Essential Travel Guide for Xinjiang: What Precautions Should Be Taken for Traveling in Xinjiang
Xinjiang Travel Customization Specialist Guo Jing 181-3962-2229 (WeChat same) 0991-8585456
Travel Precautions
1. Weather: As the saying goes, ‘Wear cotton-padded clothes in the morning, wear gauze in the afternoon, and eat watermelon around the stove.’ The weather in Xinjiang is changeable, experiencing the four seasons in a single day. Please be sure to prepare sunscreen, cold protection, and rain gear;
2. Clothing: The diurnal temperature variation in Xinjiang is large. Even in July and August, it is relatively cold at night. Clothing should be breathable and warm. Moreover, pants should also be loose and made of cotton. If you want to ride a horse, avoid wearing sandals without socks. The stirrups will rub your feet raw in no time.
3. Sunscreen and Heatstroke Prevention: Some parts of Xinjiang have high altitudes and strong UV radiation. Therefore, please bring sunscreen items (such as high-SPF sunscreen and sunglasses). It’s better to wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants. Otherwise, you will definitely get sunburned after a day. Additionally, the summer temperatures in the Turpan area can reach over 40 degrees Celsius. You should carry medicine or granules for clearing heat and preventing heatstroke;
5. Car Rental: It’s better to have multiple people who can drive when renting a car because Xinjiang is vast, and it’s normal for scenic areas to be 500 to 600 kilometers apart. Driving alone would be very tiring. Additionally, since there are fewer cars on Xinjiang’s highways, many people speed. Be sure to pay attention to safety.
Before we go, we must have these basic understandings. Staying in folk houses with ethnic characteristics, although simple in conditions, is a unique experience from another perspective. Of course, some scenic areas also have luxuriously decorated modern hotels, but the prices are said to be three-digit numbers approaching four digits. In remote and sparsely populated areas, accommodation is not very convenient. Some places rarely visited by tourists not only lack hotels or guesthouses but also have no residents. You need to bring your own transportation such as cars and tents.
9. Time Difference: There is a two-hour time difference between Xinjiang and the mainland. Most service agencies and government departments have different working hours from the mainland. They usually start work at 10 or 11 in the morning and have a long lunch break, resuming work after 15:00. Additionally, although passenger stations use Beijing time, local drivers are accustomed to using Xinjiang time. When renting a car or taking a bus, pay special attention to confirming the time.
12. Due to Xinjiang’s dry climate, it is particularly recommended not to wear contact lenses. Especially in some areas where accommodation conditions are poor and rinsing is inconvenient, if you must bring them, bring a few extra pairs as backups.
Nine Delicacies
1. Chicken with potatoes (order according to the number of people, even the medium-sized dish can only be finished by at least three people, adding noodles with the sauce after eating is better) 70-150 yuan
2. Roast mutton (remember, Xinjiang’s mutton doesn’t have a strong smell!) 3-10 yuan per string
3. Roast stuffed bun (with lamb filling) and thin-skinned stuffed bun, 3-5 yuan per piece
4. Nang (essential dry food for long-distance travel), less than 5 yuan
5. Roast whole sheep
6. Pilaf with lamb, starting at 20-25 yuan
7. Noodles with fried pork (highly recommended! Delicious noodles!) Starting at 20-25 yuan
8. Yili’s handmade ice cream (only costs a few yuan but I think it’s comparable to Haagen-Dazs, highly recommended!!) 3-8 yuan
