2021 Xinjiang Travel Guide: Recommended Itineraries for Free and Easy Travel
Xinjiang Customized Travel is Guo Jing: 181-3962-2229 0991-8585456
Xinjiang is vast. Before departing for a trip in Xinjiang, pay attention to listening to or watching the weather forecast of your destination so you can add or remove clothing as needed. Xinjiang’s summer is hot and dry, and the distances between attractions are far, with long car rides. Please remember to drink water and protect yourself from the heat; tourists who are prone to carsickness should bring carsickness medication or use a neck pillow for travel.
Precautions
2. Xinjiang’s tourism itinerary is long, the temperature difference is large, and the water quality is also hard. It may be difficult to adapt at first, and you may experience symptoms of climate change. You should bring some common medications, such as cold medicine or medication for diarrhea. Remember to prepare the necessary medications before departure.
3. The distances between attractions in Xinjiang are relatively long, and the car rides can be long and boring. It’s best to prepare some snacks and plenty of water. You can also bring chess, cards, etc., for entertainment.
4. The weather in Xinjiang is unpredictable, so be prepared for cold, heat, wind, and rain; the diurnal temperature variation is large, and the climate differs significantly between different seasons and altitudes at different elevations. The temperature difference between day and night can reach about 10 to 25 degrees Celsius. Generally, you still need to prepare a jacket or sweater even when visiting Xinjiang in summer.
5. Be aware of the time difference: Xinjiang is geographically located in the East Sixth Time Zone, while Beijing is in the East Eighth Time Zone. There is a two-hour time difference between Xinjiang and mainland cities like Beijing. Your schedule should be adjusted two hours later, and tourist activities are usually arranged between 9:00 am and 8:00 pm. Tourists should be prepared to adapt to the time difference and pay attention to the time difference; when traveling in Xinjiang, the local schedule prevails, and Beijing time is used. Hotel meal times are later, so please adjust your schedule and meal times as soon as possible.
Travel Preparations
Prepare mentally for long car rides. The distances between attractions in Xinjiang are measured in hundreds of kilometers. It often takes several hours to travel from one attraction to another, and some attractions are so large that you need to take a sightseeing bus within them. But the scenery along the way will definitely amaze you. Besides being vast, Xinjiang is also dry. Located in the central part of the continent, Xinjiang is hard to reach by ocean moisture, resulting in low air humidity. So be sure to bring moisturizing products when you come to Xinjiang. Prepare sunscreen for summer. Girls should bring colorful dresses. If you want to take great photos at attractions, bright and fresh dresses are essential. There are many photo-worthy spots in Xinjiang, such as Sayram Lake, Princess Jieyou’s Lavender Field, Xiate Ancient Road… You can take stunning photos anywhere. You can prepare sunglasses, straw hats, sun umbrellas, and other props for photo taking.
For the first time traveling to Xinjiang, facing the vast and culturally diverse region, people are often at a loss. How to enjoy oneself thoroughly in Xinjiang and provide a travel guide for friends at the same time!!
Route itinerary: Northern Xinjiang Panoramic Loop – including Tianchi, Koktokay, Colorful Beach, Kanas, Hemu, Ghost City, Sayram Lake, Nalati, Bayanbulak, and Duku Highway.
D1 Urumqi – Tianchi – Fuyun or Koktokay (about 480 kilometers, approximately 8 hours of travel)
D2 Koktokay – Colorful Beach – Burqin (about 370 kilometers, approximately 7 hours of travel)
D3 Burqin – Kanas (about 150 kilometers, approximately 3.5 hours of travel)
D4 Kanas – Hemu (about 60 kilometers, approximately 1.5 hours of travel)
D5 Hemu – Ghost City – Urho (about 400 kilometers, approximately 7 hours of travel).
