Kempinski Hotel Urumqui Urumqi

... a cold a blustery autumn day. We were glad we had gloves and scarves! There were a few families out walking, and more appeared as the sun came out. <br> <br>There was some confusion about our hotel. The one we were supposed to stay at had been pulled down a year ago! It was half way through a complete re-build.<br><br>But we were 'upgraded' to a 5* hotel, which was fine - nothing special; a typical 'business' hotel - could have been ...

... A route of over 4000 kilometres.<br><br>The Chinese are brilliant at building roads through incredibly difficult terrain - as we saw when we travelled on the Karakorum Highway from China to Pakistan in 2007.<br><br>For this entry I will let the photos tell the story!

My last day in Xinjiang was spent mooching about Changji with LX and Ma Jun. It was exactly the kind of day of doing nothing much in particular that I needed in order to wind down from too many days of seeing and doing way too much! First we went off for a big lunch at another Hui restaurant. Then as we dawdled towards a video arcade, Ma Jun saved me from having to buy a new back pack by getting the old one repaired (the one where the zipper busted just as I ...

Finally it was time to go back to Changji. We stopped at a couple of shops (including a farm for deer antlers, boo hiss) on the way back, but arrived a lot earlier than I expected. The tour to Kanas was fun, I'm glad I went on it. Not only was the scenery spectacular, but I was forced to speak in Chinese for the whole time and I learnt how to split melon and pumpkin seeds fairly quickly, thanks to the auntie sitting across the aisle from Lirong and I who kept showering us in the damn ...

... 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 ...

We had looked forward to an indulgent flight with China Southern Airlines back to Urumqi, China from Islamabad. <br><br>After nearly two weeks in Pakistan we would have access to alcohol at long last and we were really looking forward to a few days of rest in our favourite Hoi Tak Hotel before we departed for the long trip home to Australia via Shanghai. <br><br>Well, we DID have one beer on the flight but sadly we were still harbouring the dreaded Bukhara Belly that had ...

... in business. Domestic flights out of Beijing usually leaves from terminal 2. There is a free shuttle available outside of arrival hall; the ride takes about 20 minutes. The flight from Beijing to Urumqi took about 4 hours. We landed in Urimqi at 11:25 pm. After collecting several maps from the travel agency in the airport, we boarded a bus (¥10) to downtown. Not sure if there was a miscommunication, but the original hotel we booked was ...

When I was younger, I had this romantic vision of the Gobi desert - it was a place that I always wanted to visit. Now I've seen it and for the most part, it is a vast, flat, featureless grayish-brown expanse of nothingness. For mile after mile, there is no vegetation and no landmarks or features. Just coarse sand or gravel, dust.....and plastic bags. Plastic bags provide the only colour. The Chinese seem to have an obsession with plastic bags, but ...

... were first in (still working on Beijing time we were more keen than women queueing outside Next on Boxing Day) which was brilliant as we just got to wander amongst the 2000 year old ruins without the constant stream of tour-group flags. The place is massive and a lot of it is very well preserved - particulary given the fact it's made of clay! After Turpan, it was a short bus journey to the provincial capital, Urumqi. Here we mainly battled with the ...

... burger meal, but can't really work out what we'll get, and hope for better. Walk all the way into the main commercial area, and down to the eating area in Jianshe Lu, but can only find steamboat restaurants, and not in the mood for a big feed. Find what looks like an ordinary restaurant, but are conducted to a separate private dining room, the A/C is turned on, and we are presented with a Chinese-only menu. Decide this is not for ...