Ürümqi

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Nan-men
Nan-men

Ürümqi (乌鲁木齐 Wūlǔmùqí) is the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The city has a population of around 1.6 million.

[edit] Understand

Urumqi is quite famous for its claim that is the most inland city in the world, that being the furthest from any ocean. Most people in Urumqi can speak some level of Mandarin Chinese, if you want to understand people, or try and speak a little bit, please check out Wikitravel's Chinese phrasebook. There are two major ethnic groups, the Han Chinese and the Uyghur, who can mostly speak Mandarin, albeit possibly with an accent, and Uyghur, a Turkic language.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

Ürümqi is served by the Urumqi Diwopu International Airport (IATA: URC) which is located 20 km NW of the city center with regular domestic flights from Beijing, Shanghai (Hongqiao), Guangzhou, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Dunhuang, Hangzhou, Jilin, Kunming, Lanzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Sanya, Shenzhen, Shijiazhuang, Xiamen, Xi'an, Xining, Yinchuan, and Zhengzhou.

Urumqi also offers flights to Almaty, Astana, Baku, Bishkek, Dushanbe, Islamabad, Kabul, Moscow (Sheremetyevo), Novosibirsk, Osh, Seoul (Incheon), Tashkent, and Tehran (Imam Khomeini)

Xinjiang destinations include Aksu, Aletai, Hotan, Kashgar, Kuche, Tacheng and Yining.

[edit] By train

Wulumuqi Huoche Zhan - Qingfeng Lu

[edit] Regular trains from

[edit] Semi-regular Trains from

  • Almaty, Kazakhstan - - takes about 32-48 hours

[edit] By bus

[edit] Northern Long-Distance Bus Station

Location: Heilongjiang Lu

  • Almaty, Kazakhstan (via Korgas) - takes about 16-26 hours
  • Burqin - takes about 13 hours
  • Korgas - takes about 14 hours
  • Lanzhou - takes about 40 hours
  • Tacheng - takes about 12 hours
  • Yining - takes about 11 to 14 hours

[edit] Southern Long-Distance Bus Station

Location: southern part of city

  • Hotan - takes about 19 to 26 hours
  • Kashgar - takes about 24 hours
  • Korla - takes about 10 hours
  • Kuche - takes about 17 hours
  • Turpan - takes about 3 hours (heading for Gansu, will need to change buses for Hami)

[edit] By car

China Highway 312 is a motorway crossing Xinjiang from Gansu to the border with Kazakhstan.

[edit] Get around

[edit] On Foot or Taxi

The city centre's only a mile or two in length, so can be walked easily. Although in Summer it gets very hot and in Winter it can drop to -35 degrees C at night: So the many taxis might come in useful.

[edit] Bus

Bus number 52 goes from the round about near the airport to the museum.

[edit][add listing] See

  • Hongshan - Red Mountain park
  • Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum
  • Shuimugou Hot Springs
  • Da Bazar - The Big Bazaar, a traditional Islamic market area

In the summer time, the Da Bazar at night is a rather lively place, if you come just as it is getting dark you can see tight rope walkers walking from one side of two the next with the tall minaret in the background.

  • Xinjiang Silk Road Museum - I strongly recommend that you go and see the XinJiang Silk Road Museum. http://www.xjsczlbwg.com

You can find it quite easily. It is located right next to the Grand Bazaar at No.160 Shengli Road. Bus No.110 stops very close to it. It is located on the fifth and sixth floor of a very large European style building which houses a shopping complex as well. The admission charge was 30 Yuan per person when I visited. Most of the exhibits have English names as well and some of their guides speak some English. The following text is from their brochure(but I edited it a little bit).

"The Silk Road, a unique treasure in human history, has had a unique role in foreign trade and political relations. It also played an important role in cultural exchanges and the development of civilizations on both sides of the continent. With some investment of private capital and support by the local government, the establishment of the Silk Road Museum of XinJiang aims at displaying the centuries-old history of the ancient Silk Road in XinJiang. The museum will show you the living scene of all ethnic groups along the ancient Silk Road and the precious cultural heritage created by these people in XinJiang. The museum includes a historical section, a nationality section, an art of the pasture section, a jade section and three other theme exhibition rooms with a total area of 5850 m². Through these pieces of exhibits left by different periods of times, visitors can enjoy the advanced civilization and culture of the Khitan Kingdom, Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty along the HeXi corridor (in Gansu province), the art of the silk and even some rock painting exhibits about reproduction worship by the ancestors in the depth of the Tianshan Mountains as well as the present customs and habits of the ethnic groups in XinJiang. Although over 1000 years old, those well-appraised exhibits in the museum are well preserved until today.”

[edit][add listing] Buy

The Grand Bazaar is a great place not only for regional specialty items, but also has many goods from nearby countries such as Russia and Mongolia. It is a popular tourist destination and is a beautiful place to visit, due to its unique architecture and fascinating goods.

  • Sanfo is the leading outdoor gear stores in China and their store in Urumqi is located at 8 Mingde Lu

[edit][add listing] Eat

Food is one of the things that Xinjiang is famous for. Fresh naan, spicy kababs, steaming pilaf, or famous hand streched noodles — there is a lot of choice, and a lot of variety.

