Along the Silk Road, Ürümqi -- the Most Remote City from Any Sea

As previously mentioned, our family trip this year was along the ancient silk road. Although the original silk road no longer exists (modern highways and railroads have replaced a large part of it), I thought it would be fun to visit some towns and cities located along the ancient route, both to learn about the history and experience the current local life a bit.

 We decided to start in Ürümqi (meaning "beautiful pasture" in Mongolian), which used to be a major hub on the silk road and currently the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The flight was over five hours long -- enough for you to fly across the US (!) and plenty for a restful nap.

Honest I had no idea what to expect in this city. It is the most remote city from ANY sea, which translates to a lack of water needed for agriculture, and few stable population in the old times. After a 30-minute taxi ride (which cost only 25 RMB, about $4), I was pleasantly surprised by my hotel room -- it's very nice and clean, and extremely sunny!

As soon as we dropped off our bags, we headed out to check out the street scene. Contrary to my expectation, the streets were full of people, mostly immigrants from other provinces, making the few Uyghur faces stand out. An old lady was selling juice from some exotic herbs that helps your eyelashes and eye brows to grow longer and thicker with daily application (2 RMB per bottle). It was getting good business!

After hours of wandering and being pushed around by the mountains of people, we decided to get out of the crowd and visit the treasure tower on top of the mountain downtown. What a great decision! The temple at the foot of the mountain was simply gorgeous during sunset!

We hiked all the way to the mountain top, and got a bit hungry. Luck had it that we found this lady selling a local delicacy "Qie Gao" -- an 8 layer nut and fruit cake. Each layer consists of different ingredients, and each bite tasted different!

What to do at night other than checking out the little restaurant at the evening market? Halal food is THE

thing to try. We devoured the tasty lamb kebabs and more lamb grilled on a metal rack ("Jia Zi Rou") in no time!

 

With a full belly I was pretty tired and ready for bed. More touristy stuff tomorrow!