Xinjiang Travel Notes—Urumqi and Turpan
Overlooking Tianshan Bogda Peak
This is a travel note that is overdue for more than half a year. In September 2019, during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, I took my mother to the long-awaited Kashgar and Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Because the vacation time is limited, Xinjiang is too large, and tourism resources are relatively scattered. We have to make a choice between southern and northern Xinjiang. In the end, we decided to go to southern Xinjiang, to Kashgar, which I have always longed for and is full of Western style. The Pamir Plateau where you can see eagles soaring over the snow-capped mountains.
As for Northern Xinjiang, I have always been thinking about it, so in the late autumn of November, I went to Kanas again.
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I have longed for distant places since I was a child, and always felt that the distant world was a different world, so my geography scores in middle school were always pretty good. I didn’t like studying during evening self-study in high school, and I could often travel for two hours with a geography atlas in the cloud. The joking saying is: What you read on paper will only be shallow in the end, but you must do it carefully; it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books; it is better to go out to play than to stay at home...
Therefore, the eyes are the windows to the soul. The experience is filled with mountains, rivers and seas, and the heart will have more certainty and warmth...
My yearning for Xinjiang originated from the fairy tale "One Thousand and One Nights" when I was a child, documentaries about the Ancient Silk Road and the Thirty-Six Countries in the Western Regions, and a text "The Grapes of Turpan".
I don't have much interest in "Grimm's Fairy Tales" and "Andersen's Fairy Tales". The storyline is too boring. The old king is wise and capable but neither lives long. The princes all have a vicious brother and a shameless uncle, and the princesses all have an annoying sister. With the evil stepmother (who is very likely to have some witchcraft), and the little white rabbit who follows behind her every day as a light bulb, the endings are always surprisingly consistent. The prince and princess finally defeat the evil, and take the little white rabbit with them from then on. Live a happy life of spreading dog food. Is it any surprise that any story goes against the grain and arranges for a prince and princess to have a date in the forest because they think the little white rabbit is too chewy and they roast it for a picnic? Surprised or not?
I prefer "One Thousand and One Nights" with Arabic culture as the background. This is the fairy tale that infants and toddlers should read! The desert, oasis, earthen city, and Arab merchants are particularly picturesque, as if the sound of camel bells is ringing in your ears.
When a sandstorm blows, it's likely that masked bandits are coming. The protagonists are always a poor boy full of justice and a beautiful princess full of wisdom. Later, Disney's live-action versions of "Alibaba and the Forty Thieves", "Aladdin" and "Prince of Persia" were released. The straightforward visuals of the movies were even more impactful and made me yearn for the deserts and desolate cities in the Western Regions. Because it is an experience that is completely different from the regional culture that I have lived in for a long time, and the sense of anticipation is no less than discovering a new world. My liking for watching documentaries seems to have played a decisive role in developing my character of loving food and fun. The documentaries about the ancient Silk Road and the Western Regions also made me full of expectations for Xinjiang, and the extended parts involving the Middle East and Arabia are also very interesting. , although it is temporarily impossible to travel to the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula for various reasons, and the beautiful ancient city of Baghdad in fairy tales has also been in ruins, but thanks to my vast motherland, I can go to Xinjiang and experience the customs of the Western Regions. As a bridgehead connecting the Arab region on the ancient Silk Road, and historically the seat of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions, Xinjiang has inherited and retained a lot of the Western Regions culture.
Speaking of vast territory, this may be a memorable point in my life about travel. In August 2018, I went to Xinjiang for the first time in my life and set foot on the northwest land for the first time. Before that, my scope of activities was limited to the motherland. The third step is a leap from the third step to the second step. It took more than 50 hours of train ride from Shenyang, all the way to the west, and seamlessly switched several landscape zones, from Dongmeng to Simon, from From the grassland to the Gobi, overlooking the Qilian Mountains, passing through the vast no-man's land of the Gobi, seeing the Yellow River for the first time, seeing the sunset over the desert for the first time. The beauty of the northwest is different from the graceful mountains, rivers, forests and streams in the east. It is rough and majestic. Yes, it's shocking.
Photos of trains entering Xinjiang in 2018
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Urumqi - beautiful pasture
Urumqi, which means "beautiful pasture" in Mongolian, is the first stop in Xinjiang and the starting point for a good rest. Compared with the capital cities in the eastern provinces, the infrastructure may be a little worse, but the development speed in recent years is also relatively fast. Roads and subways are being built everywhere (Line 1 has been opened), and traffic jams are inevitable. The urban area as a whole runs north-south, and the Sayibak District in the south has more ethnic customs.
