The Journey in Xinjiangthe North

This was an all-new journey — crossing over 3,600 kilometers to reach the beautiful Xinjiang region in the northwest of China.

With iOS 26, Safari finally supports displaying HDR images. You can tap the HDR icon in the upper-right corner to enable HDR content.

Most of the photos in this post were taken straight out of the Sony A7C2 camera, with a few captured on iPhone. If you’d like to check the shooting details, you can click on each photo — the parameter information will appear in a single line within the preview mode.

Itinerary

Day 1 Depart from Shanghai

After a five-hour flight, I caught a distant view of the Tianshan Mountains about half an hour before landing.

Bogda Peak

After landing, there was a bit of haze in the air.

I first took the subway to have dinner near the high-speed railway station. The Urumqi Metro looks quite modern.
If you’re in a hurry, you can take a taxi or a bus to downtown Urumqi.
Since I wasn’t in a rush, I decided to experience the local metro. You can even use the Shanghai public transport card here.

I took train D011 to Wanda. At first, I thought it was an unlicensed car 😅.
The ticket cost 5 RMB, paid via WeChat QR code.

After arriving at Wanda, there was a security check at the mall entrance. The entire third floor of Wanda was filled with restaurants.

I bought a spicy roasted meat flatbread from A-Gan — it smelled amazing, super crispy, and really delicious.
For dinner, I had a bowl of stone pot bibimbap. It was filling, so I took a short rest afterward. The beef was just average, though.

Then I walked about 10 minutes to Urumqi Station.

Inside the station, the main hall had charging outlets — very convenient 👍.
I freshened up in the restroom and waited for my train.

The train departed at 22:29, and boarding started at 22:06.

My ticket was for a lower berth. An auntie asked if I could switch bunks with her — I agreed, since I wasn’t planning to get up during the night anyway.
It was my first time taking a green train and also my first time sleeping in a sleeper berth.

To be honest, the sleeping experience wasn’t great. Someone was smoking in the restroom, and the smell kept drifting in through the first half of the night — really hard to bear.
Around 1 a.m., there was a heavy downpour (possibly hail), and the train stopped and started several times.
Even though I kept my eyes closed, I didn’t actually fall asleep until around 3 a.m.

Day 2 Sayram Lake

A little after 6 a.m., the conductor announced that Bole Station was approaching.
I packed my luggage and got off the train at 6:40 a.m.

The temperature here was much lower than in Urumqi, so I had prepared warm clothing.
I re-entered the station (since I had a train ticket for tonight), changed and freshened up in the Bole Station waiting hall restroom, and then went out again.

Right outside, I was approached by a driver offering a ride. At first, I was a little worried it might be unsafe, but when I reached the pick-up point, I saw it was the designated spot for the fast shuttle to and from Sayram Lake in Bole — I felt relieved.

The driver was quite nice and asked if I wanted breakfast. To avoid being overcharged, I said I didn’t. He reassured me it was just a regular shop, and indeed, the prices were reasonable.
I had a bowl of noodles to replenish carbs and energy for the upcoming hike to Songshutou.

Wow!

I arrived at the visitor center before 10 a.m. The driver asked if anyone wanted a private shuttle around the lake. The price wasn’t expensive — 150 RMB per person, compared to the scenic area’s shuttle bus (ticket plus bus) at 129 RMB per person.

I told him I planned to hike and didn’t want to slow down the small group, so I got off to buy a ticket and explore the lake on my own.

The ticket included a list of shuttle bus stops around the lake, but in reality, the bus stops at more locations than listed.
The full shuttle route takes about 2.5 hours. If you plan to return to Bole City the same day, it’s best to get back to the East Gate Visitor Center (the bus terminus) before 6 p.m., or arrange a private ride in advance. I took the dedicated shuttle from the visitor center back to Bole City.

The moment I saw Sayram Lake, I was completely amazed.

Songshutou

For the lake shuttle, I chose to get off at the first stop, Songshutou.
There are roughly two sightseeing spots at Songshutou: mid-mountain and the summit. Of course, I chose to go to the summit.

