Atlas of China
Listed sites in Xinjiang 新疆
233 scenic areas and heritage sites from the official lists, by city. 38 have a page of their own; the rest open as cards on the map.
The A-level rating is the national grading of scenic areas, 5A being the top tier; national heritage sites are the buildings, ruins, tombs and carvings protected by the State Council. Both lists are on the lists page.
5A scenic areas in Xinjiang
- Baisha Lake 白沙湖 5A scenic area · on the map
A small freshwater lake ringed by pale sand dunes at the Bingtuan's 185th Regiment in the far north-west of Habahe County, about 2.5 km from the Kazakhstan border. - Bayanbulak Grassland 巴音布鲁克 5A scenic area
A high grassland basin in the central Tian Shan at about 2,000–2,500 m, home mainly to Mongol herders, where the Kaidu River meanders through marshes and oxbow lakes. - Bosten Lake 博斯腾湖 5A scenic area
Bosten is Xinjiang's largest lake, a freshwater lake of more than 1,000 km² lying at about 1,048 m in the Yanqi Basin on the south side of the Tian Shan. - Grape Valley 葡萄沟 5A scenic area
Grape Valley is a green gorge cut into the Flaming Mountains on the north-eastern edge of Turpan, watered by the snow-fed Buyluk River and lined with vineyards, orchards and Uyghur villages. - Jiangbulak Scenic Area 江布拉克 5A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A 48 km² mountain scenic area on the northern slopes of the Tianshan south of Qitai, known for the dry-farmed wheat fields that roll across the hills below forest and snow peaks. - Jinhuyang Desert Poplar Forest Park 金湖杨国家森林公园 5A scenic area · on the map
A forest park of desert poplars on the alluvial fan of the Yarkand River about 35 km south-west of Zepu, covering some 40,000 mu (about 27 km²), much of it natural poplar woodland, with water on three sides and the Kunlun range in the distance. - Kalajun Grassland 喀拉峻草原 5A scenic area · on the map
A great sweep of alpine meadow on the northern slopes of the Tianshan in Tekes County, ranging from about 1,300 m to nearly 4,000 m and used as summer pasture by herders. - Koktokay Scenic Area 可可托海 5A scenic area · 4A scenic area · on the map
A 788 km² 5A scenic area around Koktokay in the Altai, centred on the Irtysh Grand Canyon, where the young Irtysh River runs through forest past waterfalls, striking rock formations and the peak known as Divine Bell Mountain. - Taklamakan – 359th Brigade Cultural Tourism Area 塔克拉玛干·三五九旅文化旅游区 5A scenic area · on the map
A tourism area in Aral, the Bingtuan city of the 1st Division, centred on the 359th Brigade Reclamation Memorial Hall, which presents the history of the army units that came to Xinjiang around 1950 and turned to farming and land reclamation on the northern edge of the Taklamakan. - Tashkurgan Stone City (Pamir Scenic Area) 塔什库尔干石头城 5A scenic area · National heritage site
A 5A scenic area on the edge of Tashkurgan town built around the hilltop Stone City, the ruined walled town that was the seat of the Han-era kingdom of Puli and was greatly enlarged under the later kingdom of Qiepantuo, described by the monk Xuanzang on his way home from India. - Tianshan Grand Canyon 天山大峡谷 5A scenic area · on the map
A mountain scenic area and national forest park covering about 1,038 km² of the Tian Shan's northern slopes in Ürümqi County, at an average altitude above 2,000 m. - Tianshan Tomur Scenic Area 天山托木尔 5A scenic area · on the map
Tianshan Tomur is a 752 km² mountain scenic area in Wensu County below Tomur Peak, at 7,443.8 m the highest summit of the Tian Shan, and in December 2024 it became Aksu Prefecture's first 5A area. - World Ghost City, Urho 世界魔鬼城 5A scenic area · on the map
The World Ghost City, also called the Urho Wind City, is a field of yardangs on the north-western edge of the Junggar Basin, where strong winds have carved layered rock into shapes likened to palaces, towers, people and animals.
By city
Aksu (33) · Altay (14) · Aral (4) · Bayingolin (17) · Bortala (9) · Changji (15) · Hami (12) · Hotan (15) · Ili (40) · Karamay (6) · Kashgar (20) · Kizilsu (3) · Kokdala (1) · Kunyu (2) · Shihezi (1) · Tacheng (7) · Tumxuk (2) · Turpan (16) · Ürümqi (16)
Aksu 33 sites
- Tianshan Tomur Scenic Area 天山托木尔 5A scenic area · on the map
Tianshan Tomur is a 752 km² mountain scenic area in Wensu County below Tomur Peak, at 7,443.8 m the highest summit of the Tian Shan, and in December 2024 it became Aksu Prefecture's first 5A area. - Aksu Museum 阿克苏地区博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
The prefecture museum of Aksu, also called the Aksu Prefecture Museum and Heritage Institute, opened in its present colourful building in 2009 and holds about 2,000 objects on the history of the Aksu region and the Kucha kingdom. - Aksu National Wetland Park 阿克苏国家湿地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A wetland park beside Aksu city covering about 5,000 mu (330 ha), of which some 1,800 mu is water, laid out as 23 linked lakes with paths and five viewing platforms. - Daolang Tribe Scenic Area, Awat 刀郎部落 4A scenic area · on the map
A folk-culture scenic area in Awat County themed on Dolan (刀郎) culture, the tradition behind Dolan muqam music, set among old desert-poplar woodland by a river. - Desert Flower Sea, Xinhe 沙漠花海 4A scenic area · on the map
A desert leisure park of about 3,000 mu (some 200 ha) opened at the end of 2016 on a patch of dunes surrounded by oasis farmland in Qiaolepaibage village, Xinhe County. - Duolang River Scenic Area, Aksu 多浪河 4A scenic area · on the map
The landscaped banks of the Duolang River through Aksu city, a 4A scenic area since 2018, with promenades, pavilions such as the Gumo Pavilion and a small amusement area. - Jiayi Village 加依村 4A scenic area · on the map
Jiayi is a village in Xinhe County known for making traditional Uyghur musical instruments, a craft it has practised for more than 300 years; nearly half of its roughly 290 households build instruments such as the dutar, ajek and rawap. - Kangqi Wetland, Baicheng 康其湿地 4A scenic area · on the map
A wetland in Arele village, Kangqi township, where the Karasu and Muzat rivers meet east of Baicheng county town, developed for rural tourism since 2018. - Kekeya Memorial Hall 柯柯牙纪念馆 4A scenic area · on the map