One day is enough for the main scenic spots in the city, which are roughly Red Mountain Park, Xinjiang Museum and Grand Bazaar. Hongshan Park is a 4A scenic spot, but in my opinion, the three A's give it historical significance, and the natural landscape only accounts for one A, judging from the natural landscape alone, it is an ordinary small urban park. However, as the inland city farthest from the ocean in the world, Urumqi looks at it from the perspective of barren hills and greening, and compares it with old photos from decades ago. You will sigh at the great contribution made by the older generation of military reclamation and Urumqi people to greening.
Hongshan Park
Compared with the provincial museums I have visited before (except for the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum), the Xinjiang Museum is small in scale and the collections are not rich enough. Most people may come here for the mummy of the Loulan beauty and the brocade piece from the Five Stars Out of the East. I think it's a bit useless. It depends on your personal schedule. If you are tight on time, you can give it up.
Relatively speaking, the Grand Bazaar is the most worthwhile place to visit in the city. The Grand Bazaar is divided into east and west areas by Jiefang South Road. On the west side is the Erdaoqiao Grand Bazaar, which is dominated by food streets. Most snacks in Xinjiang are basically available. See you, let me tell you the names of the dishes: grilled fish, baked eggs, barbecued meat, grilled naan, grilled buns, grilled pigeon, roasted whole lamb, naan pit meat, finger meat, tripe meat, smoked horse meat, smoked horse intestines , Sanliang, pulled strips, hand-picked rice, meatball soup, pepper chicken, rice intestines, lungs, white water sheep head, spicy sheep trotters, stir-fried haggis, yogurt rice dumplings, yogurt shaved ice, Kavas... But, delicious food After all, the street is just a food street. There are more authentic delicacies waiting for you on Heping South Road nearby, such as Weijia lamb, Sulai Yiman grilled lamb intestines (a string of life), and a little further away, there is a Fu Ramen Feizi specialty store and a blood station. Large plate of chicken and so on.
Some Xinjiang delicacies
Sulaiman Grilled Lamb Sausage in a String of Life
Must-eat Blood Bank Chicken
On the east side is the International Grand Bazaar, which is mainly a market. There are many shops selling tapestries and tambourines. If you like something, you can bargain for a price. Be tough and the boss will not beat you. Xinjiang's security is very good. In addition, there are various nut specialties. If you have enough time, I recommend going to Hualing Market and Hongshan Market. The quality of nuts may be better and the price is more beautiful. The merchants allow you to taste them (not to take advantage, you really have to taste them). To compare, there is a huge difference. For example, if you grab a handful of cashew nuts and weigh them in your hands, you will obviously find that the dryness is different and the weight is biased.) You can eat while shopping, and you will be full after walking around.
Grand Bazaar
I recommend two small shops near the Hongshan Market. One is Mendong Barbeque, which is hidden in a nearby community. It is only visited by locals and there is no place to sit when it is late. The other is called Jiale Pot. The owner seems to be from the Northeast and serves fat intestines. It's really invincible. There are no side dishes to burden it. It's full of fatty intestines. There are even a lot of thick, tough and elastic intestines. What a conscience!
Many people say that at night in Xinjiang, the days are longer than in the mainland. I disagree, because I think from a geographical point of view, it is just an illusion caused by the time difference. Kashgar in the west of Xinjiang is divided into five eastern districts according to longitude, and Urumqi is divided into six eastern districts. Harbin and Shenyang in the northeast belong to the East Ninth District, so the unified division according to the Beijing time of the East Eight Districts will give the illusion that Xinjiang is at night. In addition, Xinjiang has a high latitude, and the day is longer and the night is shorter due to the direct sunlight in the summer half of the year. So for friends in low-latitude provinces in the south, the days are much longer, but for us Northeasterners at high latitudes, it’s just a time difference.
The summer in Urumqi is very hot, but it is not like the sultry heat in the mainland. It is dry and refreshing. After the sun goes down, there is always a breeze coming through the window and caressing your body, making you sleep soundly and comfortably.
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Urumqi is located in the plain area on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains. It is customary to call the Urumqi section of the Tianshan Mountains Nanshan, and Nanshan has also become the back garden of Urumqi. If you are coming to Xinjiang for the snow-capped mountains and grassland landscape, but don’t have enough time to go to Ili Nalati and Kalajun, you can take a one-day tour to Nanshan, a one-day tour to the Tianshan Grand Canyon, or a one-day tour to Jiangbulake in Qitai County. Day trips are good choices, and the landscapes are very similar (they all belong to the Zhongtian Mountains landscape zone); as for Tianshan Tianchi, because it is so famous, it lacks cost performance compared with the previous scenic spots (personally, I think the one with the highest cost performance is Jiangbu Lak), but the scenery is still good. You must take the cable car to the top of Maya Mountain. You can overlook Tianchi and Bogda Peak in the distance, which is super beautiful. You should prepare a jacket when entering the mountains. The microclimate of Tianshan Mountains is changeable. The sun is shining when you set off from Urumqi, but it may start raining and the temperature will drop sharply when you enter the mountains.
