JOURNALS: Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region in the northwest of China, with an area of 1.6 million square kilometers (1/6 of the size of China).
While staying at a guesthouse at Gubeikou just outside Beijing, I asked the owner which part of China I should visit and she spoke highly of Xinjiang for its landscape and beauty. Xinjiang has long been a popular site for local tourism. When we visited Xinjiang in late June, all the tourist sites were absolutely PACKED (and apparently it gets even more crowded during the July school holidays). Our guide in Xinjiang shared that with China’s aging population, many retirees also like to visit, and some even fly while sending their cars over separately to do a roadtrip. PRO tip: If you go before May the crowd will be much smaller, and a lot of attractions will not require tickets you can just drive in.
Xinjiang felt a bit like a cross between Kazakhstan and China - especially given the type of food and langage spoken.
There are many regions of Xinjiang that you can visit, our local guide shared that you probably need at least 3 weeks to explore its tourist sites properly. Visit the South for people and cultural aspects, and the North and the West for scenic routes. We visited the North side during this trip, covering areas such as the famed Duku highway (where you see four seasons in a day), and Sayram lake. The sites were packed with local tourists and we only saw one foreigner who was there with a Chinese partner. Foreigners are more likely to visit Turpan instead, where there are UNESCO certified sites - in particular the Karez Wells and Jiaohe Ancient City (pictured below). The areas to cover are VAST and we spent several hours in a vehicle - tiring even in spite of the flat and smooth roads. Something to ask about and consider when planning a visit. If anyone is doing a short more focused trip, you could consider focusing on Yili itself for scenery, or to visit Urumqi + Turpan for more cultural and historical aspects.
Our tour route took us to: Urumqi > Dushanzi Grand Canyon > Duku Highway > Narathi Prairie > Sayram Lake > Changji > Tianshan Tianchi > Tulufan (also known as Turpan).
2 things that struck me during the trip:
The infrastructure in Xinjiang is at a whole other level
Personally, I wanted to visit Xinjiang to see the Dabancheng wind farm. LOL. (FYI Dabencheng has high wind speeds - can flip trains when there are gusts).
This was my first time seeing such large scale wind and solar projects with my own eyes. And on top of completed projects, we also saw construction in the works, with wind turbine blades (at an estimated 75m) being transported on vehicles, and hoisted by cranes for installation.
According to China daily, renewables were Xinjiang’s top power source in 2024, with renewables generating 1,161 billion kWh of energy. By 2026, Xinjiang aims to supply half of exported power from renewables, up from 30%.
And on top of renewable energy, Xinjiang’s roads and highways are also impressive. If you’ve travelled to mountain ranges you’ll be used to the winding and curving roads. In this case enroute to Sayram lake, it was probably my first time driving through a mountain range on such a straight road.
The level of production in Xinjiang is also impressive! Xinjiang is known for its fruits and produce which are sent to not just the rest of China but also to Europe.
We saw all types of farms and plots - including cotton, chili, grapes and more. Coming from SG where most things are imported, I very much enjoyed getting to purchase some of these items from source to bring back for family and friends
The guide very proudly procured and shared with us local melons and fruits, and we also had fun stopping by small stops to buy honey and lavender direct from the source
Tourists often visit lavender farms in Xinjiang during the June / July period - these are often small plots scattered around Yili owned by the locals. Some require payment for entry, while others are free for entry and photos with the expectation that you’ll buy some lavender products and souvenirs back from them. Definitely recommend!
A lot of land in Xinjiang is actually desert, and China is converting this to farmland and also building a green belt to prevent desertification and sandstorms.
Xinjiang is opening up for foreign tourists, and China has definitely been investing in Xinjiang to change the international view.
Practical aspects: Note that it is not easy to get a SIM card in Xinjiang beyond the airport (there are restrictions in selling sim cards to foreign tourists, certain larger shops are supposedly able to but we struggled to find one), so it would be better to buy a SIM card from another part of China if you have a stopover before reaching Xinjiang. Alternatively, esims worked fine for us as well, we bought ours on Trip.com.
As we travelled around, security is high with camera checks at certain points, where you have to roll down the car windows and look into a camera. Hotels also check the passports of guests, and some require you to have a Chinese mobile number to access the internet. The strictest experience for us on this was actually in Changji.