Vehicle testing ground put into use in Turpan

URUMQI - A vehicle testing field has been put into service in Turpan, a city known as the land of fire in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Wednesday.

This vehicle testing field occupies an area of 23.35 million square meters, equivalent to the size of more than 3,200 football fields. It is funded by SAIC Volkswagen, aiming to test their products including petrol-based vehicles, new energy vehicles and automotive parts under extremely dry and hot conditions.

The land surface temperatures of Turpan usually reach as high as 80 degrees Celsius in summer. The testing ground is located in the west of the Kumtag Desert. The hot and dry weather makes it one of the best choices for vehicles to conduct high temperature tests.

It took three years to complete the construction because it is difficult to build a high-speed test track on the soft Gobi Desert with its saline-alkali soil, according to Sun Kai, a technician of the experimental center.