http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Xinjiang , Urumqi en-us Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:19:53 +0000 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:19:53 +0000 I was pleasantly surprised that the train journey only took about 40 hours rather than the 44 I was expecting. This time I had a ldquohard sleeperrdquo with a middle bunk in the hard sleeper compartments they cram the bunks in three deep. So the train ride from Beijing to Urumqi was much more comfortable than the one from Guilin to Beijing had been. Still the beds were very small almo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-400411.html Welcome to Xinjiang Although officially part of Mainland China located on the far North West part border with Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Pakistan it is one of the most diverse exotic province I got to visit in China so far LOVE IT All the ingredients were there to make this trip unforgettable from the snow covered mountain to the desert and breathtaking red mountain sand dune http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-398075.html The average wind speed of Chaiwopu Dabancheng Valley is about 6.2 meters per second the Effective wind energy is 20003000 kilowatt per hour per square meter. Is one of the famous draught in the country.Maximum wind speed is about 34 m s instantaneous maximum wind speed over 40 meters sec. Chaiwopu wind power plants are Asia's largest wind power plant the current installed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-376461.html June 26 2003 Xinjiang International Bazaar is completed.The completion Bazaar of Urumqi has become the most attractive one of tourist attractions. Annually attract tens of thousands of domestic and foreign tourists.International Bazaar to follow the Islamic architectural style with traditional brick mill on the joints and modern plutonium surface treatment process of combining practices embodi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-376175.html We left Bishkek for Almaty early in the morning by minibus and found the border crossing back into Kazakhstan refreshingly easy. We then had a day in Almaty doing some last minute Central Asian shopping before getting to Almaty station in good time for our midnight train to Urumqi. We attempted to board the train but were made to wait the reason unclear although the gaurd was busy selling his cas http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-333784.html Bing and I visited Xinjiang and traveled along the Silk Road route tracing the places along the ancient path that Xuan Zang walked to India. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-328079.html Follow me to my journey to rmqi. Xinjiang China's largest province is predominantly Islamic. rmqi the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region is a big city. Situated 186km west of Turpan 900 meters above sea level being the furthest away from the ocean. Mostly Han chinese but also consists of other minority groups like Uyghur Hui muslims Kazakhs Mongols.The Uyghur people speak Tur http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-315931.html I feel like I've just completed an epic journey worthy of multiple references to Lord of Rings and various other epic journeys through the wilderness. Mostly because our last few days have been filled with nerdy geeky literary and cinematic references and the scenery just happened to match.On Wednesday we got a ride hired a jeep out of Urumqi at the relatively early hour of 8 am. By 12ish http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-315501.html I've never planned my journey to The Silk Route but eventually ended up in Urumqi. It was an amazing unforgettable experience The people in Urumqi are friendly kind helpful. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-313938.html I just finished a really nourishing meal consisting of a piece of fried flat bread covered in sugar and bowl of milky tea that tasted like a cross between cream and beef broth. Despite the funny taste my mouth was so happy to eat something that WASN'T Chinese foodWe're in XinJiang the most western province in China and the people are a mix of Uighers Kazaks because Kazakhstan is just a bus r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-313756.html Still alive if anyone wondersS The earthquake was near enough to feel the shake but far enouch to do any harm. Anyway right now I'm in Urumqi Xinjiang provence a place where most foreigners don't go to when they are in China and probably a wonder to alot of chinese too. Xinjiang is mixpot of chinese ethnic minorities with uyghurs as the leading one around 9 million of population thus its http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-277503.html ein hallo an euch allen da draussen und nachtraeglich einen schoenen ersten advent die vorweihnatliche stimmung ist uns hier fremdhaben uns lange nicht gemeldet zumindest fuer die von euch die des franzoesischen nicht maechtig sind. der grund erschliesst sich vielleicht wenn man bedenkt das wir uns seit nunmehr zwei wochen in china aufhalten wo sich die sache mit der medialen kommunikation ze http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-224754.html We head via bus 3 hours to Urumqi from Turpan. Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang province. On our drive over there is nice scenery view of the snow on Heavenly Mt large salinized lake wind farms and mountains. Quite a nice drive.Except for... ok this is gross bewareWe stopped at a rest stop and I had to go to the bathroom since I had two cups of coffee with breakfast it was the most http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-207983.html It's been a crazy week of finding our feet on the road working out some Mandarin trying to decide on an itinerary me and Tegan decide things ha but Xinjiang is truly spectacular.Beijing was kind of a blur. We'll have to go back if only to meet up with Andy the crazy German and learn some salsa. It was so surreal to stand in Tian'anmen Square and think about democracy protests Falun Gong http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-207649.html this has been the definitive mountain experience in the 'climb every mountain' series so far. so many roughhewn stone steps that i never want to see another step again. but beautiful scenery so it was all worth it. the mountain we climbed today was more than 1660m above sea level admittedly we didn't start climbing at sea level and full of amazing scenery beautiful lakes yurts and all sor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-206942.html after 40 hours on the train and many interesting experiences including the pretty girl with the sore eye who took photos of the freak with the hair trying to fit onto the top bunk with all our luggage on the tiny beds much worse for kt than me way too many instant noodles flavoured with sauce that smells like promite and vegan oreos chatting to people in english being the only white w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-206620.html It seems like we have attracted nothing but bad Karma with Air China because as soon as we arrived in Urumqi we were not able to get our luggage for almost an hour because the baggage door was stuck.Our local guide Razeil is so beautiful. She looked chinesemiddle eastern mix. She is Uigher one of the 56 minority chinese in China. Uigher makes up 48 of the population in this providence. The m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-199967.html Sorry I haven't updated for so long. Theres been much thats happeneded but as I'm not the best writer I'm just going to put photos up so they can speak for me... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-196716.html Today is the second day of our 16 day tour of China. We flew in from Beijing yesterday and will continue east along the general path of the ancient silk road until we get to Xi'an. After we arrived yesterday all 60 students in our group from TBC went to the International Bazaar. We shopped for a few hours amid the scarves jewelry and other knickknack items. I did not buy anything yesterday bec http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-195808.html Sat 9th Friday 22nd June 2007 After an over night train from Dunhuang during which time Hee gained an admirer which unfortunately for him was a middle aged Chinese man who wouldn't leave him alone we arrived in Urumqi the capital city of China's north western desert province Xinjiang. Xinjiang has in the past been known as Eastern Turkestan but is now known as the Uighur Autonomous Regio http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-169123.html