TIAN SHAN LAKE - UNESCO - We took a tour of Tian Shan Lake. Paid 280 RMB and we had an 8 am pickup. Picked up others until 9 am then headed towards Tian Shan. Arrived at 1030 am and we stopped just inside Tian Shan area for a macca sales pitch for 15 minutes.
Then went to pick up tickets. 215 RMB which also includes Green Bus. At this point we left our tour group and went on our own as we did not want any of the other things the tour group offered. With tickets in hand we got on the green bus. The visitors center is 32 km from the lake. Far enough so that no one can catch a glimpse of the snow mountain by mistake. The green bus takes 40 minutes to get to the lake.
However, it stops halfway up where everyone gets off to visit the Kazakh Village for an additional fee of 50 RMB. We headed straight for the green bus again without going in and there are buses waiting to take 35 people at a time. After this 10 minute delay we were back in the bus heading for the lake.
We arrived at the parking lot at 1130 am. It is 800 meters to the lake and you can choose to walk or pay 10 RMB for a 10 man golf cart. Most people walk so there is no waiting for the 800 meter ride.
At the lake you can pay an additional 80 or 95 RMB to go on a boat ride, we declined. You can walk about 1/2 the circumfrence of the lake on the paths provided. Best photos are after 1200 noon as the sun is in your eyes when trying to get a picture of snow mountain.
For an additional 220 RMB you can take a cable car up to the mountain side (750 meters) and take pictures of the lake from a birdseye view. After purchasing tickets you must wait in line to get picked up by a yellow car that carries 18 people. Not many of these yellow cars so there is about a 20 minute wait. The cable car is 8 km away. Wait time for cable car is 20-30 minutes. We did not take the cable car so that is all I know about this.
We walked around from 1200 to 1500. Then we got back on the green bus and headed downhill. No wait for the green bus as they are lined up and take off as soon as the 35 people are seated. Takes 40 minutes to go downhill to visitors center.
At 4 pm we were picked up by our tour bus again and we headed home foe Urumqi. Arrived at 1730 where we were taken to a Jade market. We went in and immediately escaped and took a taxi home. We were back in our hotel before 1830.
We only paid 280 RMB and we declined all other additional things so it was a nice trip. Beautiful day with clear blue skies.
Phone to call before you visit to get updates on prices:
I will have more updates on Gansu as soon as I return from Xinjiang. I will head down Jiuquan, Zhangye, and Wuwei in Gansu. Then back to Lanzhou to take a tour of Qinghai Lake in Qinghai.
From there I will stay in Lanzhou to see more sights before heading back to Kunming.
URUMQI - Colder than Turpan - big city with heavy traffic and buses are very crowded. Noticeable police presence all around. Security checks in many dept stores and even Burger King. Metal detectors at the entrance. Armed Police on many corners, about 4-6 of them with machine guns and fixed bayonets.
Many buses from train station to all parts of town. Train station is located within the city, very much like Kunming. Not as good as Turpan, I wish I had stayed there a few more days.
Have made reservations for hotels in advance and purchased train tickets also. Train tickets are already sold out even 5 days before Golden Week.
Turpan North Train Station - 12 km away and bus 2020 gets you downtown for 1 RMB. Serves high speed D train. Best to get D train into Turpan to avoid the lengthy commute from the old station.
Turpan to Urumqi - 1 hour via D train - very nice.
There are inexpensive tours that will provide transportation ONLY to the scenic sites. Purchase tickets on your own, most are 40 RMB. You can go to 8 scenic spots in one day for only 85 RMB on a big bus. We took a private car to 6 sites for 400 RMB. We were picked up and dropped off at our hotel. We started at 8 am and returned at 3 pm (7 hrs). Total round trip mileage was 150 kms. Most of the sites are within 1/2 hour of each other.
1 - Tu Yuk Valley + 1000 Buddha Cave - A real old town with very few people, mostly elderly with children. Tickets 40 RMB. Takes about 1 hour to see. Can see the Flaming mountains along the way.
2 - Gao Chang Ancient City - Qocho. This is a recent UNESCO site, tickets 75 RMB. They are building a visitors center 2 km away. Very similar to Jiao He Ruins but much larger. No one to bother you along the way as long as you stay on the paths provided. You can walk, rent a bike (20 RMB) or take the tram (35 RMB). Many choices and lots of freedom for a UNESCO site. Can see the Flaming Mountains along the way.