From the summit, one side offers a panoramic view of Sayram Lake and the snowy meadows by the lake, while the other side provides a distant view of the Guozigou Bridge.
It takes about 45 minutes to hike from the Songshutou area to mid-mountain, and another roughly 1.5 hours to reach the summit.

Because it had snowed (or hailed) yesterday, the boardwalk was still covered with frost and small hailstones, making it very slippery.

Arriving at mid-mountain:

The distance wasn’t actually very long, but the stair boardwalk was quite steep.
Since there may have been hail on the mountain yesterday, the frost on the boardwalk made it very slippery.

During the ascent, I saw descending hikers cheering for those going up — I really liked that atmosphere.
When I came down, I also encouraged the hikers climbing up 😊.
The scenery was beautiful, and the kindness from strangers made it even more so.

Once I reached the summit, the view immediately opened up — the perfect moment for my telephoto lens.
The side of the summit overlooking Guozigou Bridge was fenced off, likely due to safety concerns near the cliff.

I spent a while enjoying the stunning scenery at the top before heading back down, which took about 30 minutes.

Heading down the mountain, I saw a visitor riding a horse up the trail, followed by a little dog.

It was as beautiful as a painting.

After descending, I bought a sugary drink to replenish my energy.
At the Songshutou service station, I didn’t find anything I felt like eating (just the usual tourist snacks like grilled sausages and corn), so I took out the bread I had originally planned for breakfast.

After finishing it, I sat by the lake for a while before taking the shuttle bus to the next sightseeing spot.

Jinhuazihui

Although the flower season had passed, the yellow meadows paired with the blue lake were still stunning.

Keleyongzhu

At Keleyongzhu, where online posts mentioned many swans, I didn’t see any swans.
Instead, there were plenty of seagulls, making it feel as if I were suddenly by the sea.
The seagulls soared freely in the sky.

Dianjiangtai

Arriving here, I saw the lake surface sparkling and glistening in the sunlight.

I climbed up to Dianjiangtai.

I forgot which spot it was.

The lake water was incredibly clear.

Yueliangwan

On the way back to Bole City, the police checked IDs.

My train ticket was for the same overnight sleeper back to Urumqi as last night. Since I arrived in Bole City quite early, around 18:30, I booked an hourly room to take a shower and have dinner (ordered takeout).
I reserved a Haiyou Hotel (Bole branch) via the Huazhu App — 60 RMB for 2 hours. There were washing and drying machines on the first floor. I used points to get a 10 RMB discount, which was very cost-effective.

The room far exceeded my expectations. After the shower, all my fatigue washed away and I felt completely refreshed.
After checking out, I sat in the lobby to catch a taxi, and the front desk even gave me a bottle of mineral water. Wow, this 50 RMB hourly room was amazing 🥹.

Bole Station

Day 3 Tianshan tianchi

At the Urumqi High-Speed Rail Bus Station, the restrooms were quite old. There was a place called Bazhen Chicken Soup Noodles where I could have breakfast at a reasonable price. If you need to charge your devices, you can ask the staff. After breakfast, you can wait for your bus in the shop, and they even serve free tea — very nice.

Last night, I purchased a 9:10 a.m. bus ticket through the 天山行新疆公路客运 WeChat official account. I went directly to the check-in and waiting area from the breakfast shop by 8:50 a.m. A guide accompanied the bus, explaining transportation and sightseeing tips for Tianchi. Buying a package ticket through the guide offered discounts: 10 RMB off the cable car ticket or 25 RMB off the cable car plus boat ticket. Since I planned to hike Mayashan, I bought the ticket with the cable car included.

PS. The cable car is honestly quite expensive.

At 9 a.m., Urumqi was heavily congested. The bus didn’t leave the city until 10 a.m., and we arrived at the Tianchi Scenic Area entrance at 11 a.m. The guide bought the tickets and advised us to take the shuttle bus up the mountain, reminding us of the return time. My return bus was scheduled for 18:00.

