Hami

Hami (哈密 Hāmì) or Kumul is a town on the Northern branch of the Silk Road in Xinjiang Province in China. Get in By bus Take about a seven hour bus ride from Urumqi to a village where there is a muddy salt lake. Trip to the Hami area is available only through chartered services. Numerous stopovers can be had at the petrol kiosks, even in the middle of nowhere. The road for most of the way is single lane. The trip there passes through a number of villages and towns. When a part of the road is undergoing maintenance, a bumpy detour has to be made on extremely uneven dirt track. Lots of dust will be stirred up. Remember to shut the windows tight before entering the detour tracks. By train Hami is on the Urumqi-Xian line and can be easily reached by daytrain from Urumqi. As of 2008, it departed at 9:53 AM, and arrived at 4:31 PM. As of April 2013, the Hami train station is under construction and is expected to be running again sometime between 2014-15. Trains arrive now at the Hami South train station, located 5 km outside of town. Bus line 7 (7:00 - 21:00) connects the south train station with the city. Trains: Turpan (Tulufan) 5 hours Get around See Tomb of Hami king, (Taxis start at ¥5 from elsewhere in Hami). Royal nine generations along with three Arabian preacher were buried there, tomb is made of four typical ethical architecture. ¥20.  edit Hami Museum, (In frist floor of Culture Central(哈密市文化艺术中心)). Two mummies showed in there, cloth, fair and blood vessel are keep in good condition due to immediate dehydration and dry climate. ¥5.  edit Ghost City. Famous for special geographic speciality. It is absolutely a natural region formed by strong wind and dry climate for thousands of years. ¥50.  edit Do Songshutang, (North of Tian Mountain, 2 hours away from Hami by car, bus ticket is ¥12). A golden place for skiing during winter and summer resolt. The ski run is not sharp but very good for beginners. It is a cool place during summer time, you could stay there for few days to enjoy the most quiet and natural life. Cheese is always available for all year long, fresh mushroom could be found after rain in Tian Mountain, BBQ is quite welcome in night life. If you have already arrived at Songshutang, it is great opportunity to tour MingShaoShan, takes less than two hours by car from Songshutang. In this non-polluted natural small town, hundreds and thousands of sharing stars are quite close to you. Surely you will enjoy a delighted and memorable stay. Two hours skiing is around ¥100.  edit Buy Dry fruit is a special snack in Hami. Raisins are ¥10 per kg, tasty cheese at ¥10 per bag (around half a kg), and dry figs, a favorite of the locals, is ¥15/kg. The most nutritious one are dry jujubes, priced at ¥80/kg. Dry mushrooms are also a good choice for a tourist. The local white wine is quite strong, so be careful when trying it. Jade - there is a workshop street in Dashizi (哈密大十字 hāmìdàshízì), delicate jade and all kinds of sculptures can be found there. Eat You should not miss kabob (roasted mutton barbecue) if you visit Hami, as it is a traditional food made by the Uyghur people. Also worth trying is fried rice (抓饭 zhuāfàn in Chinese), a rice dish eaten with one's hands that is made with mutton and radish, both main dishes in the area. If you prefer noodles, you will love the delicious beef noodle- its soup is famous for having 40 kinds of spices. Hami is famous throughout China for its Hami melon (哈密瓜 hāmìguā), a melon made sweeter than usual by the extreme difference in temperatures between daytime and nighttime and the longer days in the Xinjiang summer. Besides Hami melons, other delicious local fruits include grapes, watermelon, apricot and mulberry. Dried fruit is available all year long due to the dry and windy climate. Hami is worth visiting for the local specialty foods and the hospitality of the local people. Drink Sleep Only a few hotels take foreigners. The prices in those hotels start around ¥300. Get out Bus to Urumqi 7-8h, 126 ¥, very bumpy ride. 11.00, afternoon and 20.30 This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!