A memorial hall at the core of the Kekeya greening project, which since the 1980s has planted forest across the gravel desert that once sent dust storms into Aksu. - Kizil Caves 克孜尔千佛洞 4A scenic area · National heritage site
Kizil is the largest Buddhist cave complex of the ancient Kucha kingdom and among the earliest in China, cut into cliffs above the Muzat River from about the 3rd century until the 8th–9th centuries. - Kizilgaha Beacon Tower 克孜尔尕哈烽燧 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A Han-dynasty beacon tower of rammed earth laid in layers with reeds and branches, still about 16 m high, standing on gravel desert north-west of Kuqa. - Kuqa Palace 库车王府 4A scenic area · on the map
Kuqa Palace is a reconstruction, completed in 2004, of the residence of the Kuqa princes, a hereditary title first granted under the Qianlong Emperor in the 18th century and held by twelve generations. - Qilan Ancient City, Kalpin 齐兰古城 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
Qilan Ancient City is a Qing-dynasty ruin site in the desert about 7 km east of Qilan village in Kalpin County, listed nationally as the Konaqilan ruins. - Sea-Buckthorn Forest Wetland Park, Wushi 沙棘林 4A scenic area · on the map
A wetland park in Wushi County built around a large stand of wild sea-buckthorn, with a boardwalk of about 5 km winding through the thickets beside streams and springs. - Tang Anxi Protectorate Culture Park, Xinhe 唐安西都护府文化园 4A scenic area · on the map
A modern culture park in Xinhe county town named after the Tang dynasty's Anxi Protectorate, rated 4A in 2023. - Tarim River Wetland and Poplar Forest, Shaya 塔里木河湿地 4A scenic area · on the map
A scenic area of wetland and natural desert-poplar (Populus euphratica) forest beside the Tarim River south of Shaya county town. - Tianshan Mysterious Grand Canyon 天山神秘大峡谷 4A scenic area · on the map
A narrow canyon about 5.5 km long cut into red-brown sedimentary rock on the southern flank of the Tian Shan, part of a national geopark; locals call it Kizilya, 'red cliffs'. - Tianshan Sacred Tree Garden 天山神木园 4A scenic area · on the map
A grove of ancient trees in a spring-fed oasis at about 1,700 m in the Tian Shan foothills of Wensu County, covering some 600 mu (40 ha). - Weigan River Eco-Cultural Scenic Area, Shaya 渭干河生态文化旅游景区 4A scenic area · on the map
A park area on the Weigan River in Shaya, rated 4A in 2023, centred on Yanming Lake People's Park and its lakeside wetland. - Yanqi Pastoral Complex, Shaya 雁栖·田园综合体 4A scenic area · on the map
An agri-tourism complex built around a modern agricultural science park in Gulebage town, Shaya County, rated 4A in 2024. - Yanquanshan Park, Wushi 燕泉山 4A scenic area · on the map
Yanquanshan is a landscaped scenic park at the western end of Wushi county town, used mainly by local residents for walks. - Ancient Kucha City Ruins 龟兹故城 National heritage site · on the map
These are the remains of the walled capital of the ancient Kucha kingdom, identified as Yancheng of the Han dynasty and Yiluolu of the Tang, within today's Kuqa city. - Kesiletage Buddhist Temple Ruins 克斯勒塔格佛寺遗址 National heritage site · on the map
The ruins of a Kucha-style Buddhist monastery of the Northern Dynasties to Tang period, built in terraces up a bare hill near Kalpin, with a main hall, monks' rooms and a stupa base. - Kizilgaha Caves 克孜尔尕哈石窟 National heritage site · on the map
Kizilgaha is a group of 54 Buddhist caves, 46 of them numbered, cut into gully cliffs north-west of Kuqa from the 5th century and one of the main cave sites of the ancient Kucha kingdom. - Kumtura Caves 库木吐喇千佛洞 National heritage site
Kumtura is the second-largest cave group of ancient Kucha after Kizil: 112 caves cut between the 5th and 11th centuries along about 3 km of cliffs above the Weigan (Muzat) River. - Kuqa Grand Mosque 库车大寺 National heritage site
Kuqa's main mosque stands on a mound on the north-western side of the old town; tradition dates its founding to the 16th century, and the present prayer hall, gatehouse and court building come from a rebuilding completed in 1932 after a fire. - Liu Pingguo Inscription 刘平国刻石 National heritage site · on the map
An Eastern Han cliff inscription of about 105 characters in clerical script, cut in 158, records how Liu Pingguo, a general of the Kucha kingdom, had men cut the rock and build a pass station at the mouth of the Boziklig gully. - Molana Arshidin Mazar 默拉纳额什丁麻扎 National heritage site · on the map
The shrine complex of Arshidin, the 14th-century Sufi teacher credited with bringing the Moghul khan Tughlugh Timur to Islam, lies between Kuqa's old and new towns. - Simsim Caves 森木塞姆千佛洞 National heritage site
Simsim is the easternmost of the Kucha cave groups: 52 caves spread over about 800 m at the mouth of a gorge in the Qoltag hills, cut from around the 4th century and abandoned by about the 9th. - Subashi Temple Ruins 苏巴什佛寺遗址 National heritage site
Subashi ('head of the water' in Uyghur), recorded in Chinese sources as the Zhaohuli monastery, was the largest Buddhist monastery of the Kucha kingdom in the Wei-Jin period, at the foot of the Qoltag hills north-east of Kuqa. - Tonggusibashi City Ruins 通古斯巴西城址 National heritage site · on the map
The walls of a Tang-dynasty town, about 250 by 230 m and up to 7 m high with bastions and corner towers, stand on the alluvial plain of the Weigan River in southern Xinhe County. - Wushitu'er and Xiahetu'er Ruins 乌什吐尔和夏合吐尔遗址 National heritage site · on the map
Two ruined walled sites face each other across the mouth of the Weigan (Muzat) River just south of the Kumtura Caves, with remains mainly of the Wei-Jin to Tang periods. - Youyi Road Tombs, Kuqa 库车友谊路墓群 National heritage site · on the map
A cemetery of the Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms period (3rd–5th centuries) found in 2007 during building work on Youyi Road in Kuqa, where Han-style brick-chambered tombs matching those of the central plains and the Hexi Corridor in form were found for the first time in Xinjiang.
