2 days in Xinjiang, China

Xinjiang, as another minority autonomous region in China, is a place dwelled by Uygur people. It is a wonderful place with rich fruits and passional Uygur minority. Here are the best places to visit in Xinjiang, to help you find your way to get close touch with the unique minority culture.

Jiaohe Ancient City

Jiaohe Ancient City is renowned as the "perfect ruin of earth building" because it has been well preserved for almost two thousand years. It is incredible that these earth buildings dug from soil used to be the capital city of the former Cheshi State which housed 700 households, 6500 residents plus 865 soldiers. The whole city covers 360,000 square meters. Most of buildings we can see so far were built during Tang Dynasty. Small but complete, there are specific buildings for manufacture, military defense, official work, etc.

Tianchi Lake

Tianchi Lake or Heavenly Lake is a lake with water from melted snow around. As a natural alpine lake, it has an elevation of 1,980 meters. With limpid water, the lake shines like a sapphire under the sun and is surrounded by green mountains. At the southeast end of the lake is the magnificent Bogda Peak, meaning “Sacred Mountain” in the Mongolian language.

Tianchi literally means ' Heaven Lake ' or ' Heavenly Lake ' and can refer to several lakes in China and Taiwan. Formerly known as Yaochi (Jade Lake), it was named Tianchi by Mingliang in 1783, the Qing Dynasty Commander of Urumqi Command.

Xinjiang Regional Museum

Xinjiang Regional Museum is integrated museum, located in the Urumqi City. It is a beautiful building decorated by Uygur style, and has more than 5,000 arts and history relics. It features in three exhibition hall including Ethnic Exhibition, History Reclics Exhibition, Mummy Exhibition.

Mori Forest of Diversiform-leaved Poplars

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A forest of diversiform-leaved poplars, a tenacious ancient species, can be found at the south edge of Junggar Basin, 150 km away from Mori County, covering an area of 35 square kilometers. With a history of 65 million years, the forest is the oldest primeval forest of diversiform-leaved poplars in the world, and is known as a "living fossil".

Faced with broiling heat and droughts, the forest stills stand in the desert, brimming with energy and life. The trees are described as "having the ability to grow erect for a thousand years, live for a thousand years after falling, and the life remain undying after death for another thousand years."

Karakul Lake

Karakul Lake is located about 190 km from the Kashgar City, Xinjiang. It seats at the foot of the Muztagh Ata (7546m), and along the China Pakistan Highway. At an altitude of 3600m, Karakul Lake is the highest lake of the Pamir plateau. It also features in the amazing combination of lake and snow mountain views.

At its surrounding, there are three giant mountains such as Muztagh Ata (7546m), Kongur Tagh (7649m) and Kongur Tiube (7530m) which remain snow-covered throughout the year. The best season to visit Karakul Lake are Summer and Autumn when travelers come in great numbers to see the unreal scenery and the clarity of its reflection in the water, whose color ranges from a dark green to azure and light blue.

Id Kah Mosque

Photo Matteocolombo Photography

Id Kah Mosque is the largest mosque in China, and one of three largest in middle Asia. It is located on the west of Id Kah Square in Kashgar. Getting close to Id Kah Mosque, you will be impressed by the elegant blue gate of mosque. Id Kah Mosque is the holy land for the Muslims. Every day, there are thousands of Muslims worshipping here. In the history, Id Kah Mosque used to be a school where taught Islam culture. Many scholars and honored clergies graduated from here.

See more: What to eat in Xinjiang, China

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Explore Prachuap Khiri Khan in 48 hours

Prachuap Khiri Khan can be described as an unspoiled sleepy beach town. Unlike the hot tourist parts of Thailand, the beaches of Prachuap Khiri Khan are not yet fully discovered by many tourists. In the past, the city used to be a favorite holiday destination of the Royal family.

The beaches of this town are calm and tranquil, perfect for swimming, snorkeling or sunbathing, away from the choking crowd of Pattaya. Below are some attractions you can discover in 2 days.

Visit Ao Manao

With its attractive beach lined with cool, shady trees and umbrellas, Ao Manao embodies what the resort beaches to the north would like to be when they grow up.

At the same time, it has more of the feeling of a national park than a beach resort, it is no doubt because it is located on an airforce base, the 53rd Air Division, just to the south of town. There are plenty of food stalls and even a food court on the beach road, but few other services or tourist-oriented businesses.

Take a trip to the Wat Thammikaram or Monkey temple

The Wat Thammikaram or Monkey temple gives you an awesome taste of an adventurous trip through a hill full of monkeys. The temple is located at the top of Khao Chong Krajok hill, which gives a 360-degree view of the whole town from the top.

