Baodi Hotel Urumqi

Yesterday, we visited the Xinjiang Museum where we saw the amazing and intriguing mummies - some more than 4000 years old - which have been found in the area. I found an article in the Independent from 2006 about it, which you can read if you are interested!

http://www.independe nt.co.uk/news/world/asia/a-meeting-of-c ivilisations-the-mystery-of-chinas-celt ic-mummies-413638.html

We took a stroll through the Red Hill Park ...

After breakfast, we left for Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. It was a most exciting drive; through the Gobi Desert, in very windy, stormy conditions; on a fantastic highway [312] which stretches all the way from Shanghai to the border with Russia in the ...

... and last that I could apply for, was meant to be a bit more difficult to achieve but the process was very easy and I was also able to submit it ahead of time as the national holiday was looming and the office would be closed for the holiday when I actually needed to submit it. We had a wander around the Muslim area and ended up chatting with some local Chinese medicine ...

... Next on the list was drinking slushies and beer in the park, then KTV. We figured an hour of KTV would probably do the trick, but ended up yowling away for about 3 instead. Finally, after noodles and beer we parted company. I was extremely happy to have met Ma Jun and sad to see him go. The next day, LX and his uncle took me to the airport. I was already out of sorts in the morning. I had had a fantastic time in Xinjiang. I had met so many lovely people ...

... the curiosity was even more noticeable when walking around with LX (Han) and Ma Jun (Hui) than usual. After being very nice, but glancing at me surreptitiously when she thought I wasn't looking, the waitress finally couldn't contain herself and the question "Which race is she?" burst out from her lips. I can see if I come back to Xinjiang I am going to have to have a t-shirt made with this information printed on it in order to stop people from dying of curiosity regarding my heritage.

... to go via Urumqi again and then catch a local bus back. I was busy chatting to LX about plans to go to Kanas lake the next day, so I didn't notice the police officer who got on the bus to check ID until he was right next to me, at which point I gave him a perplexed glance for interrupting me. I must look intimidating when I am annoyed because he ran off the bus without asking for my passport, while I looked at his retreating figure feeling slightly sheepish. Mum told me last time she saw ...

Urumqi has really become a Han city in most respects unless you enter the Uygur sections of town you could be in any city in China.....well almost. There is a difinate lack of humidity which I find wonderful as the shade feels ten degrees cooler than the ...

... in France! In the evening, we went to eat at one of my friend's sister and then, her husband offered to drive us up one of the hills surrounding Urumqi, so that we could have a panorama of Urumqi "by night". Unfortunately, my pictures didn't come out too well and the file of the little film I took is simply too large for my internet connection, meaning I can't upload it here.

Le lac Tian Chi se trouve a 2000 m dans la chaine de montagne Tian Shan et est sublombe par le pic Bogeda Feng (5445 m). Les kazhaks habitent ses environs pendant l ete et l on peut dormir dans des yurts. C est malheureusement un endroit tres tres touristique avec droit d entree et chemin d acces en beton parfois kitch a souhait. Enfin, comme pendant la realisation du visa on a une semaine et deux endroits a ...

... lunch by the Polish couple, then we tried our luck up on the 11th floor of the flash hotel for some panorama photos. A young Chinese woman seemed to be in charge, and took us into quite a number of penthouse rooms, opening the window for us so we could look over the whole town. The rooms looked a bit sleezy, with lounges in black and white pseudo zebra print, and the staff looked like they made this their domain, with some sitting around ...