Hami City

The "eastern gateway to Xinjiang" and home of the Hami melon, with the Hui King's Palace and the Dahaidao yardangs; cross the Tianshan to the Barkol grasslands and old town and the Yiwu poplar forests.

Hami sits at the far eastern end of Xinjiang and was the first stop on the Silk Road into the Western Regions, earning it the name "eastern gateway to Xinjiang". The eastern Tianshan cuts across the prefecture, splitting it into two landscapes: south of the mountains lie the oases and gobi around Hami city, famous for Hami melons and red dates; north of the mountains are the grasslands, lakes and desert poplar forests of Barkol and Yiwu. The city's main sights are around the old Huicheng quarter—the Hui King's Palace, the Hui King's Mausoleum and the Hami Museum—where you can learn about the Qing-era Hami kings and Uyghur muqam culture. About 90–120 km west are the Wubao Ghost City and the Dahaidao yardangs, great for off-road trips and stargazing. Heading north over the Tianshan via Baishitou and Songshutang takes about 2 hours to Barkol, where you can visit Barkol Lake, the grasslands and the Qing-dynasty twin-walled old town; in autumn continue northeast to Yiwu for the poplar forests. The best season is Jun–Oct: Jul–Aug is Hami melon season and the grasslands are at their greenest, and the poplars turn gold in early to mid-October. In summer the gobi surface gets extremely hot, and winters north of the Tianshan are bitterly cold. Hami has an airport and a station on the Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway; it's about 3 hours by high-speed train from Urumqi and easy to reach from Dunhuang and Jiayuguan. Allow 3–4 days: 1 in the city, 1 for the yardangs and 1–2 in Barkol. The sights are spread out, so self-drive or a chartered car works best, and you must join an official convoy to enter uninhabited areas such as Dahaidao.

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