After taking the shuttle bus up the mountain, I walked about 800 meters from the drop-off point to reach the lakeside around 12:30. I went to KFC for a quick lunch and then bought a bottle of sweet water.

After finishing lunch, I walked to the cable car shuttle bus stop and took the bus to the Mayashan cable car station.

I took the cable car up to Mayashan. The ride was short, about 5 minutes.
After getting off, I walked a bit further to reach the first viewing platform, where I could overlook Tianchi.

Continuing from the first viewing platform, I could reach the second, third, and fourth platforms.
The round trip from the first to the fourth platform is about 6.5 kilometers. I took around 1.5 hours to hike up, and slowed my pace on the way down to protect my knees, taking about 0.5 hours.

The higher I climbed, the more spectacular the scenery became.

I arrived at the fourth viewing platform.

Heading back down the mountain, I was accompanied along the way by a mother and her child. Their optimistic spirit while climbing was truly inspiring to others.

Planes

The Tianchi photo at the top of the article — looking down from the plane — must be roughly the spot where I am now 😊.

By the time I took the bus back from Mayashan to Tianchi, it was already 4 p.m.
There was still one place I wanted to visit — the waterfall.
According to the guide, it required a downhill walk, and visiting the waterfall would take about an hour.

The birch leaves had turned yellow, full of autumn vibes.

I queued to go down the mountain at 5 p.m., right during the peak descent time.
I got on the bus at 5:15 p.m. and arrived back at the visitor center at 18:11.

Sitting on the cliffside during the downhill bus ride was quite nerve-wracking, but fortunately, the driver was very skilled.

I missed the 18:00 bus, but luckily this route has multiple departures, so I could take the next one.
I caught the 18:30 bus back to Urumqi Station, then took a taxi to the hotel, ordered takeout, did some laundry, took a shower, and rested.

On the way back to Urumqi, I could see Bogda Peak along the route.

Day 4 Urumqi

I slept incredibly well last night. It was the first night in a few days I’d slept on a soft bed. It was incredibly quiet, and I didn’t have to endure cigarette smoke, snoring, or my phone blaring. I slept until 9 a.m., then got up, washed, and had breakfast. I packed (it wasn’t much), checking my bag against my travel list to make sure everything fit. I used some disposable items, so my bag was a little emptier on the way back.

I checked out and took a taxi to the Xinjiang Museum. Upon arrival, I discovered that reservations were required to enter. I scanned the QR code at the entrance to access the museum’s official account and discovered that only afternoon slots were available. After making my reservation, I asked at the counter if my afternoon-booked number could enter in the morning. The staff said yes. It was a good thing I asked so I didn’t make a wasted trip. 😄

I went through security and used a locker, but it was unusable (a note said it was broken and I could leave it in a locker, but I only had a backpack, so I didn’t). The museum has four floors, with exhibition halls on the 123rd floor and offices and a reading room on the 4th floor (which I didn’t go up to). I toured each hall and marveled at the history of human development, the wisdom and civilization of the ancients.

After wandering around the museum, I headed for lunch. Speaking of Xinjiang, my body clock is a bit messed up. While China uses GMT+8, Xinjiang’s location spans several time zones. Dawn and dusk now appear around 8:30 AM. We took a taxi to Hotan Second Street for a much-recommended mutton pilaf.

The lamb pilaf cost 28 RMB per serving. The portion of rice was quite large, and you could ask for more if needed.
It was delicious — the lamb was tender and flavorful, and the rice at the bottom had a slight oily richness.

Hetian Second Street is a pedestrian street. After dinner, I strolled around casually. Feeling thirsty, I walked to Youhao Mall, bought a Luckin coffee, and sat for a while.
The mall also had a supermarket, so I picked up a few fruits to take back to Shanghai (not sure why — many of the fruits in Shanghai’s supermarkets probably come from Xinjiang anyway, maybe just “while I’m here” vibes 😂).

