[2024 Fukang Attraction] Travel Guide for Maya Mountain (Updated Sep)
Mountains
Geological Sites
Address:
Southwest of Tianchi Scenic Area, Fukang County, Urumqi (about 3 km from Tianchi)
Opening times:
Opens at 10:00-17:00Open
Recommended sightseeing time:
2 hours
Phone:
4008706110
Tianshan Tianchi - Yaochi of the Queen Mother of the West.
🌈Attraction features: Tianshan Tianchi is said to be the Yaochi of the Queen Mother of the West's Peach Banquet. The pool water is a dreamy deep blue, and it seems like a fairyland on earth surrounded by mountains. It is recommended to climb the nearby Mayashan, where you can see the whole view of Tianchi, overlook the Bogda Snow Mountain, and enjoy the spruce and strange stones along the way.
🎟️Ticket information: The round-trip battery car is 20 yuan, you can choose not to take it. The Mayashan tourist car ticket plus cable car is 220 yuan, and the elderly can enjoy half price with their ID card.
🕐️Opening hours: It can be visited all year round, each with its own characteristics.
💗Other tips: Tianshan Tianchi has a very dreamy feeling and is worth recommending
EscapeToSerenity
Xinjiang 11-Day Self-Driving Tour Itinerary Sharing
The 11-day self-driving tour in Xinjiang concluded perfectly, covering a total distance of 3000 kilometers, including the full version of the Yizhao Highway and the Duku Highway, with breathtaking scenery along the way.
On the first day, we landed at Urumqi Diwopu Airport at 10 PM and picked up the self-driving car.
On the second day, we visited the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum to see the Loulan Beauty. It is recommended to book a guide in advance. In the afternoon, we went to Tianchi Lake in the Tianshan Mountains, took the cable car to Ma Ya Mountain, and climbed to the third platform to see a different view from below. On the way back, we saw a big wild boar with four or five little wild boars running through the forest, which was very cute. We returned to Urumqi to stay overnight and visited the Grand Bazaar in the evening.
On the third day, we set off from Urumqi and arrived at Anjihai Grand Canyon at noon. Walking along the edge of the cliff, there was a bottomless abyss beneath our feet. We drove from the top of the canyon along a small road to the bottom, where the scenery was different. If the car is in good condition, you can drive deeper, where there are landforms similar to Dushanzi Grand Canyon, but you must return the same way. From Anjihai, we drove on the highway to Sayram Lake and stayed at a hotel by the lake.
On the fourth day, we toured Sayram Lake. Although the flowers by the lake were not as good as in previous years, the lake was still beautiful. The most impressive thing was a slope opposite a pavilion at Sayram Lake, covered with succulents, which is not seen in other grasslands. We took a boat ride on the lake at Dianjiangtai, enjoying some candied fruits and a cup of tea, which was very leisurely and comfortable. At Swan Lake, we encountered a family of six swans and fed them some biscuits. One swan pecked my leg, mistaking the flowers on my skirt for food. After leaving Sayram Lake, we crossed the Guozigou Bridge to the Lavender Farm in Huocheng. There is a restaurant by the farm that makes delicious barbecue and whitefish. After checking in at the lavender farm, we drove to Horgos to visit the fifth-generation national gate. We stayed in Yining overnight.
On the fifth day, we set off from Yining and drove along the Yizhao Highway to the Xiata Ancient Trail National Forest Park. The Yizhao Highway is beautiful, a condensed version of the Duku Highway, and worth driving. We passed by the Zhaosu Wetland Park. If you catch the Tianma Bathing River performance, you can stop and watch it. Unfortunately, we missed the performance time. After entering Xiata by shuttle bus, we rode horses to the deepest part of the Xiata Ancient Trail, where there were wildflowers everywhere, and we were very close to the snow-capped mountains. The sunset cast a unique golden-red glow on the snow-capped mountains. On the way out of Xiata, we saw three cute marmots by the roadside. We stayed in Tekesi overnight.
On the sixth day, we set off from Tekesi to the Kalajun Grassland. This grassland is divided into grassland and canyon scenic areas. You can buy a joint ticket or separate tickets. Personally, I think the best scenery in Kalajun is at the third stop, which is best seen on horseback as walking is too tiring. The canyon is where you can see the Human Body Grassland, which looks like four reclining beauties if you look closely. We stayed by the Nalati Grassland overnight.
On the seventh day, we planned to visit the Nalati Grassland, but it started raining, so we changed our plan and drove to Kuqa via the Duku Highway. We stopped along the way to enjoy the scenery, experiencing four seasons in one journey. We also rode horses freely on the grassland for a while, costing 80 yuan per hour. The highland mangoes in the Bayinbuluke area are not sweet and not recommended. We originally planned to visit the Tianshan Mysterious Grand Canyon, but it was raining when we passed by, so we didn't stop and went straight to Kuqa. The scenery at the checkpoint at the end of the Duku Highway is beautiful, and you can go up to the viewing platform to see the unique landforms of southern Xinjiang. In the evening, you can watch performances and visit the night market in Kuqa.
On the eighth day, we set off from Kuqa and stayed in Bayinbuluke overnight. In the morning, we visited the Kuqa Palace and the old street, which were not very interesting, and we quickly finished the tour. Then we drove back along the Duku Highway to visit the Mysterious Grand Canyon, which is worth seeing. It is recommended to use camels for the round trip. We passed by Dalong Pool, took a photo outside, and didn't go in. Then we headed straight to Bayinbuluke to watch the sunset. The Bayinbuluke Wetland Grassland is very beautiful, especially at sunset. Although we didn't see the Nine Suns in a Row, we did see four, five, and six suns. After watching the sunset, we slid down the grass, which was very fun.
