Turpan in Relation to Urumqi Xinjiang province is really two totally different places. The north and the south are distinct culturally, geographically and ethnically. The north is dominated by Han Chinese and our trips in the north were mostly snowy mountains and alpine pastures filled with Kazak herders. The southern half of Xinjiang is desert …
The landscape shifted rapidly from farmland to lifeless desert hills to mountainous foothills speckled with shrubs. Finally, we arrived in the green cocoon of the Tianshan Mountains, at a place called Nanshan. Near the parking lot of Nanshan Getting out at the parking lot of Nanshan was not all that different from the parking lot …
Apologies for the delays, but, for those of yall who read the two posts about Tianchi National Park here and here, I wanted to post this fantastic video Galen put together, showing our campsite as the sun set and the stars raced across the sky. It’s amazing what Galen can do behind the camera.
Make sure you check out the previous post before reading this one. The temperature cooled as we moved deeper into the valley behind the lake. We had abandoned the lake, the Tianchi National Park’s main tourist draw, looking for something wild. We followed the concrete spillway up the creek as the sun dropped below the …
Tianchi National Parks is one of the most famous in China. The word, “Tianchi,” means “Heavenly Lake” in Chinese, and, staring out over the lake, it is easy to see why, long ago, it was given that name. The alpine lake is nestled among steep mountain walls on either side, some of the walls lush …
A line divides Urumqi city. Most Chinese will not pass south of that line, at Nanmen, the South Gate. Instead, the Han Chinese stick to Urumqi’s northern suburbs, the conurbation stretching miles and miles north, most of which was built in the past decade as Beijing encouraged Han Chinese to settle the province. Entering south …
In Urumqi, the sun rises a little after seven and sets a little after nine. according to the official, Beijing Time. Solar noon happens a little after two p.m., according to Beijing Time. In Kashgar, our last destination in China, several hundred miles further to the west, it rises around eight and sets at ten. …
Before reading over this post, make sure you check out the previous post, which briefly introduced the situation in Xinjiang. I have a policy. If I am traveling somewhere dangerous, I do not explain the danger to my mother. Mothers worry too much. I would recommend this policy to all of my readers. We were …
Today’s post is a little pedantic, but the background is necessary so that you can understand the posts following this one. Xinjiang, the region we had just entered, is a vast territory, almost as large as Alaska. Though China has had an on-again, off-again presence for the past two millennia, the name, Xinjiang, is Chinese …