Altay 14 sites
- Baisha Lake 白沙湖 5A scenic area · on the map
A small freshwater lake ringed by pale sand dunes at the Bingtuan's 185th Regiment in the far north-west of Habahe County, about 2.5 km from the Kazakhstan border. - Koktokay Scenic Area 可可托海 5A scenic area · 4A scenic area · on the map
A 788 km² 5A scenic area around Koktokay in the Altai, centred on the Irtysh Grand Canyon, where the young Irtysh River runs through forest past waterfalls, striking rock formations and the peak known as Divine Bell Mountain. - Agonggaiti Grassland Stone Figures Park 阿贡盖提草原石人 4A scenic area · on the map
A Kazakh culture park on the Agonggaiti grassland beside the road from Burqin to Kanas, built around a group of ancient steppe stone figures and rock carvings left by early nomads. - Altay Birch Park 桦林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A park of wooded river islands at the north-western corner of Altay city, where the Kelan River splits into six islands under birch and poplar. - Fuyun Riverside Scenic Area 富蕴滨河 4A scenic area · on the map
A landscaped riverside promenade along the Irtysh in Fuyun county town, rated 3A in 2016 and 4A in 2019. - Grassland Stone City and Tongtiandong Cave 草原石城 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A 59 km² stretch of the Saur Mountain foothills south-east of Jeminay where weathering has shaped the granite into rounded boulders, stacks, basins, hollows and caves rising out of grassland, with more than 200 kinds of wild flowers in spring and early summer. - Habahe Birch Forest 哈巴河白桦林 4A scenic area · on the map
A belt of natural birch forest along the Habahe River valley just west of Habahe town, rated a national forest park in 2010 and linked to the town by the Akqi national wetland. - Kelan River Riverside Scenic Area 克兰河滨河 4A scenic area · on the map
An 11.6 km riverside scenic belt of about 720 hectares along the Kelan River through Altay city, from the Birch Park bridge in the north to the Red Stone area in the south. - Koktokay Rare Metals National Mine Park 可可托海国家矿山公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A former rare-metal mine in Koktokay town, built around the huge open pit of the Number 3 Vein, a deposit found in 1935 that is known as a natural geological museum for its 84 minerals, including lithium, beryllium, tantalum, niobium and caesium. - Sandaohaizi Stone Mounds and Deer Stones 三道海子 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A high basin of three lakes, Bianhaizi, Zhonghaizi and Huahaizi, at about 2,700 m on the Altai watershed near the Mongolian border, where summer pastures hold a Bronze Age landscape of giant stone mounds, tombs and deer stones. - Sino-Russian Old Wharf Street 中俄老码头风情街 4A scenic area · on the map
A riverside leisure quarter of about 20 hectares on the Irtysh in Burqin town, built around the old wharf of the Sino-Soviet river shipping that once ran on the Irtysh. - Ulungur Lake Golden Coast 乌伦古湖黄金海岸 4A scenic area · on the map
A sandy beach resort on the north-eastern shore of Ulungur Lake, with clear water, a shallow stretch about 100 m wide and water of around 20–22°C in summer. - Wucaitan (Five-Colour Beach) 五彩滩 4A scenic area · on the map
A stretch of the north bank of the Irtysh 24 km from Burqin, where water and wind have carved the ground into multicoloured ridges, gullies and pinnacles, facing the green riverine woods on the far bank. - Chemurchek Stone Figures and Stone-Cist Tombs 切木尔切克石人及石棺墓群 National heritage site
A Bronze Age burial ground of the Chemurchek culture, of about 2700–1800 BC, spread over some 44 km² of steppe around Chemurchek town west of Altay city, with large stone-walled grave enclosures, cairns ringed with stones and stone cists.
Aral 4 sites
- Taklamakan – 359th Brigade Cultural Tourism Area 塔克拉玛干·三五九旅文化旅游区 5A scenic area · on the map
A tourism area in Aral, the Bingtuan city of the 1st Division, centred on the 359th Brigade Reclamation Memorial Hall, which presents the history of the army units that came to Xinjiang around 1950 and turned to farming and land reclamation on the northern edge of the Taklamakan. - Sleeping Poplar Valley 睡胡杨谷 4A scenic area · on the map
A stand of dead desert poplars on the north-western edge of the Taklamakan in the 14th Regiment's land, where trunks covering more than 3,000 mu (about 2 km²) still stand upright or lie in twisted shapes; local sources link the die-off to the Keriya River ceasing to reach the area in the late Ming or early Qing period. - Tarim River Source Scenic Area 塔河源 4A scenic area · on the map
The scenic area at Xiaojiake, west of Aral, where the Aksu, Hotan and Yarkand rivers meet to form the Tarim, China's longest inland river. - Yuergun Military Reclamation Site 玉尔滚军垦旧址 National heritage site · on the map
A group of buildings put up in 1971–73 by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps at Yuergun, kept as a record of the Corps' land-reclamation settlements: a club with an auditorium and open-air cinema, and a clinic.
