Located at 230 Wenhua Road in Turpan, the Tu Ha Petroleum Hotel doesn't appear at all out of place in this surprisingly modern city (although it's one of the 109 ancient cities of China, once known as Turfan). This new building houses a huge hotel with generous rooms and a number of restaurants; facilities include a bowling alley and a swimming pool. Its Chinese rating is 5-star, which is somewhere between a 3 and 4-star hotel on an international scale, but it is nevertheless surprisingly well appointed to be in the middle of the Silk Road. Leave it to the oil guys 'n gals to take good care of themselves! There was a "western buffet" in the main western restaurant the night we stayed, but a quick glance into the chafing dishes turned up more Chinese dishes than western, and needing a culinary break we opted for the a la carte menu and ordered a well-done hamburger and a Pizza Marguerita. Both were excellent! The hamburger was perfectly prepared and came on a true hamburger bun with lettuce and sliced tomato and a mound of fresh fresh fries; the pizza had a crisp, hand-made base with fresh sliced tomatoes and mozzarella, missing only some oregano to make it taste like "home". A 1-liter bottle of beer brought the total for dinner to US$9. Snacks in the mini bar in the room were also very reasonable--RMB 5@ for a can of coke or beer, water or instant noodles. Red Bull, that ubiquitous health drink of Asia was 8 RMB. Clean, comfortable, and relaxing. A desert oasis if ever there was one.