9. Yili’s kvass (kvass goes well with lamb kebabs) 4-8 yuan per cup
10. Yogurt and yogurt knots (so sour that it can make your teeth fall out, add some sugar)
11. Na Ren (a type of dish)
12. Grilled dogfish from Burqin, starting at 25 yuan
13. Cold fish from Altay (I personally think steaming is better), starting at 25 yuan
14. Pot of meat
15. Ghee
16. Oil tower pastries and fried rice cakes
17. Noodles in soup, 10-20 yuan
18. Jelly, Yili’s is the best, 5-10 yuan
19. Milk, mare’s milk (bargained price is about 20-30 yuan per kilogram), camel milk
20. Chili chicken
21. Horse intestines
22. Spicy pepper chicken
23. Noodles pulled by hand
24. Sheep offal
25. Soup noodles, starting at 15 yuan
26. Rice intestines, flour lungs, and sheep offal
27. Wusu beer (it’s easier to get drunk than mainland beer, perfect with grilled meat!)
28. Fried noodles
29. Cold noodles (also called yellow noodles) and cold skin noodles, starting at 15 yuan
30. Yili’s horse sausage and smoked horse meat
31. Noodles with meatballs and flag-shaped noodles
32. Milk tea (salty)
Ten fruits and dried fruits are priced by kilogram
In Xinjiang, there is a well-known nursery rhyme: Turpan’s grapes, Hami’s melon, Korla’s fragrant pear is praised by everyone, Yecheng’s pomegranate is the best. This place is renowned for its fruits and dried fruits, and fresh and dried fruits are available in the market throughout the year.
1. Hotan Cele’s walnut and fig
2. Turpan’s grapes and raisins (grapes ripen in mid-August)
3. Kashgar Shache’s almond
4. South Xinjiang’s mulberry
5. Aksu’s ‘ice-sugar-heart’ apple
6. Watermelon (Kuche’s watermelon costs 0.5 yuan per kilogram)
7. Hami’s Hami melon
8. Yecheng’s pomegranate
9. Korla’s fragrant pear (ripe in October)
10. Aksu and Hotan’s red dates
11. Kuche’s small white apricot
Shopping Guide for National Day Holiday
In Xinjiang, people often go to the Grand Bazaar for shopping, which means a big market. If you want to shop in Xinjiang, the Grand Bazaars and farmers’ markets in various places are good choices.
Specialty products:
1. Dried fruits
2. Flower hats
3. Carpets
4. Yingjisha knives
5. Hetian jade (best to buy in Hetian; requires a certain level of discrimination)
6. Lavender products (such as essential oil, facial masks, sachets, etc.)
7. Musical instruments (such as the Dombra, drum, dutar, etc.)
8. Idles silk
9. Hami paper-cutting
10. Osman eyebrow pencils
11. Xinjiang earthenware
12. Various jewelry
TIPS:
1. Yingjisha knives are not allowed on trains, and can only be checked in on planes. So it’s recommended to send them home directly after purchase.
2. The Khorgos Port has duty-free shops along the China-Kazakhstan border. Don’t miss it if you’re interested. There are products from Central Asia and European countries here. For ladies who love buying cosmetics, this is your paradise.
The best season to visit southern Xinjiang is now. It’s said that you haven’t truly been to Xinjiang if you haven’t been to Kashgar. The architectural style, beef and mutton, naan, handmade yogurt, fruits, music, and various bazaars will immerse you completely in the customs of southern Xinjiang. I lived in Kashgar for nearly a month and experienced festivals like the Eid Festival. I visited the Grand Bazaar, Cattle and Sheep Bazaar, Kashgar Old City, and many new and old streets and alleys in Kashgar. I also visited many specialty snack shops, so this article is filled with practical travel tips for Kashgar.
Kashgar is the abbreviation for ‘Kashgar’. ‘Kash’ means ‘jade’ in Turkic, and ‘gar’ means ‘stone’ or ‘mountain’ in ancient Persian. Kashgar City is an important commercial town on the Silk Road, a hub for East-West transportation, and an important intersection of East-West economic, cultural, and civilization. Kashgar City is a national historic and cultural city with attractions such as Kashgar Old City, Desert Oasis Ecological Park, Fragrant Concubine’s Homeland, Central and West Asia International Trade Market, Kashgar Western Region Manor, and Knight Grand View Garden.
Attractions
Kashgar Ancient City
Kashgar Old City is located in the city center of Kashgar. This is the genuine ancient city of Kashgar and an excellent place to understand the customs of southern Xinjiang. You haven’t truly been to Kashgar if you haven’t visited Kashgar Old City!
