Xinjiang Attractions
Turpan Grape Valley
The Grape Valley to the northeast of Turpan City got its name for the large output of grapes it produces. The best grapes in China have been grown here for more than 1,000 years. Vineyards take up more than 400 hectares of the area of the valley, producing 6,000 tons of fresh grapes and 300 tons of ...
Jiaohe Ancient City
Jiaohe Ancient City,or Ruins of Jiaohe City, is located at Yarnaizgou Township. 13 kilometers west of downtown Turpan. The city was in existence from the late Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) to the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368). It stood on an oblong tableland with three gates in the southern, easte...
Emin Minaret
The Islamic tower, four kilometers southeast of the county town of Turpan, is also called "Pagoda of Master Su". Built in 1777 more than 200 years ago, it is 44 meters high and 11 meters in diameter at its base, making it the largest pagoda from ancient times in Xinjian...
Turpan Karez Well
Karez Well is a subterranean irrigation system unique to Xinjiang. It is dry and hot in Turpan Basin. Evaporation rate is very high. Local people dig wells and ditches underground to lead river water and underflow in the mountains to their living places. These underground ditches form a water conduc...
Gaochang Ancient City
The ancient sit is located in Astana Village, 46 kilometers to the southeast of Turpan city, Xijiang. Ruins of an ancient Silk Road town standing isolated in the Gobi Desert. Built in the 1st century B.C. and originally called Gaochangbi, it used to be a garrison town. Not much of the ruins are...
Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
The caves are found in the Mutougou River Valley, 40 kilometers away from the Flaming Mountain to the east of Turpan City.The 83 caves (57 caves currently remain) in a sheer cliff face are arranged over a distance of one kilometer on the western bank of the river. They were once used as prayer caves...
Astana Ancient Tombs
The ancient site is located in Astana Village, 40 kilometers to the east of Turpan City. It is composed of three parts: outer city, inner city and core city, surrounded by rammed earth walls. The outer city is in an irregular rectangular shape. The inner city is inside the outer city and the core ci...
Flaming Mountain
The Flaming Mountain is situated in the middle of Turpan Basin. The Uygurs call in Kezletag, which means Read Mountain. It is about 98 kilometers long and nine kilometers wide. In high summer the red rocks give off strong and shimmering lights like bulging flames toward the sky....
Tuyu Gully
Located in Shanshan County, Tuyu Gully is a sanctuary for Buddhists and Moslems. The 1,000-Buddha Grottoes and Mazhar Mosque in this gully testify to the glorious days of these two religions. The 1,000-Buddha Grottoes, known in ancient times as "Dinggu Temple", were built at quite an early...
Museum of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
The museum on Xibei Road in Urumqi is a center of cultural relics collection and scientific research in Xinjiang, a comprehensive museum of history at the provincial level. Its outlook and interior decoration are in typical Uygur architecture. Displayed in the 7,800-square-meter main hall are more t...
Kucha Grand Mosque
Kucha Grand Mosque, located in the northern part of the old urban area of Kucha, was built in 1922. It is composed of the Prayer Hall, Protocol Tower, arched front gate, "Looking-at-the-moon Tower", Lecture Hall and dormitories. The mosque can accommodate 5,000 people at service. Carvings,...
Tianshan Mysterious Grand Canyon
The canyon in the Tianshan Mountains, also know as Kizlia Grand Canyon, is located in the Yanshuigou Valley 60 kilomters north of the county town of Kucha. Peaks flanking the canyon are in the bright colors of peach red, dark green, light yellow, grayish white and bluish white and in vagarious shape...
Kizilgaha Beacon Tower
Located on the eastern side of Yanshui Gully to the north of the county town of Kucham, this beacon tower is one of the grandest beacon towers in existence in Xinjiang. In the Uygur language "Kezilgaha" means "Red-Beaked Crow" or "Red Sentry Post". The remaining part of...
Id Kah Mosque
The Id Kah Mosque is the largest mosque in Xinjiang, China. Located on Jiefang Road in Kashgar city, it was built by Saqsiz Mirza in ca. 1442 (although it incorporated older structures dating back to 996) and covers 16,800 square meters. The main structure on its ground of 1.6 square kilometers are ...
Iron Gate Pass
Located eight kilometers northeast of Korla City, the "Iron Gate Pass" is a 14-kilometer-long gorge between Horo Mountain and Kuruktag Mountain, two branches of the Tianshan Mountains. It was a strategic passageway on the Old Silk Road. Carved on a sheer cliff by the gorge are four Chinese...
Aba Khoja Mausoleum
Also known as Tomb of the fragrant Imperial Consort, the tomb is located on the northeastern outskirts of Kashgar City. It is one of the tombs in the family cemetery of Aba Khoja (Afāq Khoja), chieftain of the Baishan Sect of Islamism. Local people call it "Hazilat Mazar" (Tomb of the Sag...
Kizil Caves
These stone caves, found on a broken cliff on the northern bank of the Muzhati River in Baicheng County, are one of the four greatest Buddhist grottoes groups in China. They were built toward the end of the 3rd century. The caves are distributed over a distance of two kilometers from east to west an...
Karakul Lake
Karakul Lake is located 220 kilometers from downtown Artux in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region., 3,600 meters above sea level, 10 square kilometers in size and 30 meters deep. Local people call the lake "Kalacul" for the dark green color of its water. (In Kizil language Kalacol means "...
Kanas Lake
Kanas Lake is located in Hemu Hanas Mongolian Township in Burqin County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In the Mongolian language, "Kanas" means "land of beauty, abundance and mystery". Mountains, rivers forestes and grasslands around the lake have retained their primitive sta...
Gurbantunggurt Desert
Gurbantunggurt Desert lies 83 kilometers to the north of the urban area of Shihezi. The second largest desert in China is 48,000 square kilomters in size. The desert is dotted with oases, lakes andfarm fields, presenting a marvelous sight. At the depth of the desert sand dunes undulate toward the ho...
Hemu Village
Hemu Township is the uttermost northern township in West China. It lies in a basin surrounded by mountains at the meeting spot of the Kanas River and the Hemu River (Hom River). Hemu Village in the township is the largest and remoest of the three commnities of the Tuva people. (The other two are Kan...
Baisha Lake
The lake, located 60 kilometers south of the county town of Habahe, is surrounded by sand dunes in the form of a peasecod. Radical changes of the local temperature have produced a great variety of plants in the area around the lake, including reed, wild lotus, silvery gray polar, white poplar, Ertix...
Wucaiwan Scenic Zone
Also known as "Multi-Color River Banks", the scenic zone is located on the northern bank of the Ertic River in Gezituobie Township in Burqin County. The rocks along the river banks come in various colors. They become more colorful in the sunset glow, hence the name of the place "Multi...
Narati Pasture
Narati Pasture in the northern park of Xinyuan County has one of the most famous river valley grasslands in the world within its boundaries. This rich ancient pasture has become a favorite tourist destination with its lofty mountains, dense forests, rich grassland, mountain gullies, streams fed with...