火燄山在維吾爾語又稱為"克孜勒塔格"，為紅色的山之意，形與色皆似火焰，故名"火燄山"。

火燄山猶如一條橫臥的火龍自東向西橫亙吐魯番盆地中央。
在盛暑時，烈日的照射下，山體赤褐色，砂岩灼灼發光，炙熱氣流滾滾上升，猶如萬道烈燄熊熊燃燒。

看火燄山最好在早上或日落時分，一來可以避過熱辣辣天氣。此外，火燄山在夕陽或晨光之下，才會展現出赤紅顏色。

我們選擇了清早來拜訪火燄山，當時氣�鄍u35°C，炎而不熱，總算不用「焗臘鴨」。

關于火焰山的傳說：當年美猴王齊天大聖孫悟空大鬧天宮，倉卒之間，一腳蹬倒了太上老君煉丹的八卦爐，
有几塊火炭，從天而降，恰好落在吐魯番，就形成了火焰山。
山本來是烈火熊熊，孫悟空用芭蕉扇，三下扇滅了大火，冷卻后才成了今天這般模樣。


Flaming Mountains are red sandstone hills on the northern edge of the Turfan Basin.
The red of the hills has been likened to burning flames and temperatures often reach a sweltering 55°C.

The mountains were made famous in the 16th century Chinese classic novel "Journey to the West"
which describes Buddhist monk Xuan Zang's pilgrimage to India.
In the novel the monk encounters a wall of flames, an apt description for these mountains,
but is able to extinguish them with help from his companion the Monkey King.