Ticket Price: 30 yuan (There are eight or nine entrances and exits that do not require tickets)
Kashgar Bazaar
Kashgar Bazaar is the Central and West Asia International Trade Market, located on the east bank of the Tuman River in the northeastern corner of Kashgar City, also known as the East Bazaar, with a history of two thousand years. Here, you can find all kinds of local specialties, handicrafts, and daily necessities from Xinjiang, allowing you to truly experience the rich folk customs of Xinjiang.
Kashgar Cattle and Sheep Bazaar
This is located in Huangdi Township in the northern suburbs of Kashgar City, and only operates on Sundays as a livestock market mainly for the trading of cattle and sheep. This Bazaar still retains the ‘trading in the sleeve’ method. This ancient trade form popular in Central and West Asia has been preserved intact in this Bazaar.
Kashgar Museum
This is a great place to learn about the history and culture of Kashgar Prefecture. The museum was established in 1992 and has a building area of 2,360 square meters. The ‘Historical Artifacts Exhibition of the Silk Road in Xinjiang’ hall displays hundreds of artifacts from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Han and Tang dynasties, as well as the Karakhanid Dynasty, unearthed across Xinjiang, allowing visitors to witness the once glorious history of the Silk Road. Please note that it is closed on Mondays.
Kashgar also has three well-known attractions:
1. 《Xiangfei Tomb》 Underwent renovations in 2019, with a new scenario display of local handicrafts at the exit. Xiangfei Tomb is another name for Apahoja Tomb, located in Haohan Village, 5 kilometers east of Kashgar City.
2. 《Liangya Market》, a wholesale market. Unless necessary, it is not worth spending time there.
3. 《Aitikar Mosque》, the largest mosque in Xinjiang and one of the largest mosques in China. It is located on the west side of Aitikar Square in Kashgar City and was first built in 1442. It is 140 meters long from north to south and 120 meters wide from east to west, covering a total area of 16,800 square meters.
Food
《Grilled Lamb Skewers》
There are many grill restaurants in Kashgar. Mutton dishes are a must-try, including whole grilled sheep, lamb chops, and lamb offal.
Recommendation: "Brother Grill", located diagonally opposite the Old City Corner Cafe. It is recommended to be eaten with nan bread and Fucha tea. The牛羊大巴扎 (Cattle and Sheep Bazaar) also has grilled meat, featuring large skewers of earthy grilled meat, including fatty and lean pieces, liver, and other parts.
On Tawuguzi Road, opposite the Kashgar Museum, there is a restaurant called "Golden Goblet" that serves grilled lamb chops and has luxurious decoration.
《Hand-Grabbed Rice》
There is a Xinjiang slang that goes, "Hulimata soup cannot make good hand-grabbed rice." The selection of ingredients for making hand-grabbed rice is crucial. Hand-grabbed rice is braised with rice, mutton or chicken, carrots, onions, and vegetable oil. It is not only colorful and delicious but also very nutritious. With slight adjustments to the ingredients, various versions of hand-grabbed rice can be made. For example, using raisins and dried apricots instead of mutton is called "sweet hand-grabbed rice"; placing stir-fried vegetables such as vermicelli, cabbage, tomatoes, and peppers on top is called "vegetable hand-grabbed rice"; there are also "yogurt hand-grabbed rice" and "egg hand-grabbed rice".
Recommend "Alizati Hand-Grabbed Rice Restaurant", which is frequented by many locals and located beside the Pomegranate Roundabout at the intersection of Tawuguzi Road and Shiji Avenue. "Xiamuxiding Hand-Grabbed Rice King" is across the street.
《Large Chicken with Potatoes》
Xinjiang’s large chicken with potatoes is also one of the representative dishes of Xinjiang cuisine. The main ingredients are chicken chunks and potato chunks, cooked with belt noodles. The dish is brightly colored, with smooth and spicy chicken and soft and sweet potatoes. It is spicy yet fragrant, coarse yet delicate, and economical.
Recommendation: There is a "Double Apple Large Chicken with Potatoes" on Seman Road that is quite good.
