Gaochang or Karahoja (Uyghur: قاراھوجا, romanized: Qarahoja, Қарахоҗа; Chinese: 高昌; pinyin: Gāochāng), is the only district and the seat of the oasis city of Turpan, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Its population was 254,900 at the end of 2003.

Quick Facts 高昌区 • قاراھوجا رايونىKarahoja, Qarahoja, Country ...

Gaochang 高昌区 • قاراھوجا رايونى Karahoja, Qarahoja
District
City center
Location of Karahoja (red) in Turpan Prefecture (yellow) and Xinjiang
Gaochang Location of the district centre in Xinjiang Show map of Xinjiang Gaochang Gaochang (China) Show map of China
Coordinates (Turpan government): 42°57′04″N 89°11′22″E
Country	China
Autonomous region	Xinjiang
Prefecture-level city	Turpan
Township-level divisions	3 subdistricts 2 towns 7 townships
District seat	Laocheng Road Subdistrict
Area
• Total	13,650 km2 (5,270 sq mi)
Population  (2020)[1]
• Total	317,443
• Density	23/km2 (60/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard[lower-alpha 1])
Postal code	838000
Area code	0995
Website	gcq.tlf.gov.cn

Close

According to the municipal government of Turpan, the district is named after the ancient city of Gaochang. It was also proposed that the district be named after Ayding Lake.^[2]

The district was created on 12 April 2015 after Turpan was upgraded from a county-level city into a prefecture-level city. The district has the same size and population as the former Turpan county-level city.^[3]

Gaochang District is divided into 4 subdistricts, 5 towns, 3 townships and 1 other township-level division.

Gaochang District has a cold-desert climate (Köppen climate classification Dwa). The average annual temperature in Gaochang is 6.5 °C (43.7 °F). The average annual rainfall is 50.8 mm (2.00 in) with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 22.8 °C (73.0 °F) and lowest in January, at around −11.5 °C (11.3 °F).