The best of Xinjiang in July

Urumqi

Urumqi is the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and a must-visit for travelers to Xinjiang.

As an important station of the ancient Silk Road, Urumqi inherited cultures from both the east and west. The most famous tourist spots here include the Heavenly Lake, the Southern Pastures, the Red Hill, the Southern Mosque, the Tartar Mosque, and the Xinjiang Regional Museum.

Kashgar

Located in the western end of the Silk Road, Kashgar has been a traffic hub for tradesmen for at least 2,000 years. Travelers are recommended to visit the local Sunday market which is said to be the grandest of its kind in Xinjiang and one of the largest in Asia.

Another place worth visiting is the souvenir streets at the back of the Idkah Mosque. They are filled with shops selling indigenous copperware, samovars, musical instruments and jewelry.

Kashgar is also famous for its ethnic snacks and cuisine such as milk tea, borsak (a kind of fried food), yogurt, milk curd, hand-eaten meat and roast lamb.

The Pamir Plateau

To the southwest of Kashgar lies the magnificent snowcapped mountain range which rises above the Pamir Plateau. The Plateau is crowned "roof of the world". The scenery varies at different levels of the mountains. The pasture at the foot of the mountain is frequently visited for the hot springs, alpine lakes and deserted historical castles.

Kuqa

The city of Kuqa is quite small but it was an essential stop on the ancient Silk Road.

Kuqa is where Taklamakan Desert, the largest desert in China, spreads. The desert landscape takes dramatic changes according to the season but it is all the while mesmerizing.

Kuqa is also famous for a traditional food Nang, which is a kind of wheat pie. It has the biggest Nang within Xinjiang. And Nang is commonly served in local people's houses to welcome guests. Another favorite Uygur dish is called La Tiaozi. Basically it's noodles with a special kind of sauce. The sauce is a scrambled mixture of beef and vegetables such as tomato, beans, eggplant and green peppers.

Ili

Lying at the foot of the Tianshan Mountain and in the western part of Xinjiang, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture is an important base for rice and oil. It is bounded on the northeast by Russia and Mongolia, on the west by Kazakhstan.

Summer and autumn are the best time in Ili. And Ili River is among the most photographed scenic spots in the prefecture. In recent years, large numbers of lavender plantations began to emerge in the vast terrain of Ili, which not only support the local importing industry but also have drawn numerous tourists.