Soaring temperatures heat up Turpan’s economy

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By CGTN’s Jin Yang

With the mercury hitting 44 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, Turpan in central Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is definitely going through on rough, sweaty summer.

But the city is earning millions as it takes advantage of its scorching heat by building the second largest test-site for vehicles to undergo heat-tests under these high temperatures.

"We chose to do car tests here mainly because the absolute temperature of Turpan is high," said Jiang Xin, director of Dongfeng Motor Corporation Technology Center. "It is better to test the vehicles' components in extremely warm temperatures,”

Dongfeng Automobile aims to verify the charging state and mileage of its new energy vehicle's lithium battery under high temperatures.

In addition to performance testing, the site will also carry out trials on car parts, chemical materials and plastic products.

How hot is it in Turpan? An iron container covered with glass is used to steam eggs, and is one of its specialties. /CGTN Photo

“Every year from July to September, we have 100 people rushing to Turpan for the tests," said Xu Gang, an engineer with Dongfeng Motor Corporation Technology Center. "It takes more than two months for these tests and they spend about two million yuan, which is about 300,000 US dollars,”

The Turpan test field was built in June 2012, covering nearly 150 hectares.

Chinese car manufactures used to do related tests in the United States or set up high temperature labs indoors, but it was costly and data accuracy could not be guaranteed.

“Statistics show that 135 car companies and more than 1,000 vehicles participate in the test every year," said Guo Chunyun, deputy director of Turpan Resources and Environment Test Research Center. "It is estimated to generate one hundred million yuan of revenue for the local economy,”

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