It was also in Xinjiang and in the Tianshan Mountains that I saw the three-dimensional landscape of grassland + forest + snow-capped mountains for the first time. It was different from the endless blue-sky grassland in Hulunbuir, and also different from the primitive forests in the Northeast. It was refreshing. For the first time, the mountains in Xinjiang had an invisible feeling. Shocking, I envy the Kazakh herdsmen living in the mountains. I envy the cattle and sheep grazing leisurely on the grasslands, beside the mountains and forests, and beside the streams. I envy their daily lives. I envy the wind they blow every day...
Urumqi Nanshan
Tianshan Tianchi
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Back in elementary school, I read the text "Grapes of Turpan". The reason why I remember it deeply over the years is because the grapes I have eaten since childhood are inconsistent with the feeling described in the text. They are either sour or bland, and they do not taste sweet. Honey time; and that karez. My understanding of a well since I was a child is a vertical shaft and a water well. No matter how it is described in the text or the illustrations in the middle school geography textbook, I am a little confused. It is not until I see it with my own eyes that I feel like I suddenly understand it. , wouldn’t you call it a culvert built underground to prevent water from evaporating? Not straightforward?
karez
The first stop from Urumqi is Turpan. From here, we need to transfer to Kashgar and spend a day on the way. There is a high-speed train from Urumqi to Turpan, which takes less than an hour. Passing through Dabancheng, you can see the vast wind turbines on the Gobi Desert, which is also a scenery that cannot be seen in the mainland. Turpan Station is a bit far from the city, and security checks are relatively strict, so you must allow time if you take the bus from here.
The urban area of Turpan is not big, and the scenic spots in the city are not far away. Due to time constraints, I only went to the museum, Grape Valley, Sugong Pagoda and the Prince's Mansion in the city. The nearby places are the Flame Mountain, Thousand Buddha Cave, and Jiaohe Ancient Town. I didn’t have time to go to Gaochang City, Gaochang Ancient City, or Tuyugou Mazha Village. I will have the opportunity to make up for it later.
It was still early to arrive in Turpan, so I took my mother to have a Xinjiang specialty breakfast - grilled buns. This grilled bun shop was planted by me after watching a Xinjiang food documentary a long time ago. I never thought that I would be able to pull weeds one day. It is located opposite the Turpan Museum. , the business was very hot in the early morning, and the buns were sold out as soon as they came out of the oven, so my experience is to buy enough at one time, otherwise it will be very tiring to wait. The shape of the baked buns is not the round and fat buns that we subconsciously think of as thin-skinned buns with large fillings and eighteen pleats, but a simple rectangle. The four sides of the dough can be wrapped with fillings and simply folded and sealed. This is also in line with the characteristics of Uighur cuisine. The road to simplicity. The filling is beef and mutton with chopped black pepper, chopped onions and some seasonings. The meat is cut into dices the size of pomegranate seeds. It has a grainy, chewy and meaty flavor in the mouth. A charcoal fire is burning in the naan pit to preheat, and a little salt water is smeared on the bottom of the buns so that they can stick firmly to the wall of the naan pit. The steamed buns are stuck all over the pit. The master will sprinkle salt water into the pit again, and the salt water will be heated when it enters the pit. To make steam, the master sealed the mouth of the pit with a thick quilt. At this time, the baked buns went through a steaming process in the naan pit, from the outside to the inside, from the dough to the meat filling. When they were almost steamed, the chef opened the quilt. , expose the pit to let the water vapor dissipate, start to add charcoal fire, and enter the roasting stage. You can clearly see that the skin of the buns begins to expand and harden, and the color gradually changes from light yellow to burnt brown. The aroma of noodles and meat is mixed with the aroma. The baked buns are crispy and fragrant, with gravy, the spiciness of black pepper, and the aroma of onions. The various textures and flavors mix to hit your taste buds and soul. Delicious! happiness!
After eating baked buns, opposite is the Turpan Museum. The cultural relics on display are not rich. Due to the unique geographical location and climatic conditions, the main cultural relics of the Turpan Museum are the unearthed mummies. So I personally recommend that if you have been to the Xinjiang Museum in Urumqi, you don’t have to spend time anymore. Saw it.
