Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and a rising industrial city. Major attractions: Hongshan, Xinjiang Museum, and Shuimugou Hot Springs. Urumqi stands out as a most distinct Chinese city with a folkloric look and burgeoning modern industry. Baiyang Gully south of the city is a scenic Kazakh pastoral farm. Museum of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous Region at Xibei Road has a collection of more than 50,000 cultural relics with distinct ethnic features.
The Heavenly Lake stretches 100km from east to west and is 10km wide, with the highest peak reaching 831metres. It is mainly composed of the arenaceous rock, conglomerate and mudstone of the Jurassic Period. When in summer the fiery sun beats down on the purple-colored mountains, an intense red glow is reflected from the mountainside, resembling a roaring flame.
Urumqi is the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the most 'inland' city in the world. With a population of two million gaily-dressed ethnic inhabitants, the city is likened to a piece of emerald embedded at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains. It lies in the lofty ice-capped Bogda Peak and vast Salt Lake in the east; in the rolling pine-covered Southern hill, a well-known scenic district, in the south; and in the alternating fields and sand dunes of Zunggar Basin in the northwest.
The temperature in Urumqi widely ranges between day and night as it belongs to the semi-arid continental climate of middle temperate zone. The climate is extremely arid due to long period of sunlight and bare precipitation. It has shorter spring and autumn; and longer winter and summer. May to October is the golden season for traveling to Urumqi, when flowers are in full bloom and the fruits, like melons, are ripe with its fragrance. Here we should indicate that there are two hours time difference between Xinjiang and Beijing. The local working time is usually from 09:30 or 10:00. You had better not start your travel plan before 08:00 in the morning since it is still dark at that time.
Tourist resources of Urumqi have its own advantages and distinctions, which are strategically important in the ancient Silk Road that assembles the cultures of both eastern and western countries. The most famous tourist spots among the numerous cultural relics and natural landscapes include the Heavenly Lake, the Southern Pastures, the Red Hill, the Southern Mosque, the Tartar Mosque, and the Xinjiang Regional Museum.
In the middle of Bogda Peak, 110 km (68miles) east of Urumqi, nestles Heavenly Lake. Covering 4.9 square kilometers (1.89 square miles), this crescent-shaped lake deserves its name, Pearl of Heavenly Mountain (Tianshan Mountain). With melted snow as its source, Heavenly Lake enjoys crystal water.