Urumqi travel guide: the bazaar, the mummies, Heavenly Lake, and where the locals eat big-plate chicken

Hill, museum, bazaar. The standard first day and the right order to do it in.

1. Day 1

   Hongshan Park — Regional Museum — Grand Bazaar

   Take bus 7 or 17 or the BRT to Hongshan Park in the morning and climb to the pagoda for the overview — the whole city, with the Tianshan behind it. Then bus down to the Regional Museum on Xibei Road for the mummies; allow two hours, it deserves them.

   In the late afternoon take bus 912 or 7 to the Erdaoqiao Grand Bazaar. Eat in the food court, walk the craft floors, and stay for the song-and-dance show at the banquet theatre — this is the window into the region's culture that makes the rest of Xinjiang legible.

   Stops: Hongshan ParkRegional MuseumGrand Bazaar

The classic excursion. Two hours each way, and the lake earns it.

1. Day 1

   Tianchi — East Small Tianchi — the Anchor Needle — West Small Tianchi

   Board the morning bus at the gate of People's Park for the 2-hour ride to the lake, set on the flank of Bogda Peak. Walk the Taoist Queen Mother of the West temple, then East Small Tianchi, the pool they called the fairy's swimming pool before the black dragon moved in.

   In the afternoon see the Anchor Needle — a single elm on the shore — and West Small Tianchi, fed by seepage from the main lake at 1,660 m, with its waterfall like a silver curtain. Boats circle the lake for ¥35; the walk back up catches the light on Bogda. Evening bus back to the city.

   Stops: Heavenly LakeQueen Mother templeEast Small TianchiWest Small Tianchi

City, lake, pastures, coloured hills and Turpan — the source guide's own loop.

1. Day 1

   Hongshan — museum — Grand Bazaar

   The city day, as above. Book the coming days' buses before dinner.

   Stops: Hongshan ParkRegional MuseumGrand Bazaar

2. Day 2

   Heavenly Lake

   The lake day, as above — Queen Mother temple, East and West Small Tianchi, and Bogda across the water.

   Stops: Heavenly Lake

3. Day 3

   Nanshan — West Baiyanggou

   Bus 912 to Xigongyuan station and change for Shuixigou. The Nanshan is big — pick Juhuatai or West Baiyanggou, ride a horse, visit a Kazakh family, and sleep in a yurt or a farmhouse for about ¥100. In winter the same day is a ski day.

   Stops: Nanshan pasturesWest Baiyanggou

4. Day 4

   Wucaiwan and the Ghost City

   Leave early for the Wucaiwan coloured hills in the Junggar desert — time your arrival for late light. The wind-carved yardang of the Ghost City looks like ruined pagodas, temples and pyramids; 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' was filmed here.

   Stops: WucaiwanGhost City

5. Day 5

   Turpan

   Train or coach to Turpan — past the Dabancheng wind farm, the largest in Asia. Do the Jiaohe ruins, the Flaming Mountains, the grape valleys and the karez underground canals, and eat your way down Guanghui Street before the last train back.

   Stops: TurpanJiaohe ruinsGrape ValleyKarez wells