An ancient method that keeps Afghanistan's grapes fresh all winter
25 years ago I travelled in the Taklamakan Basin which lies to the east of Afghanistan in Xinjiang, NW China. The local Uyghur people and their forebears had perfected over millennia various techniques related to growing and preserving grapes. It's a sub-sea level depression, one of the driest and hottest spots in Central Asia - so hot that local people warned me not to park my bicycle in the sun or the tires might burst. For thousands of years the people there have maintained underground irrigation channels which bring water from the mountains hundreds of km to the north to irrigate grapes and other crops. The covered channels go right through the towns and even in the early summer were filled with rushing water. Grape trellises were growing over many of the sidewalks throughout the city of Turpan (with stern signs in Arabic script and Chinese not to eat them, ignored by local kids) providing shade as well as grapes. The countryside nearby had these brick buildings with gaps between the bricks used for rapid drying of grapes to be made into the best raisins I've ever had.