Which scenery in southern Xinjiang and northern Xinjiang is more beautiful, and which month is the best to visit?
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Northern Xinjiang Recommendation – See the red mountains and forests painted in autumn colors
What scenic spots are there in Northern Xinjiang?
1. Kanas
Known as the Pure Land on Earth, Kanas is a must-visit destination on a trip to Northern Xinjiang. It is not only a pure land for humans but also a paradise for cows and sheep. The oil painting-like scenery resembles a fairyland and a beautiful fairy tale world, making people reluctant to leave.
Kanas
Transportation:
Departing from Urumqi: 1. It is more convenient to choose a direct flight. China Southern Airlines CZ6613/6614 operates a daily round-trip flight between Urumqi and Kanas, with prices varying based on peak and off-peak seasons. Please closely monitor flight schedules to avoid delays. 2. You can take a bus at 18:00 from Beijiao Passenger Transport Station, with a ticket price of around 80 yuan. Alternatively, you can take a bus at Nianzigou Passenger Transport Station, with a 4-hour journey. Schedules may be adjusted, so please refer to specific arrangements. Due to inconvenient transportation to the scenic area, you can carpool for approximately 100 yuan. 3. Since trains do not go directly, you can take the faster train K9785/9771 to Beitun for a transfer (suspended in winter) to Burqin County, with a ticket price of around 90 yuan. Then, you can carpool to the scenic area.
Best travel time: June to August each year is the best season to visit.
Accommodation: There are wooden cabin resorts within the scenic area, priced under 300 yuan. Alternatively, you can stay in village blanket houses, which are cheaper.
Attraction recommendation: Kanas Lake is a must-see attraction, with water changing colors throughout the year depending on the season. Meanwhile, Wolong Bay, Guanyu Pavilion, Moon Bay, Shenxian Bay, and Yaze Lake are excellent spots for taking photos. Although July and August are peak seasons, early autumn and early winter are actually the most beautiful times in Kanas, with red mountains and forests in autumn and a snowy landscape in winter. Combined with the Tuwa people’s horse-drawn sleighs, it really forms a breathtaking scenery.
2. Baihaba Village
Baihaba Village, close to Kanas, retains the original appearance of an ancient village, quaint and mysterious. The ancient Tuwa people live here year-round. Wooden houses and fences for livestock are scattered among pine and birch forests, creating a peaceful and serene atmosphere.
In the early morning and late afternoon, smoke rises from chimneys, and cows and sheep graze all over the slopes, making the entire village seem like a landscape painting of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
Baihaba
Transportation: It takes about half an hour to arrive by scenic area bus from Kanas.
Best travel time: From June to October each year, especially during summer and autumn.
Accommodation: Accommodation options are limited, it is recommended to stay in Kanas or Hemu Village.
Attraction recommendation: Baihaba is a perfect painting throughout the year, with lush green mountains and birches standing tall, streams flowing everywhere. In autumn, it is even more beautiful, with red mountains and forests, presenting a unique scenery.
3. Hemu Village
Blue skies, birch trees, and streams fulfill all imaginations of rural life. At sunset, the streams murmur and smoke curls up from chimneys, immersing the entire village in golden sunlight under the setting sun, creating a beautiful and colorful rural oil painting. The scenery changes with the seasons, and every corner is a picturesque spot.
Hemu Village
Transportation: It takes one and a half hours to reach Hemu Village from Baihaba. The mountain road is winding and rugged, so drive carefully.
Best Travel Time: From June to early October each year, with the most beautiful scenery from late September to early October.
Accommodation: Stay with the Tuwa people or at a hotel within the scenic area to discover a different night.
Recommended Attractions: The viewing platform across the Hemu River is an excellent spot for capturing beautiful scenery. You can wander and take photos in the morning light, allowing your imagination to soar.
4. Keketohai
The lake scenery and mountain views are breathtaking, especially in the autumn of Keketohai. Birch forests stand quietly on the nearby hills, whispering the tranquility of beauty with distant mountains and snow-capped peaks. Flowers bloom in a riot of colors, adorning this vast land. Come to Keketohai and indulge in the boundless gifts of nature.
Keketohai
Transportation: It takes about 8 hours to reach Keketohai Town from Baihaba or Burqin County.
Best Travel Time: From August to early October, the autumn scenery is beautiful.
Accommodation: You can stay in Keketohai Town and visit the scenic area the next day.
