2 Full Day Itinerary in Turpan 🇨🇳

#traveldiaries When your a first timer in Xinjiang and Urumqi is your first stop then I can also recommend you to tie Turpan into your itinerary. It is so different from Urumqi where you will see green mountain. In Turpan, you will see a vast desert and massive sand mountains or rock mountains . Such a massive contrast which you will enjoy. Day 0- Arrival in Turpan, so we just chilled and we just wandered around where our hotel was. We went to the downtown bazaar, Antique and Turpan and ate local food. Nothing much that requires a lot of energy and time. Day 1- we rented a car and a driver to go to 5 places. 1. Flaming mountains- this is one of the top tourist spot if you search about what to see in Turpan 2. Bezeklik 1000 Buddha Caves- you will see caves of paintings and murals of Buddha here.. they are severely damaged which is quite sad. 3. Xinjiang Soil Art Museum- Wow, this stop was really our favorite and we spent so much time here. 4. Tuyuk Village- nestled in the middle of the desert , you will find a Uyghur village where apparently Islam started in China. 5. Gaochang Ruins- this is the biggest preserved ancient city ruins in Xinjiang. Remember, every tourist spot mentioned above has entrance fees. Fees range from 40-45 per person but there are scenic areas in which you may spend more for shuttle cars or for extra activities. Day 2- Rented a car again with a driver. These are our stops. 1. Emin Minerat (Sugong Tower) -the tower here is the oldest Islamic tower in Xinjiang. A really quiet places. There are tombs surrounding the mosques and the tower as well in different shapes. 2. Ancient tombs of Atsana- this is quite a sad place really. You will see a lot of holes in the ground which makes you realize that they are still digging up more mummies here. Some of the mummies that were dug up are displayed in Turpan Museum. 3. Karez Wells- this is such a fascinating visit. It will show you how determined the people to thrive by making a water underground channel just to live in this deserted and dry place. It is one of the 3 massive water projects in China. 4. Jiaohe Ancient City Ruins- wow! 🤩 coming to this place gave me goosebumps more than our visit in Gaochang Ruins. Jiaohe is the best preserved ancient city ruins in the world and seeing it in person is just surreal. 5. Houyun Valley- this place makes me feel like I went to Mars. The car and the driver rate is from around 250-500 depending on how many sites you want to visit in a day. Enjoy! #historicallandmarks #china #chinatrip #chinatravel #trip #tripblazers #xinjiang