乌鲁木齐市

Why this place

Urumqi is the furthest city from any ocean in the world, and it is the capital of Xinjiang — a Han and Uyghur city where the bazaar, the food and the faces change completely from eastern China. It is the gateway to the Tian Shan, to Turpan and to the southern Silk Road oases.

What to see

• The Xinjiang Regional Museum, with the Tarim mummies — remarkably preserved, thousands of years old
• The Grand Bazaar and the Erdaoqiao area, for Uyghur food and crafts
• The Tian Shan (Tianshan) Tianchi lake, 2 hours east — a glacial lake below the snow peaks
• The Nanshan grasslands and the Kazakh牧场 villages south of the city
• The Red Hill and the city's parks, for a view over the whole basin

What to eat

• Lamb skewers, 'dapanji' (big-plate chicken with potatoes) and hand-pulled 'laghman' noodles
• Uyghur 'samsa' pastries, naan baked in clay ovens, and pilaf (zhuafan) with lamb and carrots
• Fruit: melons, grapes, apricots and pomegranates, all exceptional in Xinjiang

How to plan

Two days in the city and Tianchi, then onward to Turpan, Kashgar or the southern oases.

Best time

May–October; Urumqi is cold in winter and very hot in high summer

Practical tips

• Xinjiang is vast — internal flights are often the only practical way between the oases; allow more time than the map suggests