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.
Train Stations - There are 2 train stations in Turpan.
Turpan Train Station - 54 kn away - serves regular trains.
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.
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.
Hotel prices double on the 30th of Sep for GW.
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:
0991-5889033 or 2848488
Is the nightly street bazaar still going on in Urumqi? It was huge with a lot of Uyghur food and not too touristy. Great photo opportunities. Spent several evening there enjoying the food.
URUMQI - Taxi Fees - 10 RMB/3 km + 1.30/km - Taxis are not that easy to catch especially during rush hour.
BRT - Bus Rapid Transit - very good mass transit system in addition to regular buses. 1 RMB = can get you most anywhere. Has its own lane and not very crowded. Very much like a subway, you pay and go inside, you can continue to change buses in 1 direction as long as you do not get out.
Er Dao Qiao Bazaar and International Bazaar directly across the street. A Carre Four included. Tonight I had a BBQ chicken - Half for 20 RMB or whole for 40 RMB. Big plump chicken that was soft and juicy and well cooked with flavor through and through. By far the best chicken I had in China.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_Center_of_Asian_Continent
This monument marks the center of Asia.
Heart of Asia - Ya Xin Cun - Begin at the small bus station (Shi Jiao Ke Yun Zhan) located near the intersection of Ren Min Road + He Tian Street #62.
Only 3 buses per day - 0930, 1330, 1530. Best to catch the first bus so you can get the 1330 bus on your way back.
35 km away - 1 hour ride - Tickets 30 RMB. It was a nice place although not very well maintained but not too many tourists. I enjoyed it and made for a good day.
Beshbalik City Ruins, Jimsar County, Changji - UNESCO - From the North Bus Station (BRT 7) to Jimsar County = 2.5 hours - 40 RMB.
Get a taxi to take you to the Beshbalik Ruins for 30 RMB. The driver will give you his phone number so you can call him after you are done and he will go pick you up.
The ruins are no where near as good as Gao Chang or Jiao He in Turpan - to be honest there are just a few mounds of dirt, can barely see any walls.
Tickets for this UNESCO site are 48 RMB. A golf cart will take you around for FREE or you can walk. The walk is long but very few sights to see. Not worth the long trip and back to Urumqi.
I took a great picture of a sign directly above every urinal in the bathrooms in Xinjiang.
One small step for a man, one giant leap for civilization.