Bayingolin 17 sites
- Bayanbulak Grassland 巴音布鲁克 5A scenic area
A high grassland basin in the central Tian Shan at about 2,000–2,500 m, home mainly to Mongol herders, where the Kaidu River meanders through marshes and oxbow lakes. - Bosten Lake 博斯腾湖 5A scenic area
Bosten is Xinjiang's largest lake, a freshwater lake of more than 1,000 km² lying at about 1,048 m in the Yanqi Basin on the south side of the Tian Shan. - Baluntai Yellow Temple 巴仑台黄庙 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A Gelug (Tibetan Buddhist) monastery founded in 1888 by the Torghut Mongol khans in a Tian Shan valley at Baluntai, given the name Yong'an Temple by the Guangxu emperor and long the chief religious centre of the Torghut and Khoshut Mongols. - Bayingolin Prefecture Museum 巴州博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
The prefecture museum of Bayingolin in Korla, founded in 1990 and opened in 2008, and rated a national second-grade museum in 2018. - Beishan Forest Park, Hejing 北山森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A forest park on formerly bare gobi hills at the north-western edge of Hejing town, where gravel quarries were moved out from 2013 and more than 50 kinds of trees and shrubs, among them desert poplar, oleaster, sea buckthorn and walnut, were planted on drip irrigation fed from the Huangshui gully. - Golden Sand Beach, Bosten Lake 金沙滩 4A scenic area · on the map
A sand-beach resort on the north-eastern shore of Bosten Lake in Hoxud County, upgraded in 2024–25 with a visitor centre, lakeside promenade, jetty, hotels and guesthouses. - Gongnaisi Forest Park 巩乃斯森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A forest park in the Gongnaisi (Künes) valleys of the Tian Shan in north-western Hejing County, at an average altitude of about 2,000 m, where the main valley runs for some 40 km. - Horashan Silk Road Village 霍拉山丝路古村 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A farming village on the southern slope of the Horashan range west of Yanqi, developed as a rural tourism area and rated 4A in 2018, with a horse-culture hall, a market street built in the style of ancient Yanqi, farm restaurants, guesthouses and a visitor centre. - Kaidu River Scenic Area, Bohu 开都河景区 4A scenic area · on the map
Riverside parkland along the Kaidu River at Bohu town, rated 4A in 2022, with walks, Tianhuwan Square and the 182 m Qinbo Bridge, whose glass-floored deck is lit with coloured lights and music in the evening. - Loplik Village 罗布人村寨 4A scenic area · on the map
A tourist village on the banks of the Tarim River in Yuli County that presents the culture of the Lop people (Lopliks) of the lower Tarim, relaunched in 2025 after a major upgrade. - Miran 米兰古城 4A scenic area · National heritage site
The ruins of a Silk Road oasis town where the Lop desert meets the Altun Mountains, once part of the Shanshan (Loulan) kingdom, with a large rectangular fort built under Tibetan rule in the 8th–9th centuries, Buddhist temple and stupa ruins and traces of an ancient irrigation system. - Shikshin Temple 七个星佛寺遗址 4A scenic area · National heritage site
The largest Buddhist site of the ancient kingdom of Karasahr (Yanqi), founded in the Jin period and abandoned only when Islam reached the area around the 15th century. - Swan River, Korla 天鹅河 4A scenic area · on the map
A landscaped river corridor in Korla's newer districts, near Minsheng Bridge, with riverside walks, summer lotus beds and boat rides. - Tarim Desert Poplar Forest Park 塔里木胡杨林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A forest park of about 100 km² on the middle Tarim River in Luntai County, set in natural desert-poplar (Populus euphratica) forest on the northern edge of the Taklamakan. - Bogedaqin Ancient City 博格达沁古城 National heritage site · on the map
The rammed-earth walls of the largest Han-to-Tang city site in Bayingolin, a rectangular enclosure with barbicans at its gates and traces of an outer moat. - Hongshan Nuclear Test Command Centre Site 红山核武器试爆指挥中心旧址 National heritage site · on the map
The former Hongshan headquarters area of Base 21, the Malan nuclear test base, which from 1966 housed the command centre and research institutes for China's nuclear tests at Lop Nur, and where scientists such as Deng Jiaxian lived and worked. - Manhan Khan's Palace 满汗王府 National heritage site · on the map
The palace of Manchuk Jab (Manhan), khan of the Old Torghut Mongols, built in 1919 in the centre of Hejing to a design by his uncle, the fifth Shengqin lama.
Bortala 9 sites
- Alashankou Border Tourism Area 阿拉山口边境旅游区 4A scenic area · on the map
The border tourism area at Alashankou, the rail and road port on the Kazakhstan border in the Dzungarian Gate, a pass with gales of force 8 or more on more than 180 days a year. - Bortala River Scenic Area, Bole 博尔塔拉河旅游区 4A scenic area · on the map
The scenic area strings together three landscaped river belts in the middle of Bole, the Bohe, Kaiping and Qinghe belts, about 4.8 km long in all and linking the old town in the north with the new town in the south. - Etuokesai'er Tianquan Hot Spring, Wenquan 鄂托克赛尔天泉 4A scenic area · on the map
Etuokesai'er Tianquan ('heavenly spring'), also known as Xiao Wenquan, is a hot spring high in the Etuokesai'er River valley at about 2,650 m, and one of Wenquan County's three noted hot springs. - Mutetaer Desert, Jinghe 木特塔尔沙漠 4A scenic area · on the map
A desert scenic area of sand dunes in Tuotuo town, Jinghe County, which held its first desert culture festival in 2018. - Shengquan Hot Spring, Wenquan 圣泉 4A scenic area · on the map
Shengquan ('holy spring') is Wenquan County's best-known hot spring, used for about a century and the site of a sanatorium from 1954, now a spa complex in the county town with public pools, an outdoor bath, saunas and a hotel. - Wenquan River Valley Forest 温泉河谷林 4A scenic area · on the map
A riverside forest scenic area built in 2019 on the Bortala River just north of Wenquan county town, laid out around a 36 km greenway through marsh, sea-buckthorn scrub and woods of poplar and willow. - Adunqiaolu Site 阿敦乔鲁遗址 National heritage site · on the map
A national heritage site in the upper Bortala valley of Wenquan County, protected for its tombs set in stone enclosures and its groups of rock art, and named among China's top ten new archaeological discoveries. - Arixiate Stone-Figure Tombs 阿日夏特石人墓 National heritage site · on the map
Tombs of the Sui and Tang period on the Arixiate grasslands of Wenquan County, north-west of Harbuhu town and marked by standing carved stone figures, listed as a national heritage site in 2006. - Dalete Ancient City Ruins 达勒特古城遗址 National heritage site · on the map
The ruins of a large walled town, probably the medieval city of Bolad (孛罗) on the Silk Road north of the Tian Shan, occupied from the Kara-Khanid period around the 9th century until it was abandoned in the 14th.
