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 Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region lies in the west inland of China and covers
an area of 1.6 million square kilometers. It is the largest administrative
region in China. Xinjiang is famous for its folk dances, fruits,
gems, and carpets. Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital city, is the political,
economic and cultural center of the region. Xinjiang was known
as the western region in ancient times and didn't acquired its
current name until Qing Dynasty. Xinjiang was the hub on the ancient
Silk Road, a place where ancient Chinese culture met Indian, Persian,
Arab, Greek and Roman cultures, leaving behind large amounts of
cultural relics, including the ancient cities of Gaochang, Jiaohe
and Loulan. In Xinjiang, people can find snowy mountains and glaciers,
rivers and lakes, deserts and oasis, and vast grasslands. Its
unblemished natural beauty and its varied and colorful minority
customs attract tourists from all over the world.
Situated
in northwest China and center of the Eurasian continent, Xinjiang
covers an area of over 1,600,000 square kilometers, equivalent
of one-sixth of China's territory. Xinjiang neighbors Gansu Province
and Qinghai province in the southeast and Tibet in the south.
It borders eight countries, namely, Mongolia in the northeast,
Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the northwest
and Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in the southwest.
Xinjiang
is in the temperate zone and the Mountain of Tian divides Xinjiang
into two parts: south and north Xinjiang. The north part is relatively
dry and the south humid due to the mountain's obstruction of water
vapor. The average temperature of Xinjiang of the whole year is
around 11F.
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| Recommended
Scenic Spots
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| Heaven
Lake in Xingjiang |
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 Situated
in the Heavenly Mountain (Tianshan) range, 115 km (71 miles) northeast
of Urumqi, Heavenly Lake (Tianchi Lake) is one of the main tourist
attractions in China. Used to be known as Yaochi (Jade Lake), the
lake is particularly refreshing for those arriving in Urumqi from
the barren deserts elsewhere in Xinjiang or from China's numerous
granite cities. It is hemmed in by majestic snow-crowned peaks west
of Bogda Mountain and it is geologically a moraine lake 3,400 meters
(1,1125 feet) long, 1,500 meters (4920 feet) wide, 1,980 meters
(6494 feet) above sea level. Covered firs, pines and cypresses and
white snow, it boasts a spectacular sight- reminiscent of Switzerland
or the Rocky mountains but somehow with more vibrancy and color.
Amidst fields of wild flowers grow morel mushrooms, while peppermint
and rhubarb, while higher up the mountain are edelweiss and the
rare, creamy Snow Lotus (Saussurea involucrate), which grows from
rock crevices and is believed to have magical powers as medical
cure.
Tourists usually
spend one day, take a boat ride on the lake, ride or walk along
the lake shore. The wild and tranquil scene is stunning and pristine.
You can also stay in one of the many yurts owned by locals, with
a mat on the floor and a bowl of milk in the morning. Buses leave
daily from the bus station and the Hongshan Park in Urumqi.
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| Flaming
Mountains (Huoyan Shan) |
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 The
Flaming Mountains run 100 kilometers (62 miles) along the northern
edge of Turpan Depression (Basin) from east to west with its extreme
width of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). Its highest peak is 40 kilometers
(248 miles) east of the city of Turpan and 831.7 meters (2728 feet)
above sea level.
Crustal movements
and years of efflorescence fashion its unique geological feature.
When the sun's rays beat down in mid-afternoon, the red rocks on
the crisscross gullies and ravines reflect and the heat is intense
as if the hillsides were engulfed by tongues of fire, hence the
name. In the famous 16th century Chinese classic novel Journey to
the West by Wu Cheng'en describing four monks in Tang dynasty adventuring
the west, Xuan Zang and his companions, Piggy, Monkey and Sandy,
attempted to cross the Flaming Mountains. They could not penetrate
the flames and Monkey procured a magical palm-leaf fan from Princess
Iron Fan, wife of the Ox Demon King (two fiction figures in the
novel) and waved it 49 times, causing heavy rains to extinguish
the fire. More anecdotes tell that to cross the Flaming Mountains,
Monkey burnt his tail, and ever since then all monkeys have had
red bottoms.
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| Other
Scenic Spots |
Ghost Town
Id Kah Mosque
Ruins of Ancient Loulan City
The Ancient City of Gaochang
Tianshan Mountains and Lake Tianchi
Bazaar (Country Fair)
The Sulaiman Minaret
Kumutla Thousand Buddha Caves
Abakh Hoja Tomb |
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