The mouth of the staircase which leads to this temple is located at the Sao Noi Road, there are a total of 418 steps which lead to the top of the hill, into the temple. The troop of monkeys live on the way, but enjoy their sight and presence from afar, do not try to disturb them or to feed them to avoid any unseen attack.

Take a visit to King Mongkut Memorial Park of Science and Technology Waghor

King Mongkut Rama IV established this science museum in the year 1989 to showcase his father’s study in the scientific field. One of the main attractions of this science museum is Waghor Aquarium. The other attraction of this place is the butterfly garden.

Enjoy local food at Rim Taley Market

The Oceanside Market is not very large, but it makes an ideal dinner destination because you can eat your food on the promenade or pier. On Friday and Saturday the few dozen regular vendors are joined by about 200 more as the market morphs into Walking Street, though there is little in the way of artistic or handmade goods on sale.

Discover Haad Wanakorn National Park

Photo @IkeSuruwong

This intsy wintsy national park roughly midway between Prachuap Khiri Khan and Namtok Huay Yang National Park offers deserted beach scenes and plentiful bird spotting. Gazetted in 1995, Haad Wanakorn National Marine Park is Thailand’s smallest park at just 38 square kilometres, of which 23 is coastal scrub and woodland and 15 is marine, including the two small islands of Ko Chai and Ko Thaisi.

See more: Spend 3 days discovering the beautiful towns in Thailand

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2 day trip to Yunna, China

Located in southern China on the borders of Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos, Yunnan is well on the backpackers trail. This diverse province, home to the highest concentration of Chinese ethnic minorities and over sixteen languages, is arguably one of China’s most beautiful and perfectly demonstrates that China is not a homogeneous country. Tourism makes up over 12 percent of the province’s GDP, but due to its size and incredible number of attractive destinations, few spots feel overcrowded at any one time.

Lijiang Ancient City

Being one of the only 2 ancient cities listed as the World Cultural Heritage in China, Lijiang Ancient City is a must-go place. Its more than 800 years history enables the ancient city be filled with rich antique flavor, therefore, you can not only see those very fancy Mu’s Residence and other old houses, bridges, attractive natural landscape in places like Black Dragon Pool, but also be immersed in the featured ancient romance of Lijiang people and the shining culture of Naxi people.

Kunming

Known as the “spring city” for its equable climate, Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, is an enjoyable place to spend two or three leisure days.

During the daytime, you can take a deep breath while observing the rarely-seen karst landscape at Stone Forest, which was also recognized as the natural oxygen zone of china. When the dark comes, you can enjoy a grand and unique dance musical show name Dynamic Yunnan Impression Show at Kunming auditorium. The show will display different dances of the minority tribes in Yunnan to you. Kunming is also the transport hub of Yunnan province. For most of the time, Kunming is served as the gateway city to transfer to its amazing surrounding wonders, such as Dali, Shangri-La, and Lijiang.

See more: Top must-visit destinations in Kunming, China

Dongchuan Red Land

Located at the northeast of Kunming city, Dongchuan Red Land is a wonderful place to get close to the nature’s cool fabricate and shot for a series of excellent photos. Being the most magnificent red land besides that in Rio de Janeiro, Dongchuan Red Land shows amazing sightseeing before you, with layers of red colors from bright to dark, which is extremely rare.

Yuanyang Rice Terraces

Yuanyang Rice Terraces, superposed layer upon layer, was created by the Hani nationality in south Yunnan for more than 1,200 years. One top thing to do in Yuanyang is to see the spectacular sunrise and sunset view of the rice terraces; another is to feel the unique customs of Hani villages.

These terraces are divided into four parts, namely, Bada, Laohuzui, Duoyishu and Qingkou. The golden clouds at sunrise in Duoyishu Rice Terraces are the most attractive. There is a large slope in Duoyishu Village for watching the sunrise, which can accommodate over 1,000 people at the same time. If you want to shoot the sunrise, getting up early to take the best position is necessary. The sunset of Laohuzui and the clouds sea of Qingkou will not let you down.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

Tiger Leaping Gorge is a dramatic and scenic canyon on the Jinsha River, winding its way between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. Hiking the length of the gorge will require several days and some strenuous trails not recommended for beginners. It is possible to drive the length of the gorge as well, although the hiking trail offers more varied scenery.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

30 kilometers from Lijiang downtown, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain has a very sacred status among the local Naxi people. As the southernmost mountain and a well-known mountain in China, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is rich in multiple types of glaciers, eye-pleasing sightseeing of snow of its 13 peaks, distinct beautiful scenery in all seasons, etc. Moreover, you will be amazed at the large-scale live-action performance in Ganhaizi, which provides you the real history and life in Lijiang this charming destination.

Source Internet