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On the Silk Road

By Tiffany Wong (China Daily HK Edition)
Updated: 2009-05-12 15:05

Located in Northewest China, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region borders many countries, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. It runs on both Beijing and Xinjiang time, yet its ancient character gives it a timeless quality.

Urumqi

A tourist is taking picture in Kashgar. [China Daily/Photos courtesy of Tiffany Wong]

Having never traveled further than the mainland's major cities, embarking upon a journey to Xinjiang was admittedly intimidating given its remoteness. There are limited flights available from Hong Kong and tourist information is far from adequate.

China Travel Service offers an eight-hour flight from Shenzhen to Urumqi with one stopover in-between. Xinjiang's unique flavor is immediately noticeable as signs are posted in Uygur script, simplified Chinese characters and occasionally Russian Cyrillic from a by-gone era. There was not much English sight. One has to rely upon basic Mandarin skills. A lively, good-humored taxi driver gleefully exclaims "Aiya!" while shaking his head at every mispronounced word.

Xinjiang's capital and hub for most flights coming from Central Asia is Urumqi , meaning "beautiful pasture" in Mongolian. It has a striking dry climate, and is not quite a burgeoning city. Its wide tree-lined boulevards and abundance of taxis nevertheless make it a surprisingly modern city with friendly inhabitants of Han nationality and Uygur minority.

Landlocked at approximately 2,500km from the nearest coastline, Urumqi occupies a spot close to the "Eurasian pole of inaccessibility" - a daunting term for the point on land farthest from any ocean and a line in the Guinness Book of World Records "as the most remote city from any sea in the world". Its remoteness evidently does not contribute to a rush of tourist competition to land the best hotels.

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