After leaving the mall, I opened DiDi and booked a ride to the airport. Taking public transportation would take over an hour — I had already experienced that on my first day in Urumqi, so I skipped it this time. It was still early, so I opted for a shared ride, which cost 29 RMB, about half the price of a regular ride — not bad.

I had originally planned to visit the Grand Bazaar, but after thinking it over, I decided against it. It’s similar to the Russian-style street in Dalian and feels a bit touristy, designed to overcharge visitors.

A half-hour ride brought me to the airport for check-in and security. The weather had started to turn cloudy.

My boarding gate was at B257, but I first walked to A237 to try a dish of spicy numbing chicken recommended by an online friend.
The spicy numbing chicken cost 68 RMB + 3 RMB for rice. Unexpectedly, this turned out to be the most expensive meal of my Xinjiang trip.
The chicken was delicious, but the rice was way too hard, so I barely ate a few bites.

After finishing my meal, I went to buy a milk tea. Bawang Chaji was located directly across from gate B257.
The prices were the same as outside (any food or drink shop at a transport hub that keeps the same prices as regular stores gets a thumbs up from me 👍).
I couldn’t finish it all at once, so I poured the rest into my thermos.

Under the sofa seats at Bawang Chaji, there were power outlets. I charged my phone fully, since you can’t use a power bank on spring/autumn flights.

Time to head back.

SuzhouShanghai

Finally arrived

Suggestions

Sun Protection

The UV rays were very strong, so it’s recommended to take full sun protection measures.

What to Wear

Make sure to wear lightweight shoes — avoid heavy ones (shoutout to yellow work boots and Air Force 1s) for hiking, as they aren’t slip-resistant and tire your feet.

Dress according to the temperature. It’s best to wear a shell jacket, and bring an inner layer to wear depending on how you feel.

As for pants, I wore jeans and didn’t feel cold.

Sayram Lake Circular Route

Many Xiaohongshu bloggers recommend exploring Sayram Lake counterclockwise, as the lake can be backlit when going clockwise.
However, at this time of year, the sun rises in the east, so counterclockwise would actually be backlit in the morning.

I recommend taking the shuttle clockwise. You can get off at any sightseeing spot that catches your interest. The buses run frequently, about every 15 minutes, which is very convenient.

Detailed maps can be viewed at:https://map.baidu.com/@9038479.074053688,5531500.465509393,12.19z

The shuttle bus starts from the East Gate and goes back to the East Gate in a clockwise circle.

Image credits: https://www.chinatravel.tw/lvyoujingdian/sayram-lake.html

Some Thoughts

Long-haul Flights

The five-hour flight was the longest I’ve ever taken. However, Spring Airlines doesn’t mind my poverty, and I don’t mind the cramped seats. I hope Spring Airlines takes me to explore more places.

Make Some Plans

Originally, I was planning to visit Lijiang, Yunnan, but the weather forecast didn’t indicate sunny days were coming up soon. So, I suddenly changed my mind and headed to Xinjiang. I planned my trip based on the forecast to ensure sunny days for both Sailimu Lake and Tianchi Lake in the Tianshan Mountains.

Sailimu Lake on a sunny day is truly beautiful. On a cloudy day, well, the scenery might still be beautiful, but you’d probably be blown silly and frozen.

For Safety

There are security checks in crowded places, and I didn’t encounter any bad people. But you can’t be careless when you go out, and pay attention to safety.

iOS 26，buggy

If you’re planning to use your iPhone to record your travels soon, I recommend against upgrading to iOS 26. Why?

• Photos and videos taken with the built-in camera may be lost. That means you might take photos but the corresponding photos and videos are no longer in your camera roll.
• Images imported from the Finder are corrupted and unreadable.
• Blackmagic Cam is broken. It’s experiencing frame drops or unexpected recording stops in brightly lit environments. Upgrading to the latest version and resetting settings hasn’t resolved the issue.
• The Sony camera app has a white screen and is unusable. Even after upgrading to the latest version, the screen remains blank.
• Overheating and lag. Computational photography consumes too many resources, causing your phone to heat up quickly and lag.

