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23 Ancient Silk Road CITY of GAOCHANG CHINA
Ancient Silk Road CITY OF GAOCHANG
by Dima Lavinovich
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The Gaochang Ruins were once the thriving ancient City of Gaochang, an oasis city on the northern edge of the hostile Taklamakan Desert at the foot of the Flaming Mountains in present-day Xinjiang, China.
Gaochang was once a prosperous city serving as capital for 3 western states in ancient times. The city played an important role as the political, economic and cultural centre of Xinjiang and therefore was a key city in the ancient Silk Road.
Gaochang is one of the best preserved ancient cities in China, it has survived for over 2,000 years and even today you can still feel the magnificence of this ancient city. It incorporated 3 parts; the outer city in a square form, has a 5km circumference with some walls still remaining; the inner city in the middle, whose walls no longer exist is the centre; and the palace city in the north of the complex was considered to be a magnificent building, but only the cornerstones of the 4-storied imperial palace remain today.
At its hight, the city was home to a population of approx. 30,000 people and was a bustling centre long the Silk Road. Its huge earthen walls once towered at over 11m high. Nine city gates were located in the 4 cardinal points. The gates in the west are the best preserved. In the southwestern and south eastern parts of the outer city stand two temples ruins; the south-western corner temple consists of a gate, a courtyard, a sermon hall, a sutra depository and monks' house. The south eastern temple consists of a many-sided tower and a worship grotto, with stunning murals which are well preserved.
Over time, thousands of priceless historical artefacts have been discovered like mummies, writings, inscriptions, paintings, earthen figurines, pieces of stone, pottery, wood, bronze, iron, gold, silver, as well as ancient coins and cotton, silk, and wool.
Gaochang was also a sanctuary of world religious culture. During the Tang Dynasty, it became one of the primary Buddhist cities. On his way to India, the Buddhist monk Xuanzang stopped at Gaochang to give lectures.
There was also a Confucian college of classics, and a church of Nestorian Christianity found on the outskirts of the town. With the extended Uyghur Empire, Manichaeism made its home in Gaochang, while Islam became the dominant religion of the region in 1390.
Indeed the many finds discovered at the city suggest that Gaochang may have been one of the oldest multi-ethnic and multi-religious cities in China.
The ancient site was included in the Silk Road UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014 and since then the site has had many renovations and preservation projects.
The majority of European countries are to ease travel restrictions on both business and leisure travel for travellers who have been fully vaccinated against C19 virus. The aim is to attract more people to accept the vaccination.
The European countries, will welcome tourists from countries with relatively low infection rates as well as those who are fully vaccinated. Like in the old days, when we travelled with yellow vaccine certifications, a new digital version will become mandatory for all travellers. With cases rising and falling and new variants appearing, many nations will still have the power to Restrict travel with short notice to and from certain nations.
Qantas Airways is expected to resume international flights from late October after the vast majority of the Australian population has been vaccinated. (This does not include New Zealand).
However, with COVID-19 surges, and variants spreading around the world, Qantas is now refunding tickets sold for flights after July 1 and before 31st October.
The Australian government will make the final decision on international travel restarting and would take into account the effectiveness of vaccines, the level of cases in various destinations, etc.
Australia has limited its citizens from leaving the country to prevent bringing infections back home. Most of Australia's COVID-19 cases were infected overseas and were diagnosed during 14-days hotel quarantine which is mandatory for travellers on arrival.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES TO PHASE OUT A380
Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), Malaysia Airlines’ parent company, is to retire its Airbus A380 fleet in the months to come. Malaysia Airlines has six A380 jets in its fleet and these are currently in storage.
The move will also free up one of MAG’s dedicated A380 maintenance lines to allow it to market to other operators. This will link with the group’s ‘Long-Term Business Plan 2.0’ this capacity as a product
MAG plans to reorganise operations in two profit centres, travel solutions and aviation services. Travel solutions aims to provide services peripheral to airline operations. MRO and cargo operations are included within aviation services.
To replace its old A330 fleet, the company will look at wide body aircraft to commence 2023-2024. It will take delivery of all 737 Max jets on order, over 3-4 years as part of creditor negotiations with Boeing, arriving in 2024 or earlier.
MAG long-term business plan will see conservative network growth with its focus on ASEAN and more generally, the Asia-Pacific region, before going long-haul.
COPA AIRLINES RESUMES TRAVEL BETWEEN PANAMA AND BELIZE
Turismo de Belize (BTB) has announced the resuming of weekly flights from Panama by COPA Airlines, starting in June 2021.
The resumption of COPA's service will create new opportunities to promote and sell the destination to key markets in South America and Europe. Visitors can enjoy Belize’s natural spas and paradisiacal beaches, explore caves and reefs, discover the jungle and admire Mayan relics.