Changji 15 sites
- Jiangbulak Scenic Area 江布拉克 5A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A 48 km² mountain scenic area on the northern slopes of the Tianshan south of Qitai, known for the dry-farmed wheat fields that roll across the hills below forest and snow peaks. - Beiting Ancient City (Beshbalik) 北庭故城遗址 4A scenic area · National heritage site
The earthen ruins of Beiting (Beshbalik), seat of the Tang Beiting Protectorate and later the summer capital of the Uyghur kingdom of Qocho, which was the leading city on the northern side of the Tianshan for some 700 years until its destruction in the 15th century. - Century Park, Hutubi 世纪园 4A scenic area · on the map
A large landscaped public park in Hutubi county town, used by local people for walks and for festivals such as the Lantern Festival light displays. - Dushi Tourism Resort 杜氏旅游 4A scenic area · on the map
A leisure resort north-east of Changji city that grew from a farm guesthouse opened in 1997 into a large complex of orchards, amusement rides, a water park and restaurants. - Huaxing Youyou Valley 华兴悠游谷 4A scenic area · on the map
A leisure park in the Changji National Agricultural Science and Technology Park north of Changji city, combining a winery, a small animal park, flower nurseries and an outdoor activity camp. - Manas National Wetland Park (Yanfeitai) 玛纳斯国家湿地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A national wetland park formed by the Manas and Taxi rivers and the reservoirs and canals between them, piloted from 2011 and formally designated in 2016. - Qianfodong Temple, Jimsar 吉木萨尔千佛洞 4A scenic area · on the map
A Buddhist temple and cave shrine near Jimsar town, rebuilt in the Qing dynasty and restored since 1993, now set in a temple park with halls to Kshitigarbha and Guanyin and a main Buddha hall. - Tingzhou Ecological Green Valley 庭州生态绿谷 4A scenic area · on the map
A riverside park about 13 km long on the Toutun River at the boundary between Changji and Ürümqi, created by a five-year clean-up, completed in 2021, of a valley once scarred by gravel pits and workshops. - Xinjiang Agricultural Expo Park 新疆农业博览园 4A scenic area · on the map
A large agricultural showground and garden at the core of the Changji National Agricultural Science and Technology Park, with exhibition areas, glasshouses of tropical plants and fruit, and fields for picking fruit and vegetables. - Zhonghua Biyu Yuan (Manas Jade Park) 中华碧玉园 4A scenic area · on the map
A large commercial complex in Manas town built in the 2010s around the trade in Manas green jade (biyu), with a jade and stone market, shops, restaurants and a sports centre. - Beacon Towers of Changji 昌吉州境内烽燧群 National heritage site · on the map
A protected group of Tang to Qing beacon towers, Qing post stations and a stretch of Tang road along the northern route of the Silk Road through seven counties and county-level cities of Changji, from Manas in the west to Mori in the east. - Kangjiashimenzi Rock Carvings 康家石门子岩画 National heritage site · on the map
A Bronze Age rock-carving panel under an overhang of a south-facing red cliff in the danxia hills of south-western Hutubi County, with hundreds of carved human and animal figures. - Manas Ancient City Ruins 玛纳斯古城遗址 National heritage site · on the map
The earthen walls of a Tang-dynasty garrison town, locally called Pochengzi, on the plain north-east of Manas town; it is the westernmost Tang city site on the northern foot of the Tianshan and stayed in use until about the Western Liao or Yuan period. - Tangchaodun Ancient City 唐朝墩古城遗址 National heritage site · on the map
The ruins of Pulei, a county town founded under the Tang in 640 and used by the Uyghur kingdom of Qocho, the Western Liao and the Mongols until it was abandoned in the 15th century, now on the north-eastern edge of Qitai town. - Xiaolizhuang Military Reclamation Site 小李庄军垦旧址 National heritage site · on the map
The former headquarters of a Bingtuan farming division, built from 1953 by army land-reclamation units on the east bank of the Manas River as a complex of Soviet-style farm buildings, including offices and a large assembly hall.
Hami 12 sites
- Barkol Lake 巴里坤湖 4A scenic area
Barkol Lake, known in Han times as the Pulei Sea, is a salt lake at about 1,585 m in the western Barkol grassland, ringed by the Barkol and Moqin Ula mountains. - Barkol Old City 巴里坤古城 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
Barkol was a Qing garrison town on the grassland north of the Tian Shan, one of the four great military cities of northern Xinjiang, with a Han city built in 1731 and a Manchu city in 1772. - East Tianshan Scenic Area, Hami 哈密东天山 4A scenic area · on the map
This mountain scenic area north of Hami links four spots in the eastern Tian Shan: Mingsha Shan, a singing sand dune; the alpine meadows of Baishitou, named after a lone white boulder; Songshutang, cool in summer and snowy in winter; and Tianshan Temple, a viewpoint whose temple is said to date back to the Tang. - Gaojiahu Wetland, Barkol 高家湖湿地 4A scenic area · on the map
Gaojiahu is a spring-fed wetland of ponds, marsh and winding streams on the Barkol grassland, listed among China's important wetlands and home to water birds, with the snowy Tian Shan as a backdrop. - Hami Dahaidao Yardang Scenic Area 哈密雅丹大海道 4A scenic area · on the map
South-west of Hami, wind has carved the Gobi into a vast field of yardangs, ridges and mesas of clay and sandstone in shapes given names such as the Starship and the Horse's Head, along the line of the Dahaidao, an ancient short cut between Turpan and Dunhuang. - Hami Kings' Mausoleum 哈密回王墓 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
For more than two centuries Hami was ruled under the Qing by a line of nine local Uyghur princes, and their burial ground in the south of the city mixes Islamic, Chinese and Mongol architecture. - Hami Museum 哈密市博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
The Hami Museum, a national first-grade museum, holds the main collection of the Hami region, with stone tools, bronzes, painted pottery, woodwork, woollen textiles and naturally preserved mummies from prehistory to the Ming and Qing. - Yiwu Desert Poplar Forest 伊吾胡杨林 4A scenic area · on the map
A large forest of desert poplar (Populus euphratica) on the edge of the Naomaohu basin in Yiwu County, run as a national desert park and scenic area since 2004. - Baiyanggou Buddhist Temple Ruins 白杨沟佛寺遗址 National heritage site · on the map
These are the ruins of a large Tang-dynasty Buddhist monastery strung for more than 10 km along both banks of the Baiyang River west of Hami. - Dahe Tang City Ruins, Barkol 大河古城 National heritage site · on the map
Dahe is a Tang-dynasty town site of two adjoining walled enclosures on the flat floor of the Barkol basin. - Huancaigou Stone Inscriptions 焕彩沟石刻 National heritage site · on the map
A lone boulder at the mouth of Huancaigou gorge, beside the old road over the Tian Shan from Hami to Barkol, carries inscriptions from three dynasties. - Lafuqueke Ancient City Ruins 拉甫却克古城遗址 National heritage site · on the map
Lafuqueke is a Tang-dynasty walled town on the east bank of the Baiyang River at Wubao, split into northern and southern halves by flood erosion.