Recommended Attractions: The famous Third Pit and Yiremu Lake attractions are quite good. Taking a scenic view bus to see attractions like the Birch Forest and ShuiMogou is the most suitable way to appreciate them.
5. Sayram Lake
Snow-capped mountains, grasslands, and a sacred lake create stunning scenery. The hills are covered with flowers, and herds of cattle and sheep graze. The lake surface is calm and azure, with white waves gently lapping against it, creating breathtaking landscapes. In summer, flowers bloom into a sea, and cattle and sheep resemble pearls embedded in the verdant hills, making it a visually stunning feast.
Sayram Lake
Transportation: You can take a bus from Urumqi to Yining, with a ticket price of around 150 yuan, and get off midway to visit. Alternatively, take a train or plane directly to Yining and then carpool to the destination for around 50 yuan.
Best Travel Time: April to October. June is the best time, with wildflowers blooming by the lake and pleasant scenery.
Accommodation: You can return to stay in Yining City, which is relatively close.
Recommended Attractions: Take photos and stroll along the wooden boardwalk at Sayram Lake, or hike around the lake for a rewarding journey after the trek.
Tips:
It is recommended to wear brightly colored clothes for better photo opportunities.
6. Nalati Grasslands
Nalati Grasslands
The Nalati Grasslands, famous for its magnificent and diverse scenery, is a well-known alpine meadow. During spring and summer, cattle and sheep resemble patches of white clouds scattered among the grass, while iris flowers sway gracefully in the wind. From afar, snow-capped fir trees stand tall and handsome, while eagles soar between the blue sky and white clouds. Yurts are scattered like stars across the grassland, creating a unique landscape.
Transportation: There are 3 direct buses from Yining City to the Nalati Grasslands Scenic Area every day, with a ticket price of around 60 yuan. Alternatively, you can take a direct bus from Xinyuan County to the scenic area for 60 yuan. Carpooling on the route costs 10 yuan per person.
Best travel time: From July to October is the best, with lush pasture and herds of cattle and sheep.
Accommodation: You can rest in Yining City for one night before heading out, or stay in Xinyuan County or yurts within the scenic area.
Recommended attractions: Rest in yurts on the grassland at night and watch the stars, which is quite interesting.
Summary and Suggestions:
Northern Xinjiang is famous for its scenic spots known both at home and abroad. No matter when you go, there are beautiful scenery in all seasons, and summer is an excellent place to escape the heat. In spring, the apricot blossoms in the Ili River Valley sway gracefully, telling the fragrance of spring; in summer and autumn, flowers bloom into a sea, and when autumn leaves turn golden and fruits are fragrant, it shows its most beautiful sentiments all the time. In winter, Silk Road Skiing brings you extraordinary sensory experiences. However, due to the long distance between attractions, it is recommended to self-drive or join a tour group to save many troubles.
Major attractions in southern Xinjiang – Sunset and lonely wild geese flying together, autumn water sharing the same color with the vast sky
What are the scenery of southern Xinjiang?
1. Lop Nor Village
This is a paradise comparable to the ordinary ones, mysterious and peaceful, as if it can make people forget the shackles of the mundane world. Unique architecture, the honest folk customs of the Lop people, and the culture passed down from generation to generation, all carry the traces of history, being mysterious, peaceful, and ancient.
Lop Nor Village
Transportation: You can take a bus from Korla City, with a ticket price of about 10 yuan, or you can also drive by yourself for convenient shooting.
Best travel season: From June to September, especially during summer and autumn.
Accommodation: It is recommended to stay in the scenic area and taste the famous red willow grilled meat.
Recommended attractions: Walking among flowers, plants, and trees is like having a conversation with time, with every plant and tree telling a story of tranquility and peace.
2. Bosten Lake
A sea embedded in the desert, which you must have never seen before. Snow-capped mountains, deserts, and lakes complement each other, creating Bosten Lake, known as the ‘Eastern Hawaii’. Surfing and sunbathing are everyday experiences that are close to people. Wandering among snow-capped mountains, deserts, and lakes, listening to the sounds of nature, and enjoying the gifts bestowed by nature.
Bosten Lake
Transportation: There are direct buses in Korla, and there are also direct buses between attractions, which is quite convenient.
Best travel time: The best travel season is from July to September, suitable for a leisurely vacation.
Accommodation: You can stay in Korla downtown area, as the temperature difference in the scenic area is large, it is not recommended to stay overnight.