The above are all major bugs related to photo and video recording. Professional tools (cameras) should be left to professional tools for professional matters.

So beautiful

Upon arriving at Sayram Lake, I was stunned. It’s the bluest lake I’ve ever seen (of course, this couldn’t be further from the beautiful weather).

Sayram Lake is so stunning that it pales in comparison to Tianchi Lake in the Tianshan Mountains. The Tianchi brochure only features photos of the lake covered in snow in winter. Apparently, even the authorities don’t think the bare mountains are beautiful enough.

Commando-style Travel

My 20s are almost over, so I’m ready to do whatever I want. My friends think it’s crazy, but I think it’s something I won’t have the chance to do again if I don’t do it in my youth.

As a working professional who doesn’t get enough exercise, climbing these small peaks was a great experience.

Compared to most people’s pace when traveling in Xinjiang, my trip wasn’t particularly unique. After all, I didn’t spend much daytime traveling.

Xinjiang is Huge

Almost everyone’s travel history reveals that transportation is the most time-consuming aspect of Xinjiang travel. Take the journey from Urumqi to Sayram Lake, for example. Driving takes a full day, taking a sleeper train takes an overnight journey (8 hours), and taking a high-speed train takes 4 hours. Both the train and high-speed train journeys account for the time required to reach Bole City, leaving Sayram Lake an additional 1.5 hours by car.

First experience with green train/sleeper

When I was very young, my father often took me to the train station to count the number of train carriages. That was the most tender memory I have of my father. China’s railway network, especially the high-speed rail network, is now extremely developed, connecting virtually every county in southern China. Therefore, I never had the opportunity to ride a green-skinned train.

Let me just jump to the conclusion:

• I didn’t sleep well. I’m a light sleeper (not very good sleep quality), and I’m easily disturbed by the environment, making it difficult to fall asleep. On two overnight train rides, I didn’t fall asleep until around 2 or 3 a.m. on the first night, and 1 a.m. on the second.
• Someone was smoking in the restroom. Even though the train security officer said it wasn’t allowed, they still did, and the smoke wafted into the carriage. I was completely breathing in secondhand smoke while sleeping.
• There was no place to charge my phone on the upper bunk. I didn’t see any outlets on the lower bunk either, but there were a few outlets in the hallway. I think some newer trains have USB ports/outlets in the carriages, but the Urumqi to Bole train didn’t have any.

Urumqi

Urumqi is the capital city of Xinjiang. On my first visit, I found it both exceeded my expectations and fell a little short in some areas.

It exceeded expectations as a deeply inland city — it’s more developed than I imagined:

• It has a metro system.
• It has an international airport.
• High-speed rail lines are well-developed.

Areas that fell short of expectations:

• Traffic jams.
• Many places still feel like they’re from the last century, such as the Urumqi High-Speed Rail Bus Station.
• A bit of haze.
• Only one metro line.

Prices

• The fast shuttle between Sayram Lake and Bole at 40 RMB is quite reasonable.
• Entrance tickets for Tianshan Tianchi Scenic Area and the Mayashan cable car are relatively expensive, and the cable car ride only lasts 5 minutes.
• Prices inside the scenic areas are acceptable. Near Tianchi Lake and at the Sayram Lake Visitor Center, there are popular food and beverage chains for young people, such as KFC, Bawang Chaji, and Hushang Ayi. Local snacks like baked buns and naan are also reasonably priced.

Tourists

Tourists I liked 👍:

• Friendly
• Follow the rules

Tourists I didn’t like 👎:

• Cutting in line
• Smoking in no-smoking areas
• Being loud or noisy
• Blocking pathways

Expenses

Final Thoughts

Traveling outside peak holiday periods was truly an amazing experience. Northern Xinjiang is incredibly beautiful.
In less than four days, I was able to enjoy breathtaking scenery, leaving me very satisfied. Next time, I plan to explore Southern Xinjiang.