Hotan 15 sites
- Damagou Buddhist Temple Ruins 达玛沟佛寺遗址 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A group of Buddhist temples of the Khotan kingdom found in 2000 in the scrub desert of Toplukdong, Damagou township, now shown in a heritage park. - Hotan Museum 和田博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
The prefecture's main museum, which opened in its present form in May 2020. - Kurban Tulum Memorial Hall 库尔班·吐鲁木纪念馆 4A scenic area · on the map
A memorial hall in the home village of Kurban Tulum, the Uyghur farmer known as 'Uncle Kurban', built in 2003 and enlarged several times since. - Lalikun National Wetland Park 拉里昆国家湿地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
Lakes and reed beds about 20 km north-west of Moyu town, where the oasis farmland meets the desert, designated a national wetland park in 2012. - Longhu Lake, Yutian 龙湖 4A scenic area · on the map
A reed-fringed lake on the edge of the Taklamakan near Xiwule township, reached through a belt of desert poplar woodland west of Yutian town. - Moyu Old Town (Karakax) 墨玉老城 4A scenic area · on the map
The old quarter of Moyu (Karakax) county town, rated a 4A scenic area in 2020. - Tuancheng Old Quarter, Hotan 和田团城 4A scenic area · on the map
A renovated old quarter of Hotan city around Gezi Xiang (Pigeon Lane), where traditional Uyghur courtyard houses with aiwan halls have been kept and the lanes turned into a garden-like district of homes, workshops, cafés and restaurants. - Wuluwati Scenic Area 乌鲁瓦提 4A scenic area · on the map
A large mountain reservoir at the point where the Karakax River leaves the Kunlun Mountains, formed by the Wuluwati dam, which was built between 1993 and 2001 for irrigation, flood control and hydropower. - Xinjiang Kunlun Mountain Scenic Area 新疆昆仑山景区 4A scenic area · on the map
A large mountain scenic area in the central Kunlun above Ulughsay township, south of Qira, covering more than 596 km² of high grassland, valleys and snow peaks; it grew out of the Banlange summer pasture and was rated 4A in 2021 as 'Kunlun Shengjing'. - Yotkan Ancient City 约特干故城 4A scenic area · on the map
A walled tourist town opened in 2022 at Bagqi, about 5 km from the buried site of Yotkan, which scholars regard as the probable capital of the ancient kingdom of Khotan. - Yulongwan Desert Park 玉龙湾沙漠乐园 4A scenic area · on the map
A desert recreation area in Duolu township on the edge of the Taklamakan, where visitors slide down the dunes and try other sand activities, and school groups learn about the shelter belts planted to hold back the sand. - Aitika Mosque, Yutian 于田艾提卡清真寺 National heritage site · on the map
A mosque in Yutian (Keriya) town, also known as the Yutian Grand Mosque, whose origins are traced to the 13th century. - Niya ruins 尼雅遗址 National heritage site
The ruins of Jingjue (Cadota), an oasis kingdom on the southern Silk Road that flourished from the Western Han to the Western Jin, scattered along the dried lower course of the Niya River deep in the Taklamakan. - Rawak Stupa 热瓦克佛寺遗址 National heritage site
The ruins of a Buddhist temple of the ancient Khotan kingdom on the sandy edge of the Taklamakan north-east of Hotan, centred on a large domed stupa on a cross-shaped base inside a walled courtyard. - Xaidulla Outpost Ruins 赛图拉哨卡遗址 National heritage site · on the map
The ruins of a high-altitude garrison post at about 3,800 m, on a river terrace where the Karakax River meets a tributary beside the Xinjiang–Tibet highway.
Ili 40 sites
- Kalajun Grassland 喀拉峻草原 5A scenic area · on the map
A great sweep of alpine meadow on the northern slopes of the Tianshan in Tekes County, ranging from about 1,300 m to nearly 4,000 m and used as summer pasture by herders. - Aktas Girl Peak 阿克塔斯姑娘峰 4A scenic area · on the map
Upland grassland on the Aktas pastures north-west of Tekes, a 'sky grassland' of flower meadows in early summer, with primulas and globeflowers, and forest edges below snow peaks. - Daxigou Fushou Mountain 中华福寿山 4A scenic area · on the map
Hills of wild fruit forest in Daxigou township, Huocheng County, where some 60 kinds of wild fruit tree grow, mainly wild apple, wild cherry plum, apricot and hawthorn; the wild cherry plum here is its only natural population in China. - Dengta Educated Youth Museum 灯塔知青馆 4A scenic area · on the map
A museum opened in 2014 at the former Dengta pasture near Zhaosu, where more than 80 educated youths from Beijing and Shanghai were sent to live and work in the 1970s under the 'up to the mountains and down to the countryside' movement. - Gongliu Wild Walnut Valley 野核桃沟 4A scenic area · on the map
A valley in the hills near Gongliu town that shelters a rare natural stand of wild walnut trees, a relict species from the Tertiary period, within a scenic area of about 12 km². - Guozigou Valley 果子沟 4A scenic area · on the map
A winding gorge about 32 km long through the northern Tianshan, named for the wild fruit forests on its slopes and long the main route from Sayram Lake down into the Ili valley, once a branch of the northern Silk Road. - Huiyuan Ancient City 惠远古城 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
Huiyuan was founded in 1763 as the seat of the Qing General of Ili, the highest military and civil official in Xinjiang, and remained the region's chief city until Xinjiang became a province; after the old city was ruined in the 1860s and 1870s, a new town was built in 1882–93 about 7.5 km to the north. - Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Museum 伊犁州博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
The prefecture's main museum, founded in 1993 and now housed in a large new building on Ruyi Street in western Yining. - Ili Old Town (Kazanqi) 伊犁老城 4A scenic area · on the map
The old quarter of Yining, about 3.5 km² of lanes with more than 300 traditional buildings and many courtyard houses in blue and white, where about 120,000 people still live. - Ili River Scenic Area 伊犁河风景区 4A scenic area · on the map
A riverside park along the Ili River on the southern edge of Yining, popular with locals on summer evenings and for watching the sunset over the water. - Jinxiu Garden, Kuytun 锦绣园 4A scenic area · on the map
A landscaped park in the city of Kuytun, developed around the North Xinjiang Botanical Garden and used by local people for walks and open-air performances. - Khorgos China–Kazakhstan International Cultural Tourism Area 霍尔果斯中哈国际文化旅游区 4A scenic area · on the map
A tourist zone at the Khorgos land port made up of the Chinese part of the China–Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Centre, a cross-border trade zone set up under a 2005 agreement, and the National Gate area with an exhibition hall on the history of the crossing. - Kurdening Scenic Area 库尔德宁 4A scenic area · on the map
A broad valley on the northern side of the Tianshan in Gongliu County, unusual for running north to south and filled with primeval forest of Schrenk's spruce, part of the Xinjiang Tianshan World Natural Heritage site. - Liuxing Street 六星街 4A scenic area · on the map