《Lagman Noodles》
Lagman noodles, colloquially known as pulled noodles and called "Langman" in Uyghur, is a favorite dish of Kashgari people. In local Kashgar restaurants, you can taste lagman noodles with various toppings such as turnip, large chicken with potatoes, and mutton. Lagman noodles may seem simple, but to make a truly delicious plate, some effort needs to be put into its ingredients and preparation method. Usually, lagman noodles are dominated by noodles and supplemented by vegetables, and almost every dish includes red peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, beef, and mutton.
《Baked Stuffed Buns》
Baked stuffed buns are mainly baked in a tandoor. The dough for the bun skin is rolled thin and folded into a square shape. The filling is made by mixing diced mutton, diced sheep tail fat, onions, cumin powder, fine salt, pepper, and a small amount of water. The wrapped raw buns are stuck to the walls of the tandoor and baked for about ten minutes until the skin turns a bright yellow. They are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a delicious and oily flavor.
Recommendation: There are several shops selling roasted stuffed buns on Kumdarwazha Road in the Old Town. Across from the Turpan Museum, there is a 《Koximakala Roasted Stuffed Buns》 that is very good.
《Nang》
Nang is a staple food for Uyghur people. Generally, after fermenting the dough, add an appropriate amount of baking soda and alkaline solution. It can be made into a thin pancake shape or a nest shape and then baked on the hot inner wall of a tangghu (a traditional Uyghur oven). Besides having various shapes, nang also comes in sweet, salty, meat, and oily varieties. However, their basic ingredients and production methods are the same, with only the spices added being different. Nang is not only a flavorful food but also an indispensable food for Uyghur people to entertain guests.
They are basically available on the main streets. Just go to the shop with the most people and try one. I recommend a few shops. 《Yuepuhu Nang Shop》 is behind Kashgar Commercial Pedestrian Street, in an inconspicuous corner. The store is small but very popular. On Pahtabaza South Road beside Commercial Pedestrian Street, there is a shop that specializes in sesame nang.
《Pigeon Soup》
Since ancient times, there has been the saying that “one pigeon is better than nine chickens”. It is high in protein, low in fat, tender and delicious, and nutritious. However, few places love it as much as Kashgar. Many families raise them, and there is even a dedicated pigeon market. There is even a row of restaurants on Seman Road that serve pigeon dishes. A bowl of delicious and rich soup, with pigeon meat stewed until tender, paired with crispy chickpeas, is a delicacy that can almost only be found in Kashgar.
Recommendation: Kamaldin Blue Pigeon (south side of the intersection of Yumulak Xiehaer Road and Seman Road).
《Handmade Yogurt》
There are several places in Kashgar that make handmade yogurt, and it’s fantastic! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos. You can inquire about it in Kashgar. Hopefully, you can find it. Originally, it was recommended by the youth hostel where we stayed, but now this long-established youth hostel is no longer in operation.
Besides these delicacies, Kashgar also has dishes such as pot meat, flour lungs, rice intestines, jelly, cold noodles, fried cakes, spring rolls, fried noodles, yogurt lumps, sliced cakes, ice cream, Holwa, Hornan, etc.
《Kashgar Beverages》
1. 《Wusu Beer》
Xinjiang is famous for its beer, known as “Fatal Wusu Beer”. Among them, red Wusu is strong, green Wusu is relatively refreshing, and wheat beer is mellow.
2. 《Xinjiang Beer》
Besides Wusu, Xinjiang also has a beer called Xinjiang Beer.
3. 《Nanda Yogurt》
This yogurt is very cheap in Kashgar and comes in a very large bottle.
Of course, Kashgar also has some local fruits and melons, such as Jiashi melon, pomegranate, grapes, mulberry, fig, flat peach, pistachio, watermelon, apricot, pear, seabuckthorn, etc.
Travel Tips
Sightseeing:
Kashgar Old Town and Kashgar Grand Bazaar can be visited in one day, while Kashgar Livestock Bazaar and Kashgar strolling can be arranged for another day (you can visit Kashgar Museum and Id Kah Mosque). If time is tight, you might consider skipping the Kashgar Livestock Bazaar. Kashgar is more suitable for a short stay, as living there for a while will allow you to better understand the city.