The center of Bagua City, Turks County - Tai Chi Altar (drone shooting). Photo by Xinhua News Agency Zhao Fengshou

A corner off the street in Turks County. Photo by Xinhua News Agency Zhao Fengshou

At the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, in the Ili River Valley, overlooking from a high altitude, the national historical and cultural city - Turks County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is like a huge "Zhouyi" gossip map.

Surrounded by mountains and surrounded by rivers, the whole city is an architectural example of the ingenious integration of humanity and natural beauty.

According to the "Turks County Chronicle", Bagua City was built in the 30s of the 0th century. At that time, Qiu Zongjun, the envoy of Yili Tun Reclamation, led people to plan the city construction by combining the circular radiation layout and the gossip map of "Zhou Yi". In the early days of the city's construction, the second ring road was used as the core area for key construction. With the population gathering and urban development, it gradually expanded to the fourth ring road, forming a complete gossip pattern.

"Tai Chi gives birth to two instruments, two instruments give birth to four elephants, and four elephants give birth to gossip", the cosmology contained in "Zhou Yi" has been vividly reflected in the layout of Bagua City.

The Tai Chi altar, which symbolizes yin and yang, is located in the center of the city, with 4 pillars corresponding to Gan, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, and 0 hexagrams, and 0 main streets named after the hexagram extend outward, and 0 ring roads are progressive, forming a pattern of "roads and roads are connected, and streets and streets are connected".

"The first ring is Tai Chi, eight main street exhibitions. Every three hundred and six, add a ring. The second ring road and 16th street, the third ring road doubled again. The four rings are sixty-four, and the five rings are full of hexagrams. Jin Wentao, a county urban construction and cultural tourism consultant in Turks, described the urban layout of Turks as a geometric nested structure that accurately corresponds to the 64 hexagrams of the Zhou Yi.

Walking around the city, you will find that most of the buildings on both sides of the road are no more than 5 stories high, which sets off the vastness of the skyline. On Kan Street in the north direction, the Han and Tang Dynasty style road lamp pillars are painted with small water drop patterns, corresponding to the hexagram of "water"; Due south, the street lamps off the street are dancing with "small flames", symbolizing the vitality of "fire". One street and one scene, so that tourists have a kind of treasure hunting fun.

It is a city with no traffic lights within the 4th Ring Road during the off-season. In Bagua City, roundabouts can be seen everywhere, and even the most anxious drivers have to be patient and learn to turn slowly.

本地居民介紹，縣城約有5萬人居住，旅遊淡季時車流量較小，環島替代紅綠燈，起到讓車輛減速轉彎的作用。但旅遊旺季和車流量大時，還得由交警或可移動式紅綠燈指揮，緩解交通壓力。

Turks is also one of the few cities in the country that does not have a secondary pumping station and decompression tank. The high north-west and low-southeast topography created the planner's ideal natural slope – 6 thousandths of a thousandth, which not only ensures the natural flow of rainwater, avoids waterlogging, but also reduces energy consumption.

Jin Wentao introduced that the layout of Bagua City is based on the concept of "the unity of heaven and man", and the slope design echoes the idea of "rigidity and softness" in "Zhou Yi", which not only meets the functional needs, but also highlights the cultural connotation of the city.

"He" is the "soul" of Bagua City. "Heaven and earth are intertwined and all things are connected, and the upper and lower are intertwined and their like-mindedness is also", the harmonious state of close connection and interdependence between man and nature, and between people expounded in "Zhou Yi Taigua", is reflected in all aspects of this multi-ethnic city.

As the city grew, the boundaries of Bagua City continued to expand. After scientific planning, the local government built a Jiugong New City near the old city, which integrates administrative, educational, sports and other functions, effectively relieving the pressure of Bagua City.

A foreign expert said that Turks is not only a city, but also an "open-air museum" that showcases the wisdom of oriental philosophy and the pluralistic Chinese culture.

(According to Xinhua News Agency reporters Cai Guodong and Zhang Yu)