Chinese scientists visited Turkmenistan on New Year's Eve. Among them were specialists from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography and its research center for green development for the Great Silk Road, the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, as well as other scientific institutions related to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ACS). The visit was organized to hold meetings with Turkmen colleagues.
A cultural program was provided for the guests, which consisted of visiting natural sites. One of the events was a trip to the urban-type village of Bokurdak, located among the high sand dunes of the Karakum desert, where people have lived since ancient times, and the official history of the village is more than a hundred years old, as reported in the “Neutral Turkmenistan” newspaper.
Guests from China were given an excursion deep into the desert, the dunes of which are up to 50 meters high, to examine the vegetation cover, including perennial man-made plantings of white and black saxaul. The guests visited the felt yurt of one of the most green and hospitable households, Kakabay aga, known for its adherence to folk traditions of life and cuisine.
In front of the amazed guests, a huge festive pie - ishlekli - filled with chopped lamb was prepared in the Karakum sand.
The guests tried home-made camel chal - in Bokurdak there are camels in every yard, so there is no shortage of this healthy product - as well as freshly baked chorek from tamdyr.
A group of Chinese scientists also visited a meteorological station located in the desert. Near the weather site, they examined the growths of young fruit-bearing pistachios - you won’t find this in the desert. Scientists noted the beneficial continuity of planting along with the growth of house construction, as well as plants that can be acclimatized to the harsh weather and climatic conditions of the Karakum Desert.
