The upcoming Xinjiang will be legendary! Here's a guide to the Ili Grand Loop
It's the most beautiful season in Xinjiang again.
I remember the days when I traveled that land last year,
and the deep impact it still has on my heart.
Now, let me share my personal experience of Xinjiang with everyone.
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📆Best time to visit: June to August every year
🏔️Scenery: Snow-capped mountains, lakes, rivers, grasslands, flowers
🚗How to travel: Rent a car for a self-drive tour or hire a car/join a group.
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↪️Below is our itinerary from last year for your reference:
day1 🛬Urumqi, rent a car in the city, check in, and visit the International Grand Bazaar at night
day2 Urumqi - Anjihai Grand Canyon (3 hours drive) - Sayram Lake (4 hours), stay at 'West Sea Starry Sky RV Camping Site' inside the scenic area
day3 Sayram Lake - Guozigou Bridge - Yining, stay in Yining city area
day4 Kazanqi Folk Village - Xiatang (3-4 hours), stay in Xiatang scenic area, Kazakh yurt
day5 Xiatang - Tekes Hexagram City (3 hours), stay in Tekes county
day6 Tekes - Kalajun (1 hour) - Qiaxi (3 hours), stay in Qiaxi
day7 Qiaxi
day8 Qiaxi - Kuerdening (1.5 hours) - Fairy Lake (4 hours), stay in Xinyuan county
day9 Xinyuan county - Fairy Lake (1 hour) - Yining (4-5 hours), stay in Yining city area
day10 Yining - Huocheng Lavender Manor (1 hour), Huocheng - Yining Airport 🛫
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▪️Anjihai Grand Canyon: Majestic and spectacular, like a crevice in the Tianshan Mountains
▪️Sayram Lake: The last tear of the Atlantic, drive around the lake, the most wonderful part is the West Sea Grassland - South Gate area
▪️Guozigou Scenic Area: Right at the south gate of Sayram Lake, there are many viewing platforms for photo opportunities
▪️Kazanqi Folk Village: Located in the Uyghur folk style street in Yining city area, the houses and colors are uniquely characteristic
▪️Xiatang Ancient Trail: A paradise for hiking enthusiasts! High mountains, rapids, glaciers, all the beautiful scenery in sight
▪️Tekes Hexagram City: The aerial view of Tekes county shows a hexagram shape
▪️Kalajun Grassland: Vast and open, very suitable for photography, great self-driving experience
▪️Tekes River: On the way from Kalajun to Qiaxi, passing near Kezilejiaer village by the Tekes River, the blue water and green grass are eye-catching
▪️Qiaxi Grassland: Relatively niche, less commercialized, not many tourists, great for photography, daydreaming, camping, and stargazing
▪️Kuerdening: Known as the 'Oriental Switzerland', if you knew Kuerdening, why bother with the Alps! The spruce scenery is similar to Qiaxi
▪️Tangbula: The Hundred Mile Gallery and Fairy Lake are both excellent, niche attractions, suitable for hiking or horseback riding
▪️Huocheng: Has many lavender manors, very distinctive for photo opportunities
🔘Attractions we skipped in the itinerary:
▪️Qiongkushitai: Crowded, relatively difficult to access
▪️Naraty: Expensive, especially for self-driving, somewhat unaffordable
▪️Bayinbuluke: Due to the itinerary route and time constraints, we gave up this place
🛣️Self-driving tips: Pay attention to the opening times of the Yizhao Highway and Duku Highway, if closed, you need to find another route
Entering the fruit ditch, into the fairy tale fairyland, can not help but think about it. Leaving Sailimu Lake, boarding the pine tree, the whole world has a panoramic view, and the pine waves are in a state of mind. The road twists and turns, sometimes steep cliffs, sometimes like the abyss. Yunshan sent a burst of pine waves, wild fruit floated a fragrance. The clear spring suddenly left and right a wooden house, the room is hidden in the green leaves, floating on the grass. The adventure and beauty are gathered together, reality and dream are intertwined.
Guozigou Bridge is a high-speed passageway in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. It is located on the Guozigou Canyon. It is one of the main components of Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway. It starts from Mengqiongkule in the north, crosses the Guozigou Canyon in the south and the Generalgou Tunnel in the south. The full length of the line is 4.4 kilometers, and the bridge is 700 meters long.
Guozigou Bridge starts from Mengqiongkule in the north, crosses the Guozigou Canyon, and goes south to the Generalgou Tunnel; the line is4.4 kilometers long, and the bridge is 700 meters long; the bridge is a two-way four-lane expressway, and the design speed is 80 kilometers/hour.
Guozigou is the natural gateway of Yili area, is a famous canyon hole in the north of Sailimu Lake, the south of the Yili Valley, in ancient times, here is the throat of the Silk Road North to Central Asia and Europe, known as the "Iron Guan", but also because of its pleasant scenery is known as the "Ili first scene" , "wonderful wonderland", the ancient poem praises its "the wonder of the landscape, the strange of Guilin, the strange of the cliff, is better than the rock". Guozigou is 28 kilometers long, the terrain is dangerous, when Genghis Khan's west march, began to cut the mountain passage, once built 48 bridges, visible the steep road.
Others' Guozigou Bridge is a green hillside, only mine is white. But it's really spectacular! ! ! Really the infrastructure mad magic product must be a boutique! Two viewing points, one is directly below the bridge, the other is on the hillside, each has its own advantages.
On the way back to Sailimu Lake, I stopped to enjoy it for a while, and I haven't started to collect tickets or parking fees. The wind is very strong, the drone can't take off, the freezing is not good, but the scenery is beautiful, like the Swiss mountains, when shooting, the light is reversed, the eyes see more beautiful