loaded by southward transported thrust sheets at its northern margin. This deformation is a long-distance manifestation of the India-Asia collision, but the orientation and location of Cenozoic structures is strongly influenced by the pre-Cenozoic history of the region.
It covers an area of 50,000 square kilometers and in the center of the basin lies the Aydingkol (Moonlight) Lake which has an elevation of 154.5 meters below sea level marking the first lowest elevation in China and the second lowest elevation on the Earth's land surface (after the Dead Sea which reaches down to more than 400 meters below sea level). The Turfan Basin has a hot and arid continental climate in which the precipitation is far less than the potential evaporation. July is the hottest month with an average maximum temperature of 39.7 °C (103.5 °F) and January the coolest with an average maximum temperature of -2.2 °C (28 °F). In contrast to this, the potential annual evaporation rate reaches 3 meters. Because of its climate, the area is sometimes counted as one of the Furnaces of China, although the locations included under this heading vary.
The Turfan Basin is famous for it’s strange topography, being the lowest basin in China. And the  Turfan Basin fruit is famous throughout the Orient, as is Uyghur cuisine, which blends elements of Chinese and Turkish cooking.