[edit] Budget

Food is available cheaply on the street, and in back alley eating places. A standard price for a plate of handstreched noodles with vegetable meat topping on it costs about 8 RMB (1 USD)--if you are still hungry, you can ask the cook for jia mien, and you can get a refill on noodles. Hui and Uyghur food can be very spicy, and it is a good idea unless you like very spicy food to tell them "bu yao ladza", or for Uyghurs "kizil mooch salmang!".

One warning before you go out and get local food though. Not everyone can stay healthy eating Uyghur and Hui food. Often it is cooked with a large amount of oil. Sanitary conditions are also perhaps not what you would have expected. If you have a weak stomach, or gall bladder problems it might be a good idea to try some of the other options. Or just stick to naan and kebab.

[edit] Mid-range

In town there are several mid-range options available for western food.

  • Rendezvous, 958 Yan'an Road (right by the Silk Road Hotel, on the 16, 61, and 912 bus routes), ☎ (0991) 255-5003. American-run. Also offers a excellent breakfast menu (at the moment only on the weekends). edit

  • The Texas Cafe, Nanmen Mashixiaoqu (near Nanmer down the alley across from the computer market), ☎ (0991) 281-0025. 1-11 pm. A Tex-Mex style food cafe. edit

Han Chinese dishes places, available all around town also fall into the mid-range category.

  • Vegan Yuanqi Vegetarian Restaurant, 2 Altay Road, ☎ 0991-8735001/8487563. Located near the junction of Altay Road and Xinyi Road. Walk about 200 meters north from the jucntion. On the left side of the road stands a big hotel with two buildings. Restaurant is located 50 meters inside a little alley between A and B wings.  edit

Another option is fast food, it has become increasingly popular in the last few years. KFC's have sprung up all around town, there is also a Pizza Hut, and several smaller Chinese chain fast food places--specifically Dicos & Fastfood Burgers. The quality in these fast food places isn't quite American, but it's not that bad either.

KFC is now all around town, they are available at the Grand Bazar, Peoples Square, Hong Shan, and the Children's Park as well as other miscellaneous places around town.

[edit] Splurge

The buffet at the new Kempinski is an ideal place to splurge. The head Chef is Austrian, and the food is very authentic Western fare, with some local dishes as well. Dinner costs 88RMB plus 15%, and includes tea, coffee, and a glass of red wine. The buffet at the Urumqi Sheraton ought to be rather good. It costs about 130 RMB per person.

[edit][add listing] Drink

  • Fubar, 40 Gongyuan Beijie (GongYuan Bei Jie runs along Peoples Park, and Fubar is about 100 metres from the back gate), ☎ 0991 5844498 (), [1]. A western owned restaurant in the centre, run by 3 expats(Ireland, New Zealand, & Japan), you can get imported beers, Pizza, Fish & chips & much more. A great place to meet resident expats, and locals alike. Fubar also boasts a pool and Foosball table, was well as darts, and is the best place to get travel information, as the guys are both helpful and knowlegeable. edit

[edit][add listing] Sleep

[edit] Budget

  • Peace Hotel (Hépíng Dàshà), 15 Cangfanggou Lu (仓防沟路) (near Heping Bridge 和平桥), ☎ (0991) 581-9666. 24 hrs. hot water. Big internet bar right next door, more in the neighbourhood - dito foot massage (20 Y) Triples + Quads w/o bath and Aircon 100 Y; Triples with bath, w/o Aircon 120 Y; Dbl with bath and Aircon 150-180 Y..  edit

[edit] Mid-range

  • Islam Grand Hotel, 22 Zhong Shan Rd., Urumqi, ☎ (0991)2811017 (fax: (0991)2811513).  edit

[edit] Splurge

  • Hoi Tak Hotel, 1 Dongfeng St., Urumqi, ☎ (0991)2322828. Broadband internet access, and satellite tv. 5 stars hotel in centre. edit

-

  • Holiday Inn Urumqi, 168 North Xinhua Rd., Urumqi, ☎ (0991)2818788 (fax: (0991)2817422).  edit
  • Yindu Hotel Urumqi, 39 Xibei Rd., Urumqi, ☎ (0991)4536688 (fax: (0991)45171663), [2]. Broadband internet access, and satellite TV. Located in the business district, 312 rooms, six restaurants, exercise equipment, spa, sauna, massage, swimming pool, night club, KTV rooms. edit

[edit] Stay safe

In general Xinjiang is a rather safe place. Remember always to ask the price first because there's no such a thing as a free fun, it's always a means of living to someone.

[edit] Respect

In all Turkic cultures, naan (bread), is very important. It is not a good idea to throw it away. If you drop it, pick it up and carry it with you. Do not step on naan--It is important to treat it with some respect. Also, if you decide to eat naan while walking, break off a piece, and eat that. Do not bite into the whole loaf.

[edit] Get out

This is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!

Retrieved from "http://wikitravel.org/en/%C3%9Cr%C3%BCmqi"