Recommended attractions: The famous Jinsha Beach Bathing Place is the best choice, and tasting delicious grilled lake fish is also a must-try.
3. Luntai Poplar Forest
Luntai Poplar Forest
Poplar trees, desert, and lakes, fulfilling all imaginations of poplar trees. With golden autumn leaves and gusts of autumn wind, walking among the poplar trees in autumn, one can always find their own authenticity, returning, staying, and setting out.
Transportation: There are direct buses to the scenic area in Luntai County, but self-driving is recommended.
Best travel time: The best travel time is from September 20th to mid-October, during the golden autumn season.
Accommodation: There is no accommodation within the scenic area, so you can stay in Luntai County.
Recommended attractions: Walking among the poplar trees in the desert, every scenery is an extremely beautiful visual enjoyment.
4. Kashgar Old Town
Kashgar Old Town
Transportation: You can take a taxi or bus to get there in Kashgar City.
Accommodation: There are numerous hotels and inns in the downtown area, and you can choose the one that suits you best.
Recommended Attractions: Ethnic handicrafts and ethnic snacks in the old town area are well-known, especially the pure handmade wool shawls and carpets, which are the first choice for tourists to give to friends and family as gifts.
5. Pamir Plateau
The Pamir Plateau, with its boundless scenery at perilous peaks, boasts towering snow-capped mountains and undulating snowy ranges. The blue sky is within reach, creating the magnificent and mysterious roof of Asia – the Pamir Plateau. ‘Viewed from the front, it becomes a range; viewed from the side, it becomes a peak. From afar or nearby, high or low, the scenery differs.’ No praise is better than this. To experience the feeling of being too high to endure the cold, coming here is the right choice.
Pamir Plateau
Transportation: There are direct buses at the Tajik Autonomous County Office in Kashgar City. Self-driving is recommended, but the road conditions are poor, so be careful.
Best Travel Season: From May to September each year. It is cold throughout the year, and the best time to visit is during summer and autumn.
Accommodation: You can stay in the Tajik Autonomous County at the foot of the Pamir Plateau, where transportation facilities are relatively convenient.
Tips: The weather on the plateau changes quickly and is relatively cold, so it is necessary to bring thick clothes and oxygen masks.
6. Hongqilapu Port
Famous for its magnificent scenery, this is the southern border. The majestic No. 7 boundary monument and a group of the most lovely people are stationed here year-round to defend the great motherland. It is awe-inspiring from both a distant and close view.
Hongqilapu Port
Transportation: Drive or carpool to Tajik County. The distance is relatively close.
Best Travel Season: The best time to visit is from June to September. Due to strong winds and sandstorms, it is recommended to bring thick clothing.
Accommodation: You can stay in the well-equipped Tajik Autonomous County, and must not stay outdoors.
Tips: It is necessary to apply for a border pass in advance at the Public Security Bureau of Kashgar Prefecture.
Summary and Suggestions:
IV. Travel Suggestions and Precautions for Southern and Northern Xinjiang
1. Northern Xinjiang
1. The natural landscapes are unique, so bring colorful clothes for taking photos and common equipment such as glasses and flower water.
2. It is recommended to travel by self-driving or tourist bus. Due to uncertain road conditions, it is recommended to contact a professional travel agency or a professional driver for travel.
3. Follow the advice of the tour guide or driver. Do not go to undeveloped areas of the scenic spot on your own, and do not stay or play in sparsely populated areas.
4. Do not casually call out the cows, horses, etc., raised by herdsmen in grasslands or scenic areas. When needing to ride a horse, you must obtain the other party’s consent.
Conclusion
The beautiful mountains and graceful grasslands of northern Xinjiang, as well as the vast landscapes and rich culture of southern Xinjiang, jointly create this magical land of Xinjiang. The people here are diligent and kind, and they have the broadest minds, just like the sun in the Gobi warming every inch of land and nurturing people of all ethnic groups.
Life requires us to step out, open our arms, look up at the blue sky with enthusiasm and sincerity, embrace the mountains and rivers, smile at the present difficulties, and work with confidence to reap and harvest. Come, set foot on this fertile land of Xinjiang, return to the original, most natural, and brightest purity, and comfort the impatient and insecure inner self. The landscapes here are enough to make you forget the hardships of life and restore your enthusiasm for being ready to go.
Which scenery in southern Xinjiang and northern Xinjiang is more beautiful, and which month is the best to visit?
Xinjiang Tourism Inquiry Hotline: 0991-8585456 (Same)