A residential quarter of Yining laid out from 1935 on a six-pointed street plan, with lanes radiating from a central square through six wedge-shaped blocks of blue, green, orange and purple-painted houses and courtyards. - Nalati National Wetland Park 那拉提国家湿地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
Reed beds, rivers, marshes and lakes in Xiaoerbulake town, Xinyuan County, a national wetland park since 2019 on a migration route for birds. - Nilka Wetland Ancient Poplar Forest 湿地古杨 4A scenic area · on the map
Riverside woodland of old poplars and Tianshan birch along the Kash River just west of Nilka town, part of a belt of poplar forest that follows the river for about 110 km and a national wetland park since 2014. - Princess Jieyou Lavender Garden 解忧公主薰衣草园 4A scenic area · on the map
A lavender park in Qingshuihe town, Huocheng County, set up to show the whole lavender industry, from nurseries and fields to oil distilling and product displays. - Tangbula Grassland 唐布拉草原 4A scenic area · on the map
A chain of grassland, spruce forest and hot springs strung along the upper Kash River valley for more than 50 km in eastern Nilka County, often called the 'hundred-li gallery'. - Tekes Bagua City 特克斯八卦城 4A scenic area · on the map
The county town of Tekes, laid out on a radial plan modelled on the eight trigrams (bagua) of the Book of Changes: from the Taiji altar at the centre, streets run outwards across four ring roads, 64 streets in all over about 8 km². - Tianshan Flower Sea 天山花海 4A scenic area · on the map
An agri-tourism park developed since 2017 on former gravel desert in Kashi town, Yining County, covering about 46 km² of lavender, flower fields and orchards. - Tukai Desert 图开沙漠 4A scenic area · on the map
An area of mostly fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes beside the Ili River south-west of Huocheng town, described locally as the only desert inside an oasis in Xinjiang. - Tuohulasu Grassland 托乎拉苏草原 4A scenic area · on the map
Rolling hill grassland on the southern side of the Keguqin range of the western Tianshan, north of Yining County town, with spruce, streams and summer herds below snow peaks. - Xiaoerbulake Liquor Culture Town 肖尔布拉克酒文化小镇 4A scenic area · on the map
A distillery town in Xinyuan County built around a large baijiu works, where visitors can see the Western Regions Liquor Culture Museum, a liquor street, a sauce-aroma baijiu workshop and a yard of decorated earthenware storage jars. - Xiata Scenic Area 夏塔 4A scenic area · on the map
The mouth of the Xiata valley on the north side of the Tianshan, with spruce forest, meadows and river valleys below the Muzart glacier and snow peaks. - Xibe Ancient City and Jingyuan Temple 锡伯古城与靖远寺 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A modern tourist town in old style in Sunzhaqi Niru, a Xibe village outside Qapqal town, built around Jingyuan Temple, the Tibetan Buddhist (Gelug) temple of the Qing Xibe garrison, whose halls were rebuilt in the late 19th century on a Chinese plan with a Hall of the Heavenly Kings, a main hall and side halls. - Zhaosu Celestial Horse Culture Park 天马旅游文化园 4A scenic area · on the map
An equestrian park at the Zhaosu horse farm, in the heartland of Ili horse breeding, with a national-standard racecourse, grandstands, an indoor equestrian hall and stables. - Zhaosu Jade Lake 昭苏玉湖 4A scenic area · on the map
A glacier-fed lake dammed high in the Aheyazi valley of the Tianshan, whose milky blue-green colour, given by fine rock flour from the glaciers, shifts with the light. - Zhaosu Wetland Park 昭苏湿地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
Wetland and meadow along the upper Tekes River and its tributaries south of Zhaosu town, where some 90 bird species have been recorded, including demoiselle and common cranes, whooper swans and great bustards. - Baitulla Mosque Minaret 拜吐拉清真寺宣礼塔 National heritage site · on the map
The Qing-era minaret of Yining's Baitulla Mosque (now the Jiefang South Road Mosque), completed in 1773 with Qing court funds and built by craftsmen from inner China. - Former Political and Cultural Centre of the Three Districts Revolutionary Government 三区革命政府政治文化活动中心旧址 National heritage site · on the map
A reviewing stand, open-air theatre and stage completed in 1949 as the main gathering place of the Three Districts (Ili, Tacheng and Altay) during the Three Districts Revolution of 1944–49, now in Yining's People's Park. - Gedeng Mountain Stele 格登碑 National heritage site
A stone stele with an inscription composed by the Qianlong Emperor to mark the Qing army's victory over the Dzungar ruler Dawachi at Gedeng Mountain in 1755, set up on the hilltop in the early 1760s. - Guandi Temple of Nadaqi Niru 纳达齐牛录关帝庙 National heritage site · on the map
A temple to the warrior god Guan Yu built in 1907 by the Xibe garrison of the seventh banner company (niru), whose ancestors were moved from Manchuria to guard Ili in 1764; it is the largest and best-preserved Qing Guandi temple left in Qapqal County. - Mausoleum of Sultan Vais Khan 速檀·歪思汗麻扎 National heritage site · on the map
The tomb of Vais Khan, a 15th-century ruler of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (Moghulistan), on the north side of the Abrel hills in Yining County. - Nulasai Ancient Copper Mine 奴拉赛铜矿遗址 National heritage site · on the map
Remains of a copper mine and smelting site in the Nulasai ravine of the Abrel hills south of Nilka, dated by radiocarbon from mine timbers to about 2,400 years ago, around the early Warring States period. - Qing-dynasty Karun Sites of Ili 伊犁清代卡伦遗址 National heritage site · on the map
Sixteen surviving guard posts (karun, from the Manchu and Xibe word for a watch post) of the late Qing defence system around Ili, once manned by Manchu, Han and Xibe troops. - Shaanxi Great Mosque, Yining 伊宁陕西大寺 National heritage site
The largest mosque among the nine Qing-era towns of Ili, founded in the mid-18th century by Hui settlers from Shaanxi and Gansu and brought to its present size by 1781. - Shengyou Temple, Zhaosu 昭苏圣佑庙 National heritage site · on the map
A Tibetan Buddhist (Gelug) temple built in 1884–98 by the Oirat Mongols of Ili with craftsmen brought from Beijing, described as the largest and best-preserved Tibetan Buddhist temple complex in Xinjiang. - Tughlugh Timur Mausoleum 吐虎鲁克·铁木尔汗麻扎 National heritage site
The tomb of Tughlugh Timur, a descendant of Chinggis Khan's son Chagatai and the first Mongol khan in the region to adopt Islam, built between 1363 and 1369 north-east of Huocheng. - Xiaohongnahai Stone Figure 小洪纳海石人墓 National heritage site · on the map
A warrior statue of reddish granite, about 1.8 m tall above ground, standing on a low earthen platform and carved for the tomb enclosure of a ruler of the Western Turkic Khaganate around 600 AD, most likely Nili Khagan. - Xiata Ancient City Ruins 夏塔古城遗址 National heritage site · on the map
Ruins of a walled town of the Tang to Yuan periods in Kuositobie village, Xiate township, on the approach to the Xiata ancient road over the Tianshan.
