Our first morning in China started before dawn when our bus pulled into a hotel parking lot – not a bus station – and told us to beat it. We were dazed and confused – and a bit frazzled from a stressful border crossing – but eventually managed to find our way downtown. We spent most of the day walking the streets of Urumqi while waiting for our next bus that afternoon to take a few hours onward to where we’d be spending the night.
While walking around it was quickly apparent what a strange place Urumqi was. It is something of a silk road city and is filled with Muslim Uyghers. The Uyghers are clinging to their roots as best they can as the city grows through an influx of new Chinese Han residents. We took this picture of a sign above a store because we found it so interesting how there were three languages present, yet the local language is the most difficult to see.
To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.
IF YOU GO: Urumqi is not easy to get to and on a visit to China is not typically common to go and visit. If you are coming from Almaty, Kazakhstan as we were there are overnight buses that depart each day and these are actually quite comfortable…in addition to being faster and cheaper than the train. If you’re coming from more typical Chinese locations you are probably better off flying as it is a VERY long train ride. We used it as a jumping off point to visit the Dunhuang Grottos.
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