After severe losses, the airline is aiming to regain its losses by focusing on the First class services as well as improving its Premier Lounges for its First Class passengers.
RUSLINE DIRECT FLIGHTS TO ANAPA
Yaroslavl Airport is expanding its route network due to demand with direct flights beginning on the 14th June to Anapa. The route will be with a 50-seater Bombardier CRJ liner and have a flight duration of 2 hours 30 minutes.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES PROMOTES TRIPS TO THAILAND, INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, MALDIVES AND SRI LANKA
Singapore Airlines has launched new promotions for travel to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives and Sri Lanka lasting until November. The campaign is on offer until 5th May with date changes for free. Departures are from Barcelona, Madrid or Lisbon and stopover at Changi airport in Singapore Passengers must check the entry requirements for each of the destinations depending on the reason for their trip.
Singapore Airlines aircraft continually undergo thorough cleaning and Disinfection process prior to each flight. Human contact is minimized with digitised boarding passes, menus, and travel documents.
DIRECT FLIGHT FROM NEW YORK NEWARK AND LOS ANGELES TO DUBROVNIK PRAGUSA AIRLINES
Pragusa has announced non-stop flights from the USA to Croatia this summer. Flights will begin between New York and Dubrovnik with an Airbus A330-300, offering 15,700 seats in total and will increase its capacity of seats when it starts to operate the new A350s. The flights will operate on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday from New York and Dubrovnik.
AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHTS TO THE BAHAMAS
American Airlines is adding a new route to the Bahamas; between Austin-Bergstrom Airport to Nassau, Bahamas, from 5th June. This is part of a wider air transport campaign for the Bahamas which also sees new Frontier Airlines flights from Miami to Nassau, starting in July.
AIR FRANCE-KLM LOSSES BILLIONS OF POUNDS
Air France-KLM has announced disappointing first-quarter figures, which is not surprising considering aviation is still not open to all.
It has recorded a UK£1.04 billion operating loss for 1st quarter of 2021. The forecast is also not looking too bright either. Revenue fell 57% to UK£1.864 billion.
Along with most other airlines, the prospect of tourists and flights getting back to normal with vaccines in place is still taking time. Like many airlines, Air France-KLM is having to abide by rules from Brussels, who seem to pick and choose who to support financially and who to not. Most German l airlines, received significant financial support from the German government in 2020, agreed by Brussels, while other European airlines from member countries received nothing.
International arrivals to South America fell by up with a drop of 73% in international visitors. Peru (70%), resulting in Chile being the least international tourists, followed by Argentina
The recovery of the South American freedom of movement, infrastructure and
Colombia, due to its close location is still the US as it is a short flight and offers America, the USA remains the most America. Colombia saw considerable 180% between 2009 and 2019. to 48% in 2020. Peru was the most affected nation was followed by Venezuela (71%) and Ecuador affected country in the area, with a 25% drop in (27%) and Colombia (30%) .
tourism industry will depend mainly on the the economic costs of travel.
a primary destination for tourists from low cost tickets. Outside of South important source market in South growth from US tourists increasing by
For intraregional travel, it represents an Venezuela and Argentina being the most due to accessibility and family ties.
important share of the market with Brazil, important source markets for many countries
BRUSSELS AIRLINES WILL NOT REINTRODUCE CROATIAN DESTINATIONS - ZADAR AND ZAGREB
Brussels airlines will now not reintroduction scheduled flights this summer from the city to Zagreb and Zadar. It will still resume flights to Dubrovnik and Split.
However, Ryanair has announced flights from Brussels South Charleroi to both Zagreb and Zadar this summer.
NEOS AIRLINES DIRECT FLIGHTS FROM JFK TO MILAN
Italy's 2nd largest airline, Neos is to begin flights to and from the United States from the 2nd half of June 2021. It will connect New York with Milan, Italy. Neos operates scheduled services to more than 50 routes throughout Italy, as well as to Africa, the Caribbean, China, Egypt, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Jordan, the Maldives, Mexico, Oman, Spain and Thailand.
AEROFLOT DIRECT ROUTE BETWEEN MOSCOW AND VARADERO
Aeroflot is to offer flights between Moscow-Varadero from June on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Demand for the Aeroflot flights to the Cuban tourist destination will be in great demand by organised and independent Russian travellers. There are already 3 Russian airlines offering charter flights to Varadero.
AEROMÉXICO TO INCREASE ITS FLEET
Aeromexico is to increase its fleet with 24 new Boeing 737-8 and B737-9 MAX models and another 4 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners after restructuring its deal with the manufacturer. The plan will begin this year with 9 aircraft operating as of next summer and the rest will arrive in the 2nd half of 2021 and during 2022.