On the ninth day, we set off from Bayinbuluke to visit the Nalati Grassland, drove along the Duku Highway to Tangbula, and stayed in the Tangbula Hundred Mile Gallery overnight. We couldn't book the self-driving ticket for the Nalati Grassland, so we chose the route to the Sky Grassland, going all the way to the top of Snow Lotus Valley. There wasn't any stunning scenery, but we encountered hail and ran down. This scenic area was very crowded, and the traffic outside was terrible.
On the tenth day, we woke up to find the camp we stayed in was beautiful, with wildflowers outside the window and beautiful snow-capped mountains in the distance, which was very healing and made up for the disappointment of the previous day. In the morning, we visited the Hundred Mile Gallery to the Fairy Lake scenic spot. The round trip on horseback was a bit long but not monotonous, with cows, sheep, and horses grazing leisurely along the way, and occasionally fat marmots popping out, which were very cute. When we arrived at Fairy Lake, we found it truly fairy-like. After visiting Fairy Lake, we drove along the Duku Highway to Dushanzi, passing by the Hashilegen Ice Daban, where we stayed for over an hour, played in the snow, and had some food. We stayed in Dushanzi overnight.
On the eleventh day, we woke up naturally and visited the Dushanzi Grand Canyon. The scenery in the entire scenic area is not as good as Anjihai, but there are many amusement facilities, and the high-altitude tightrope walking performance is very exciting. The glass bridge is worth a visit. After visiting Dushanzi, we returned to Urumqi Diwopu Airport, returned the car, and flew back home.
NebulaSentinel_901
The fairyland lost in the mortal world - Tianshan Tianchi
It is said that this is the Yaochi where the Queen Mother of the West lived - "Yaochi fairyland is unique in the world, nowhere to be found in heaven and earth". Throughout the ages, literati and poets have written poems and prose, giving it the highest praise. "Eight steeds travel thirty thousand li a day, why does King Mu not return", this is a poem left by the great Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin; "A pool of thick ink sinks to the bottom of the inkstone, ten thousand trees with long bristles stand at the end of the pen", this is a famous verse chanted by Guo Moruo when he accompanied Prince Sihanouk to visit Tianchi in the early 1970s.
At first sight, it does not disappoint, the heart is calm as water, escaping the hustle and bustle, this life is irreplaceable
🏔️Spring has begun to revive in the Tianshan Mountains. The day before yesterday, it snowed, and in the past two days, the temperature has risen, and the Tianshan Tianchi scenic area has cleared the snow, welcoming tourists for the May Day holiday. Today the sun is shining brightly, just in time to see the three seasons of one mountain with snow-covered Cangshan, spruce stacked green, and the rippling lake.
🏞️Tianshan Tianchi is located in Fukang, Changji, Xinjiang, about an hour's drive east from Urumqi. Tianchi is a high mountain barrier lake formed by ancient glacial debris flow blocking the river channel, and after three glacial accumulations, it formed a closed depression in the mountains, blocking the melting snow and high mountain precipitation, which is fundamentally different from the formation of Changbai Mountain Tianchi.
🌲The scenic area is rich in vegetation, with the most characteristic being the Tianshan spruce. Above 2000 meters above sea level, there is Tianshan spruce, which is a tree species unique to the Tianshan Mountains. It is said to have migrated from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau more than 40 million years ago and evolved into the most spectacular forest in the northwest.
🎒Travel tips:
1. Mode of touring: After entering the scenic area, there are shuttle buses 🚌 that take tourists from the ticket office to the Tianchi attractions in one stop, about a 40-minute drive, which is the main altitude climbing stage, but don't worry, there will be no obvious physical reactions. The shuttle buses have separate channels for groups and individual travelers, and the individual traveler buses will have guides explaining the touring methods of the scenic area in detail, with thoughtful tips on the transportation, touring duration, and features of each sub-scenic spot.
2. Route suggestion: It is recommended to manage your energy wisely, visit the mountain first and then the lake. At the bus parking lot of Tianchi, you can take the cable car shuttle bus 🚎 to the cable car station, and then take the cable car 🚡 directly to the top of Maya Mountain, about 5 minutes one way, costing 210 yuan for a round trip. On Maya Mountain, you can have a close view of the Bogda Peak of Tianshan, which is 5445 meters above sea level, covered with snow all year round, and has extensive glaciers; there is also a Cloud House on Maya Mountain, where you can drink coffee by the window and view the snowy mountains and the blue Tianchi.
3. Overall time: The entire scenic area takes about 3 hours for a quick tour, including about an hour and a half for the mountain shuttle bus. For a deep slow tour, it takes 1 day, and you need to catch the last bus at the shuttle bus stop before 7 pm.
4. Clothing recommendation: It's not that cold, with the highest temperature reaching about 16 or 17 degrees Celsius. The wind will be stronger by the water and on the mountain top, but a coat to block the wind is sufficient. I brought a light down jacket and only wore it on the top of Maya Mountain and beside Tianchi for a while; other times I just wore a knitted shirt. On sunny days, it's very sunny during the day, so you need to wear hats, sunglasses, etc. You can wear a sweatshirt or a thin sweater with a coat 🧥, or a three-in-one jacket, adding or removing the liner as needed.