D6 Urho – Sayram Lake (about 530 kilometers, approximately 7 hours of travel)
D7 Sayram Lake – Horgos – Lavender Base – Yining (about 200 kilometers, approximately 3 hours of travel)
D8 Yining – Nalati (about 350 kilometers, approximately 6 hours of travel)
D9 Nalati – Bayanbulak (about 100 kilometers, approximately 2 hours of travel)
D10 Bayanbulak – Dushanzi (northern section of the Duku Highway) – Urumqi (approximately 570 kilometers in total, about 10 hours of travel)
Introduction to some attractions in Xinjiang
In summer, the forest by the lakeside of Sayram Lake is lush, the stream is clear, the grass is thick, and the flowers are blooming. The orange-yellow trollius flowers spread slowly from the top of the mountain, with stars like dots scattered between the green grass. The vast grassland is dotted with herds of cattle and sheep, with curling smoke rising from chimneys, making it a moving pastoral landscape painting.
In winter, Sayram Lake is covered with snow and ice, with its oval-shaped lake surface nestled among ice mountains and snowfields, like a piece of emerald green placed on white and soft silk cotton. Come to Xinjiang and visit Sayram Lake to watch the sunrise and sunset, and experience the feeling of ‘your sapphire blue lake, which makes people’s hearts sway at first sight’.
Huocheng Lavender Plantation Base – the third largest lavender base in the world, is also famous for lavender. Huocheng in Xinjiang is not inferior to Provence at all. Located in the northwest of Yili, Huocheng is a border county with agriculture as its mainstay and a combination of agriculture and animal husbandry. Lavender, also known as perfume plant and fragrant herb, has beautiful and elegant leaves and flowers, with tall and graceful blue-purple inflorescences. It is a new kind of perennial cold-resistant flower. Flower language: Waiting for love.
Huocheng is covered with lavender, like a sea of purple, with no end in sight. Standing by the field with arms outstretched, it feels like the whole sky is yours. Whenever the lavender blooms collectively, the sea of purple and blue flowers, the blooming flower buds, and the strong fragrance make people willingly drunk in the embrace of lavender.
In June, Huocheng boasts hundreds of acres of lavender blooming in competition. Come to Huocheng to have a sweet romance and feel the romantic atmosphere of flower language together.
Xiate Ancient Path – A high-risk hiking and exploration route. The Xiate Ancient Path connects the southern and northern parts of the Tianshan Mountains, with a total length of 120 kilometers. It is a famous and perilous ancient pass on the Silk Road, also known as the Tang Monk’s Ancient Path.
The Xiate Ancient Path is very suitable for explorers. After ascending the Southern and Northern Tianshan Mountains, it seems like entering a world of ice and snow. Majestic snow-capped mountains appear and disappear in the clouds, and the endless glacier below stretches like a jade belt winding upwards, disappearing into the snow-covered clouds. To climb up to the Tianshan Mountains, the fragmented glaciers, ice crevasses, and ice rivers along the way will be significant threats.
Therefore, to walk the Xiate Ancient Path, one must be a mentally prepared and physically fit explorer to feel the insignificance of nature and the vicissitudes of the ancient path.
Best Travel Time: Early May – Early June or Late September – Early October
Kalajun Grassland – ‘Human Body Grassland’
My impression of grasslands has always been the vast and fertile grasslands of Hulunbeir, with the magnificent scene of ‘the vast sky and wilderness, where the wind blows through the grass and reveals cattle and sheep’. After seeing Kalajun Grassland, I believe you will be amazed by it.
Kalajun Grassland is located in Tekes County, Yili Prefecture, Xinjiang, and is the transitional zone between the Western Tianshan Mountains and the Yili River Valley.
’Chinese National Geography’ describes it as reversing the aesthetic ‘fatigue’ brought by the monotonous colors and single landscape of ordinary grasslands, defining it as an ‘integrated grassland’ landscape that blends different time and space with colors and is easy to appreciate.
The varying heights create a unique landscape with distinct layers and a well-organized arrangement at Kalajun Grassland. In addition, various types of grasses enrich the grassland’s colors, as if placing a stunning landscape painting in front of you. A vast undulating erosion surface with beautiful curves is also known as the ‘Human Body Grassland’. The undulating and crisscrossing landform and the curved lines of dark shadows are favorite subjects for photographers.
Come to Kalajun Grassland to see the magnificent work of nature and experience the ‘Human Body Grassland’ in different time and space.