3 - Astana Ancient Tombs - Tickets 40 RMB. Full tour takes 10 minutes. You can enter 3 tombs, 1 has 2 mummified bodies other 2 are empty. I suggest you skip this site.
4 - Bezkelik Grottoes - Tickets 40 RMB. Guards are very young and busy smoking and joking. Full tour takes 30 minutes. My wife took pictures inside the grottoes and no one bothered her. Nice view of the flaming mountains all around. Very nice!
5 - Flaming Mountains - We arrived near the gate (40 RMB) and took a few more pictures. No need to pay and go inside unless you want pictures of the Journey to the West monkey. The Flaming Mountains can be viewed along the way to the sites I described above so it is not necessary to go to this one specific place which is a tourist trap.
What a catastrophe! Recently visited Nanning, Guangxi which also has a bike program. All the bikes are uniform in color (Orange) and there is 1 type of payment method. They are neatly placed in bike racks all over the city. They come in clusters of 20 and they are found at every subway station in groups of 20, 40, and 60 depending on location. There are cameras mounted on either side of the bike racks for safety and supervision. People can easily find the bike racks and use the bikes and return them to conveniently located bike racks in other parts of the city.
Kunming has 3 types of bikes and 3 types of payment. There are very few bike racks so there are no central locations to get a bike if you need them. I live at the edge of the city in a village and there are bikes scattered everywhere. The people here use them, drive them home and park the bike it in front of their door where no one else can use them. They now have their own private bikes that they can use and abuse and when it gets destroyed they just go get another one. The bike sits idle all day until that person (Temporary owner) is ready to use it again. Kunming should learn from the many other cities that use bikes and create a system that serves all. I am sure the companies who operate these bikes will lose a lot of money from this program.
I enjoy reading the articles on this site but what really drives me nuts is when the article does not clearly state where this place is located - a basic essential in writing - missing.
Village name is great - how about a county and a prefecture along with that.
The new Visa office is located at 118 Tuo Dong Road. There is no number on the building yet so do not bother to look for it. There are 2 passport photo shops on either side of the building. The office is located directly in front of the Kunming Museum. The bus stop is named - Shi Bo Wu Guan - Bus 1, 62, 109, 117, 145, 213, A1 and K3 stop directly in front of the office. Foreigners need to go to the 3rd floor. The Tuo Dong Stadium is located to the right of the office while Baita Road is located to the left of the office.
Cookie Preferences
Please select which types of cookies you are willing to accept:
Kunming's bike share options: A user guide
发布者news.163.com/17/0215/11/CDAJ3QTJ000187VG.html
You can see the police in this picture - always ready to serve and protect the interests of the big money.
Kunming's bike share options: A user guide
发布者What a catastrophe! Recently visited Nanning, Guangxi which also has a bike program. All the bikes are uniform in color (Orange) and there is 1 type of payment method. They are neatly placed in bike racks all over the city. They come in clusters of 20 and they are found at every subway station in groups of 20, 40, and 60 depending on location. There are cameras mounted on either side of the bike racks for safety and supervision. People can easily find the bike racks and use the bikes and return them to conveniently located bike racks in other parts of the city.
Kunming has 3 types of bikes and 3 types of payment. There are very few bike racks so there are no central locations to get a bike if you need them. I live at the edge of the city in a village and there are bikes scattered everywhere. The people here use them, drive them home and park the bike it in front of their door where no one else can use them. They now have their own private bikes that they can use and abuse and when it gets destroyed they just go get another one. The bike sits idle all day until that person (Temporary owner) is ready to use it again. Kunming should learn from the many other cities that use bikes and create a system that serves all. I am sure the companies who operate these bikes will lose a lot of money from this program.
Celebrating a Miao Christmas in Yunnan
发布者I enjoy reading the articles on this site but what really drives me nuts is when the article does not clearly state where this place is located - a basic essential in writing - missing.
Village name is great - how about a county and a prefecture along with that.
Very annoying and NOT the first time.
Fuxian shampoo incident becomes national topic
发布者1 - Once the image was published on Chinese social media the firestorm began, and continues unabated nearly two weeks later.
2 - although some more vocal microbloggers have called for a police investigation and arrests.
I can teach reading and comprehension for a small fee.
Fuxian shampoo incident becomes national topic
发布者dama (大妈) — big momma - Chinese slang for selfish middle-aged women who act badly in public.