Junbang Tianshan 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 ...

... heading into Huashan) by a shoe repair/key cutter guy. A whole 2 RMB and my bag was as good as new. Then it was time for video games. Except for a period of time in Taiwan when I took to playing on the drum machines after work to cool down after a particularly stressful class, I have never been that into video arcades. Having said that, this didn't stop me from playing a shoot and kill zombie thing, then getting blisters from an over-excited bout on the ...

... 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.

... family. There was much muttering outside the temple from travelers who complained that the whole thing was a capitalist venture poorly disguised under a cloak of religion. Whatever, even Daoist monks need to make a living, I guess. However, feeling scandalized by the cost of incense did not stop us from making a donation so that we could beat the **** out of a huge bell overlooking the lake. It was supposed to be lucky. And let's face it, hitting noisy stuff is fun. On the way back we ...

List of things to do in Urumqi and around... 1. Hang out at the Texas Cafe (281-0025). Drink Shakes, surf the web, get over the 48 hour train ride to Urumqi 2. Stay in a Yurt off the beaten path (this means hike into the moutnains at Tianchi or Nanshan at least one days hike) 3. Sweat it out seeing Turpan for at ...

... vendor down to 60. i tried the traditional Kazak meal for lunch, roasted lamb shih kebob, enani bread, baked dumplings and pilaf. Due to the close proximity of Afghanistan and Kazakhstand there is a strong Muslim influence on both the religion and the culture within the town. After the internation bazaar we drove 2 hours along an extremly bumpy and narrow road to the heavenly lake. Because the lake lies at ...

... others had found. It was actually a traditional Uyghur inn, which means that you sleep on a slightly surelevated surface, covered by a roof but completely opened on one side. The ground was covered with thick camel-wool carpets and blankets, which would keep us very warm! Well, we weren't risking to get too cold, considering that the temperature wouldn't go below 27C (89F)! We took a stroll through the Turpan Grape Reserve ...

... vacant desks in the office area, so it must have been just a skeleton staff on, it being Sunday. MP lined up, and DP checked the ATM's, and watched an Aussie couple try their card without luck, and talked to them for a while. Meanwhile, MP is asked to move to the right queue, behind a Chinese woman, and a French couple. The Chinese woman takes a while, then the French couple present a 500 Euro note, which is bigger than they are ...