Transportation: Rent a car from Urumqi to Yili
Bayanbulak Grassland – Nine-Bend and Eighteen-Turn
Bayanbulak Grassland, located in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, is the second-largest grassland in China and a high-mountain grassland. It is a high-mountain basin surrounded by snow-capped mountains of the Tianshan Mountains, with a flat terrain. It boasts a hidden paradise surrounded by snow-capped mountains; the Kaidu River with ‘Nine-Bend and Eighteen-Turn’; and the elegant and charming Swan Lake.
The most beautiful scene of ‘Nine-Bend and Eighteen-Turn’ is the reflection of the sky filled with evening glow standing in the river bend. As the sunset gradually descends, half of the sky is illuminated with red hues, and the colorful evening glow reflects on the river surface, sparkling and full of charm.
Enjoy the breathtaking scene of ‘Nine-Bend and Eighteen-Turn’ and the charming Swan Lake filled with red flowers at Bayanbulak Grassland.
Flaming Mountain Grand Canyon – A scenic canyon with crisscrossing valleys
In ‘Journey to the West’, Sun Wukong passes through the Flaming Mountain and borrows the Bamboo Fan three times, a story well-known to everyone. The Flaming Mountain Grand Canyon, located in the Turpan Basin of Xinjiang, is a mysterious place. The mountain range runs east to west and is barren. During summer, the ground surface steams under the sun, resembling a soaring fire dragon, which is very spectacular.
The Flaming Mountains scenic area is located at a spectacular location within the Flaming Mountains, with many statues of characters from Journey to the West, as well as historical and cultural exhibitions of the Flaming Mountains area. Rocky, rugged valleys with crisscrossing gullies; the Tuyugou Thousand Buddha Caves, excavated during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Western and Eastern Jin dynasties… This place can be called a treasure trove of culture and art.
Karez – Ancient Horizontal Water-Collecting Structure
Karez means ‘well hole’, it is commonly found in the Turpan region of Xinjiang, it is an ancient horizontal water-collecting structure for the development and utilization of groundwater, suitable for use in the foothills and alluvial fan areas, mainly used to intercept underground water for farmland irrigation and domestic water use.
Karez consists of vertical wells, underground channels, open channels, and flood basins, it retains underground water and uses gravity to transport this underground water to irrigated farmland or for domestic use, the sweet grapes are irrigated using water from the karez.
Best Travel Time
The tourist season in Xinjiang is generally from May to October
March to April
Windy, with cold waves, prone to strong winds and blowing dust, precipitation increases.
This is a suitable time to visit southern Xinjiang, with peach and apricot blossoms blooming, as well as newly revived grasslands.
In places like Turpan, you can see wild apricot blossoms.
June
In the Ili region, you can see fields of flowers and lavender (most beautiful in mid-June), at this time, fruits have not yet ripened.
July to August
You can also see flowers all over the mountains and lush grasslands with abundant water plants, this is a good time to escape the summer heat. Lavender has already been harvested, and by mid-August, fruits begin to ripen.
September to October
The harvest season in Xinjiang, with pleasant weather, is the true golden autumn season, with fragrant fruits.
Xinjiang’s autumn can be considered the most beautiful autumn in the country, the poplar forests in southern Xinjiang have taken on the colors of autumn, but these two months are the peak tourist season.
Winter
Winter: Temperatures have dropped to below minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius, many places have closed mountain passes and roads, and many scenic areas are also closed. Ticket prices at this time will be discounted, and some are even free.
Equipment
1. Bring a suitcase, you can also prepare a small waist bag for light travel throughout the trip.
2. The temperature difference between morning and night is large, please prepare a thick coat; be mindful of the weather changes and stay warm.
3. Sunglasses, brimmed hat, insulated water bottle, magic scarf.
4. Travel shoes, hiking shoes, or mountaineering shoes are all fine.
5. Cold medicine, stomach medicine, motion sickness medicine, vitamins, band-aids, essential oil, you can prepare some glucose oral solution to replenish energy.
6. Sunscreen + moisturizing lotion + hand cream + lip balm.
7. Flashlight or headlamp, various digital products (and their chargers, power banks).
8. ID card, student ID, instructor ID, and various other documents.
9. Prepare some water, dry food, fruits, and snacks.
10. Toiletries, clothes for changing.
You may also want to learn more about Xinjiang travel information,
Xinjiang Customized Travel is Guo Jing: 181-3962-2229 0991-8585456