Northern Xinjiang

The Junggar Basin and Altai Mountains north of the Tianshan, home to Kanas, Sayram Lake, Narati and the Ili River Valley.

Northern Xinjiang is the area north of the Tianshan Mountains, including Urumqi, Changji, Altay, Tacheng, Bortala, Ili and Karamay. The Altai mountains have Kanas Lake, Hemu and Baihaba Village, Koktokay and Wucai Beach; in winter it is the "birthplace of human skiing" and a powder-snow paradise. In the middle are the Urho Ghost City, Ulungur Lake and Heavenly Lake of Tianshan; in the west, Sayram Lake is hailed as "the last tear of the Atlantic," and the Ili River Valley has Narati, Kalajun, Zhaosu, the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) City of Tekes and lavender fields; the Duku Highway crosses the Tianshan from north to south. The classic "Northern Xinjiang Grand Loop" takes 10–14 days: Urumqi – Karamay – Burqin – Kanas – Hemu – (Koktokay) – Sayram Lake – Yining – Zhaosu/Tekes – Narati – Duku Highway – Urumqi. Distances are long, so self-driving or a chartered car is the norm; Kanas, Yining and Altay have airports. Summer is peak season and lodging is tight, and within scenic areas you need to take shuttle buses. Winter tourism in northern Xinjiang has been heating up rapidly in recent years: the powder snow at Altay's Jiangjun Mountain, Koktokay and Hemu's Jikepulin ski resorts is famous nationwide, and the snow village of Hemu and winter rime ice at Kanas draw large numbers of photographers, offering an experience entirely different from summer.

Destinations

Itineraries