The comprehensive travel guide for visiting southern Xinjiang mainly includes the best time to visit, route planning, and must-visit attractions.
1. Best time to visit
The best time to visit southern Xinjiang is mainly from May to November. From May to June, you can experience the New Year of ethnic minorities and enjoy colorful ethnic performances; from July to September, fruits and melons are ripe, allowing you to taste the sweet and delicious Xinjiang fruits; from October to November, the Populus euphratica forest enters its most beautiful season of the year, with a golden landscape that is too beautiful to behold.
2. Route planning
A 10-day tour route in southern Xinjiang can be arranged as follows:
D1: Kashgar arrival (airport pick-up)
D2: Kashgar – Shatian Intangible Cultural Heritage Exposition Park (Xitiya Enchanted City) – Yotegan Ancient City (including performance ticket) – Hotan
D3: Hotan – Kunlun Heavenly Road – Kunlun Holy Land – Hotan Night Market
D4: Hotan – Yulongkashi River – Crossing the Taklamakan Desert – Alar/Aksu
D5: Alar/Aksu – Restan Street – Thousand Buddha Caves – Bachu/Kuqa
D6: Bachu/Kuqa – Blazing Spring – Wensu Grand Canyon – Aksu
D7: Aksu – Xiangfei Garden – Kashgar Old City – Kashgar
D8: Kashgar – Baisha Lake – Muji Volcano Crater – Karakul Lake – Taxkorgan County
D9: Taxkorgan County – Panlong Ancient Road – Bandier Blue Lake – Mustag Ata Glacier Park – Kashgar
D10: Kashgar return trip (airport transfer)
Of course, you can also make appropriate adjustments according to your own time and preferences, such as choosing a 7-day in-depth tour starting from Urumqi, passing through Korla and other places, and finally arriving in Kashgar and other southern Xinjiang cities.
3. Must-visit attractions
There are many treasure attractions in southern Xinjiang, including but not limited to:
Yotegan Ancient City: The royal capital of a thousand years ago, now reappearing in the world, allowing you to personally experience the artistic charm of ancient Yutian culture hidden in the sands for thousands of years.
Kunlun Holy Mirror: A rarely known treasure land, the grassland at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, where you can see the majestic Kunlun Mountains when looking up, and flocks of cattle and sheep when looking down.
Thousand Buddha Caves: A unique integrated art of Guizi-style caves, sculptures, and murals, which is famous alongside the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang and is known as the "Second Dunhuang in China".
Wensu Grand Canyon: It has unique giant karst erosion geological landforms, with red cliffs and rock formations and stone pillars of various shapes everywhere.
Muji Volcano: The Eye of Palmi Plateau, a group of volcanoes under the snow-capped mountains, where snow-capped mountains and volcanoes collide here.
In addition, Kashgar Old City, Baisha Lake, Karakul Lake, and the盘龙 Ancient Road are also attractions in southern Xinjiang that cannot be missed.
When planning a trip to southern Xinjiang, it is recommended to learn about the local weather, transportation, accommodation, and dining in advance, in order to better arrange the itinerary and enjoy the trip.