Urumqi Favorites

Favorite thing: BIZAKLIK THOUSAND-BUDDHA CAVES
The Bizaklik Thousand-Buddha Caves, 48 kilometers northeast of the Turpan urban area, are located in the Flaming Mountains' Mutou Valley.
There are 77 numbered grottoes, about 40 of which still have murals in them. The group of grottoes in Bizaklik, with a total of 1,200 square meters of murals, has the most grottoes, most diversified architectural styles and the richest mural content in the Turpan area.
It was an important Buddhist gathering place. Even today, one can still see on the remaining Buddhist murals the features of the King and Queen of Huigu and people of different status, as well as scenes of the lives of ancient Uygur people.
The murals depicting 'Buddhist disciples wailing in mourning' and 'Bhikku wailing in mourning' on the back wall of the Grotto No.33 are rare artistic pieces.

Favorite thing: GAOCHANG
To the southeast of Turpan can be seen the ruins of Gaochang, once a thriving town in the first century B.C., standing against a background of arid mountains which look like giant ant hills. It was one of the main points in the Silk Road. There is not much left, but I enjoyed it a lot walking around with my walkman on and the music of 'The Silk Road' (by Kitaro) taking me back in time to Marco Polo's years... well, that was my experience.

Favorite thing: THE 'KAREZ'
The Karez System, an irrigation system of wells connected by underground channels, is considered as one of the three great ancient projects in China, the other two being the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. There are in the Turpan area nearly one thousand karez totaling 5000 kilometers in length.
The structure of the karez basically consists of wells, underground channels, ground canals and small reservoirs. In spring and summer, a great mount of melting snow and rainfall flow down from the Bogda and Karawuqunta mountains north and west of the Turpan Depression into the valleys and then seep into the Gobi Desert. Taking advantage of the mountain slopes, the working people ingeniously created the karez to draw the underground water to irrigate the farmland. The water in karez will not evaporate in large quantities even under the scorching heat and fierce wind, hence ensuring a stable water flow and gravity irrigation.

Favorite thing: TIAN CHI LAKE (Heavenly Lake)
An excursion to Tianchi, from Urumqi, is worthwhile. There you can have a ride by boat, or spend the afternoon riding horses through the mountain. It is a popular 'picnic'place for chinese too.

Favorite thing: URUMQI
The main city of the region is a big modern city, with broad avenues, big hotels, but not very charming. Anyway, is a good basecamp for many excursions around it (Heavenly Lake, Gaochang, Bizaklik...).
Is the farthest city from sea on Earth. There are excursions to the mountains, including the place where Russia, Kazakstan, Mongolia and China meet.

Favorite thing: TIAN CHI LAKE LANDSCAPES
Tianch is a beautiful highland lake, flanked by rugged pines and cypresses, and with clear waters that reflect the surrounding mountains. In winter, it provides an ideal alpine skating rink. In fact, China's winter skating games have been held there.

Favorite thing: TURPAN
The city of Turpan is an oasis in the middle of the dessert. Their green streets and patios give you a fresh break after so much sand. The local residents have not only covered all the main streets and walkways of the town with vine trellises, converting them into delightful shady green tunnels (see photo), but have also managed to retain a relatively easy-going manner even in the heady economic climate of modern China. There are still few cars (there were when I was), and donkey carts remain the preferred mode of transport.
In summer the weather is reputedly the hottest in China - the dry heat is so soporific that there is little call to do anything but sleep or sip cool drinks in outdoor cafes with other tourists. This may not be what you came to China for, but quite a lot of people appreciate it by the time they reach Turpan.

Fondest memory: Beijing -

Xi'an -

Lanzhou -

Dun Huang -

Tulfan -


URUMQI
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Ining -

Kazakstan





the skylines of Urumqi will always give you wrong impression to forget that you are on your journey to Silk Road.





the bird view of the largest city of Xing Jiang.