Ürümqi

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Nan-men
Nan-men

Ürümqi (Chinese: 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 it 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. Wikitravel also has a Uyghur phrasebook under construction. Other ethnic groups in Urumqi include Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Mongols and Hui Muslims.

If you don't speak Mandarin or Uyghur, you may have difficulties in Urumqi. Few people speak English, even in some of the large hotels. When taking a taxi, it's a good idea to be armed with a piece of paper with the name of your destination written in Mandarin. Accordingly, some place names on this page have Mandarin translations.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

Ürümqi is served by the Urumqi Diwopu International Airport (乌鲁木齐国际机场) (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 (乌鲁木齐火车站)- 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 and costs ¥165. July 2008.

[edit] Southern Long-Distance Bus Station (南郊客运站)

Location: southern part of city (Across from the Shui Shang Le Yuan amusement park)

  • 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] Consulates

  • Kazakhstan, 216 Kunming Lu. Mon-Fri 10:00-13:00. Visas issued in two working-days. Cost varies depending on nationality: British ¥261. Visa collection from 12:00-13:00.  edit
  • Kyrgyzstan, 58 Hetan Bei Lu, ☎ 518-9980 (fax: 518-9985).  edit

Unfortunately, these are the only two consulates in Urumqi. For those heading to other destinations in Central Asia, instead of returning to Beijing, a good bet would be to pick up visas for those locations in Almaty, Kazakhstan or Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

[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. Taxi fares start at 6 yuan.

[edit] Bus

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

[edit][add listing] See

  • People's Square (人民广场)
  • Hongshan (红山) - Red Mountain park
  • Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum (自治区博物馆)
  • Shuimugou Hot Springs (水磨沟)
  • Da Bazar (大吧扎) - 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 (新疆丝绸之路博物馆) [1] Easy to find - 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 is 30 Yuan per person. Most of the exhibits have English names as well and some of their guides speak some English.

[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 although somewhat of a tourist trap anymore. However, the surrounding area is the heart of the Uyghur community and makes visiting worthwhile.

  • Imported delicacies can be found at the You Hao supermarket in the basement of the Tian Shan Shopping Center (天山百货), located across from the People's Square.
  • A number of stores selling outdoor gear, camping supplies (户外用品) etc. can be found on Renmin Lu, east of Nan Men.
  • Hua Lin (华凌市场)is a huge trade complex selling almost anything you can think of.

[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 are a lot of choices, and lots of variety.

[edit] Budget

Local restaurants are available throughout the city, although most Uyghur restaurants are concentrated in Erdaoqiao, around the big bazaar. A standard price for a plate of hand-streched noodles with vegetable meat topping (laghman/ban mian) is about 9 RMB (1.4 USD)--if you are still hungry, you can request more noodles (jia mian). Among other common Uyghur foods are dumplings of mutton and onions (samsa), Uyghur fried rice (polo), dumpling soup (chuchura), meat pies (Gush Nan) and Opke Hessip (lungs and stuffed intestines) for the brave. Local specialty drinks include Kawas (carbonated drink flavored with honey) and Dogh (a mixture of crushed ice, yoghurt and honey available in summer). The best known Hui dish is big plate chicken (Da Pan Ji), a spicy mixture of chicken and potatoes. Personal experience leads me to recommend the following:

  • Bodun, 42 Heping Bei Lu (Less than five minutes south of People's Square). Delicious and cheap Uyghur staples. Good location in the city center. edit
  • Avral, 60 Shengli Lu (In Erdaoqiao, across from large mosque.). Delicious and finely decorated, Avral is also well known for its Uyghur ice cream (marozhni). edit

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 grapevine covered alley across from the south entrance to the computer market), ☎ (0991) 281-0025. 1pm to midnight. A Tex-Mex and classic American cafe. edit
  • Vine Coffeehouse, 65 Minzhu Lu (Down a small street near the People's theater (Renmin Dianying Yuan)), ☎ (0991) 230-4831. A Caribbean cafe serving a wide array of western and Caribbean specialty dishes. Closed Mondays. *Edo No Sakura, 65 Guangming Lu (On first floor of brightly colored high rise near Hong Shan Park). For those intrigued by the prospect of eating sushi in the city furthest from an ocean. It is a bit pricey as can be expected. Next door is also a Brazilian Barbeque Restaurant, Sabbath. There are also a number of Russian restaurants near the Bian Jiang trade complex (边疆商贸城)on Yanan Lu. Also in the south of the city on Xinhua Nan Lu is some Central Asian cuisine. Madina serves Pakistani food with an English menu and English speaking staff (look for the golden arches on the sign). Next door is the nicely decorated Uzbek restaurant Tashkent (spelled in cyrillic). Both are located at 47 Xinhua Nan Lu.  edit 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.

A good local Chinese chain is Shun Ming (顺明), serving Uyghur and Chinese food for a reasonable price. They are open twenty four hours and have several locations around town including at People's Square (Renmin GuangChang) and the People's Movie Theater (Renmin Dianying Yuan)

[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.

  • Korgan, (located next to the big bazaar (Da Baza) in Erdaoqiao). Luxuriously decorated Uyghur restaurant. Very good Uyghur food if somewhat inflated prices. edit

[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 (), [2]. 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

  • Maitian International Youth Hostel, Youhao Nan Lu. Dorms: 8-bed ¥40 6-bed ¥50. Discounts for HI members.  edit
  • 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
  • White Birch International Hostel (Xinjiang International Youth Hostel), 186 Nan Hu Lu, ☎ 0991-4881428 / 13809943984, [3]. July 2008:Dorms: 10-bed ¥?, 5-bed ¥45. Discounts for HI members. I don't know if the hostel exists at this location anymore, so check beforehand..  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), [4]. 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
  • Sheraton Hotel, 669 North Youhao Lu, Urumqi, ☎ (0991)699-9999. Broadband internet access, and satellite tv. Five star hotel north of the city center. Urumqi's most luxurious hotel. edit

[edit] Stay safe

In general Xinjiang is a rather safe place. However, in the bigger bazaars pickpockets do operate so be sure to secure your valuables. 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 most Islamic 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

  • Tianshan Tianchi National Park (天池) - scenic with prismatic splendor. Tickets are approximately 100 yuan.
  • Nan Shan (南山) - Picturesque mountains south of Urumqi. In summer the valleys are populated with Kazakh Yurts, which accept travellers for 50-100 yuan per night including food. Excellent for hiking and horseback riding. Cheap buses (8-25 yuan) leave for the area throughout the day from the bus station south of People's Park (Renmin Gongyuan). Particularly recommended is Juhua Tai (菊花台, chysanthemum terrace), with plenty of food and sleeping options along with mountain pastures filled with alpine flowers.
  • Number One Glacier (一号冰川) - Located in the far south of Nan Shan is this fast disappearing glacier, the first in China to be thoroughly researched. The area is located in the higher peaks in the Nan Shan range (over 14,000 ft)and boasts spectacular views along with few tourists. The glacier can be reached after first taking the Nan Shan bus to Hou Xia (后峡, 12.6 yuan), and then finding a driver in the town to take you to the glacier(150-200 yuan one way, about an hour). Several kilometers from the glacier are Kazakh families that rent their yurts to tourists for 20 yuan. Polo (fried rice), bread, kebabs and tea are also available for about 15 yuan or so. Coming back, you should be able to hitch a ride for free with trucks returning to town from a nearby mine.
  • Heart of Asia Monument - South of Urumqi is a monument supposedly marking the center of the Eurasian landmass, underscoring just how far from the ocean you really are.
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!

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