Stargazing event promotes dark sky tourism in Hami

Welcoming the meteor shower

The festival kicked off at a stretch of the Gobi Desert, dozens of kilometers away from any human settlements and without mobile signals, in Yizhou district of Hami city on Aug 9.

"Hami has vast wild areas without any light pollution. In addition to its arid weather, it's a perfect place for us to welcome the meteor shower here," Wang said. That night the photographers recorded dozens of shooting stars and many worked till dawn.

On the evening of Aug 10, Zhou Bo, an astronomy photographer and also co-founder of CSVA, arrived at the Taku Karez site in Erpu town, Yizhou district. He joined hands with three CSVA engineers to livestream the event online from the ancient karez well.

The karez well, part of an irrigation system dating back over 2,000 years, consists of a vertical shaft connected to an underground channel. The channel, connected with a network of underground channels, is supplied with water from the melted ice and snow in the Tianshan Mountains.

The underground structure prevents water from evaporating. Water from the well, flowing into ditches and then pouring into a big pond at the historical site, has nurtured many poplar and jujube trees and turned the area into a lush park.