5
Because I have had special expectations for Grape Valley since I was a child, I followed the saying: the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. The original flavor of life and ethnic customs here have been ruthlessly plundered by commercialization. In addition, what historical value and legendary stories can be given to a small natural village? So attractions like Avanti House are like a joke and have no meaning. Just go to the main scenic area on the top of the mountain and take a look at the grape trellis and the Flame Mountain. There are fresh grapes and a small market selling raisins in the main scenic area. It is a must-see for the exit, but I recommend taking a seat. When the shuttle bus arrives at the door, take a look. For example: fresh grapes cost 10 yuan for a paper cup in the main scenic area on the top of the mountain, and 8 yuan for a small basket of farmers on the roadside at the foot of the mountain. The price difference of raisins should be more than double. To sum up, the value of Grape Valley lies in the crystal clear water channel, in the daily life style passed down from generation to generation, and in the grape trellises and old houses of every household here.
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A tower with a unique shape Islamic architecture It is the largest existing Ancient Tower , built in 1778 AD, has a history of more than 230 years. Uighur Famous patriots Turpan Prince Emin Khoja In order to express gratitude to the Qing Dynasty for its kindness, Allah In order to show his piety and make his life's achievements famous for future generations, he built it with 7,000 taels of silver. The reason why it is called Sugong Tower is that it was built by Suleiman, the son of Princess Emin, hence the name.
Tower repair Uighur Excellent architects have demonstrated the excellent architectural art tradition of the Uyghur people through the tower. The 40-meter-high brick tower is grayish yellow from bottom to top. The plain earthen bricks should make people feel dull and monotonous, but the clever Uyghur craftsmen have ingeniously built more than 10 geometric patterns of waves, diamonds, and round flowers - repeating and changing endlessly. Standing under the tower and looking up, it is like standing in front of a complex and changing decorative painting.
The above introduction to Sugong Tower comes from Baidu Encyclopedia, because I only look at the architectural shape and brick patterns of Sugong Tower, and I am not very interested in other meanings. Next to Sugong Tower is the Prince's Mansion, where Sugong Tower was built. Emin Khoja Although the palace has been rebuilt, it is worth a visit and has many ethnic characteristics.
The Turpan Prince's Palace was where the Turpan Prince Emin Khoja lived, presided over government affairs, and commanded the military. It was also the center of the political, economic, cultural, and military command of the Turpan Uyghurs during the Qing Dynasty. Emin Khoja He was not only the leader of the Turpan Uighurs at the time, but also the leader of the Qing government. Minister Counselor , was also an outstanding patriot and military strategist. In history, the Turpan Prince's Mansion covered hundreds of acres and had hundreds of rooms, including meeting halls, reception halls, main residences, mosques, barracks, stables, etc. The Turpan Prince's Mansion was rebuilt in 1933. Sheng Shicai The army set fire to it. The Prince's Mansion was restored and rebuilt according to the previous Uyghur architectural style, layout and scale based on historical records. The Prince's Mansion covers an area of 22 mu, and the palace building area is about 2,500 square meters. The gate and courtyard wall of the Prince's Mansion are unique in shape, solemn, simple and generous with a strong Islamic style. There are dozens of rooms of different sizes in the courtyard and the front and back palaces of the Prince's Mansion. The ceiling, arcade, stairs, railings and eaves are carved with typical Uyghur ethnic craftsmanship, with plaster flower decorations, which are very ethnic; various fruit trees and grape vines planted in the courtyard are lush and green. The beautiful Uyghur architectural style of the Prince's Mansion, the construction technology of the civil structure, the exquisite carvings and relief patterns, beautifully demonstrate the luxurious style of a generation of Uyghur princes. Its cave-style architectural style and layout are very suitable for people living in the dry and hot Turpan (warm in winter and cool in summer). The overall architecture of the Prince's Mansion integrates Han culture and the traditional architectural culture and art of Central Asian Islam. It is an ideal place for historians, photographers, architects, and tourists to pursue their dreams and reminisce about the past! Due to the unique and profound Prince's historical culture and beautiful traditional Islamic architectural style, the Prince's Mansion in Turpan has become the setting for the 32-episode TV series " Prince of Turpan 》, which took as long as half a year. It is a treasure in the desert of the western region of the motherland. Its architectural style and layout are suitable for the dry and hot Turpan people to live in, and it integrates Han culture and Central Asian Islamic traditional architectural culture and art. It is a good place for historians, photographers, architects, and tourists to pursue their dreams and reminisce about the past. (Sorry, this paragraph is also from Baidu Encyclopedia)
To be honest, Sugong Pagoda and the Prince's Mansion are very cost-effective attractions, but you have to go all the way to Xinjiang to see them. Later on, there are other very low-cost attractions like Kashgar, so if you are not particularly interested in religious history Friends, it is recommended to choose natural landscape attractions, which are very cost-effective!
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