A picture is worth a thousand words. I would like to share some pictures of amazing places that I had visited in China, covering a part of Silk Road, from Urumqi Xinjiang to Beijing, from the West to East. Hopefully my photos with short caption can inspire you to travel to this country rich in culture and beautiful scenery.

Kanas and Hemu village in Altay region of North Xinjiang have the most beautiful autumn foliage in a short period of 2-3 weeks starting from end of September. To avoid the crowd and skyrocketing prices during China long holiday, I began my journey in mid October, with a hope to catch a glimpse of autumn’s golden hue in time.

Altay region is located in the most northern part of West China. To me, it is like the golden triangle of China, bordering Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. So how to get there? The easiest way is to fly to Altay airport directly. We took a longer route by stopping by Urumqi first.

After arriving in Urumqi, there are 3 options to get to Burjin which is a gateway to Kanas and Hemu village. We opted for overnight bus to avoid the hurdle of transit by taking train and expensive flight to Altay airport. From Urumqi airport, we got on the city bus to NianZiGou bus station to get our bus tickets. After that we explored around the city during our free time. Things were so different here.

Grand bazaar DaBaZa (大巴扎) is a marketplace that sells Xinjiang produce and souvenirs like raisins, jujube, naan, rugs, etc. The colors of the food really caught my eyes.

And also, the uniqueness of these architectures.

Travel Tips:
Some heads up if you are traveling to Xinjiang for the first time, please get a phone sim card at another city because it is impossible to get a sim card without identity card. Passport was not acceptable at this point. We had to hangout in a cafe just to use the wifi and load Baidu map. We were pretty unprepared for this and incredibly lucky to survive without internet. Besides, don’t be surprised when you are asked to go through security checkpoints and passport checks when travel from one town to another. Moreover, when the bus or any vehicle had petrol pump, all the passengers had to get off the vehicle.