Suyab (Ak-Beshim)

Suyab was a major city of the Chuy valley from around the fifth century, a capital of the Western Turkic Khaganate and for a time the westernmost garrison of Tang China, and excavation has turned up Buddhist temples with monumental statuary, a Nestorian Christian church, Zoroastrian material and later mosques, which together make it one of the clearest pictures anywhere of how mixed a Silk Road city could be. The poet Li Bai is traditionally said to have been born here. What a visitor sees is much less than that: low earth mounds, trenches and the outlines of walls across a field, with the finds themselves in museums in Bishkek and St Petersburg. The site is inscribed as part of the Silk Roads Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor World Heritage property.

What you actually see

• Earth mounds and outlines - the excavated shape of the city walls.
• Excavation trenches - cuts left open from archaeological seasons.
• The open Chuy plain - farmland where the city stood.
• The scale of the site - the extent of the mounds across the fields.

When to go

April to October; spring and autumn are most comfortable, as the Chuy valley is hot in midsummer. The site is open ground with no gate, so timing is free. It is usually combined with Burana tower nearby.

Honest expectations

There is very little to see above ground and no interpretation on site, so this rewards reading beforehand more than walking around. The finds are in museums elsewhere. Access is across farmland with no path or signage. Burana, close by, is far more legible for a casual visit.

Nearby

Burana tower is a short drive; Tokmok is the nearest town.