Karamay 6 sites
- World Ghost City, Urho 世界魔鬼城 5A scenic area · on the map
The World Ghost City, also called the Urho Wind City, is a field of yardangs on the north-western edge of the Junggar Basin, where strong winds have carved layered rock into shapes likened to palaces, towers, people and animals. - Dushanzi Grand Canyon 独山子大峡谷 4A scenic area · on the map
The Dushanzi Grand Canyon is a section of the gorge, about 200 m deep, that the meltwater-fed Kuytun River has cut through the gravel foothills of the Tian Shan south of Dushanzi. - Heiyoushan 黑油山 4A scenic area · on the map
Heiyoushan, 'Black Oil Mountain', is a low mound of natural asphalt just outside the city centre, formed over ages as crude oil seeped to the surface and set with the sand; Karamay, Uyghur for 'black oil', is named after it. - Karamay River 克拉玛依河 4A scenic area · on the map
The Karamay River is a canal-fed waterway, opened in 2000, that brings water from the Irtysh diversion scheme right across the oil city to a reservoir on its south-western edge. - Karamay No. 1 Oil Well 克拉玛依一号井 National heritage site
Karamay No. 1 Well struck oil on 29 October 1955, the discovery that opened the Karamay oilfield and gave rise to the city. - Xinjiang's First Oil Well, Dushanzi 新疆第一口油井 National heritage site · on the map
In 1909 the Qing authorities drilled Xinjiang's first machine-drilled oil well at Dushanzi with a cable-tool rig bought from Russia, starting the region's modern oil industry.
Kashgar 20 sites
- Jinhuyang Desert Poplar Forest Park 金湖杨国家森林公园 5A scenic area · on the map
A forest park of desert poplars on the alluvial fan of the Yarkand River about 35 km south-west of Zepu, covering some 40,000 mu (about 27 km²), much of it natural poplar woodland, with water on three sides and the Kunlun range in the distance. - Tashkurgan Stone City (Pamir Scenic Area) 塔什库尔干石头城 5A scenic area · National heritage site
A 5A scenic area on the edge of Tashkurgan town built around the hilltop Stone City, the ruined walled town that was the seat of the Han-era kingdom of Puli and was greatly enlarged under the later kingdom of Qiepantuo, described by the monk Xuanzang on his way home from India. - Afaq Khoja Mausoleum 阿巴和加麻扎 4A scenic area · National heritage site
The family mausoleum of Afaq Khoja, a 17th-century Sufi leader of Kashgar, begun in 1640 for his father, and popularly called the Tomb of the Fragrant Concubine after the legend of the Qianlong Emperor's Uyghur consort. - Bachu Red Sea Scenic Area 巴楚红海 4A scenic area · on the map
A large leisure area 12 km from Bachu county town that links a folk-culture village, a stretch of the old Silk Road route along the Kashgar River, Golden Poplar Island in the desert-poplar woods, the Red Sea Bay water park and wetlands. - Dawakun Desert Scenic Area 达瓦昆沙漠 4A scenic area · on the map
A desert scenic area on the western edge of the Taklamakan beside the Yarkand River in Yopurga County, where a lake lies among the sand dunes beneath the distant Kunlun range. - Dolan Painters' Village 刀郎画乡 4A scenic area · on the map
A village of Dolan farmer painters in Kumkusar township just south of Markit, twice named a national folk-art village by the Ministry of Culture, whose painters have exhibited their work in China and abroad. - Jiashi Town Poplar Eco-Park 城中胡杨生态园 4A scenic area · on the map
An ecological park on the north-western side of Jiashi county town, opened in 2019 and planned over about 1,050 mu around a stand of desert poplars linked by waterways. - Khunjerab Pass National Gate 红其拉甫国门 4A scenic area
The national gate building at the Khunjerab Pass, where the Karakoram Highway (G314) reaches the border with Pakistan at about 4,700 m, on the only land crossing between the two countries. - Taklamakan N39° Desert Scenic Area 塔克拉玛干N39°沙漠 4A scenic area · on the map
A desert activity area among the Taklamakan dunes in Markit County, used for a stage of the Taklimakan Rally; its name refers to the 39th parallel north. - Why Are the Flowers So Red Scenic Area 花儿为什么这样红景区 4A scenic area · on the map
A long, narrow river valley south-east of Tashkurgan promoted as the home of 'Why Are the Flowers So Red', the song from the 1963 film Visitors on the Icy Mountain that the composer Lei Zhenbang adapted from the Tajik folk song 'Guli Bita'. - Yarkand Old Town 莎车老城 4A scenic area · on the map
The historic quarter of Yarkand (Shache), once the capital of the Yarkand Khanate, rated as a 4A scenic area in 2022. - Yengisar South Lake Resort 英吉沙南湖 4A scenic area · on the map
A lakeside resort along the dam of a reservoir 5.5 km south of Yengisar town, inside a national wetland park. - Zhang Qian Silk Road Cultural Park 张骞丝路文化园 4A scenic area · on the map
A park in Shule county town dedicated to Zhang Qian, the Han dynasty envoy to the Western Regions, centred on the Han-style Zhang Qian Memorial Hall and Shule Museum opened in 2010. - Zonglang Spring 宗郎灵泉 4A scenic area · on the map
A spring oasis at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, where water trickles from cracks in a cliff above the east bank of the Ulukustang River into a round pool about 10 m across, shaded by four ancient willows. - Jame Mosque, Yarkand 莎车加满清真寺 National heritage site · on the map
The oldest and largest mosque in Yarkand, whose founding is dated variously from 1409 to the 17th century, when it was enlarged and named Jame under Abdullah Khan, and which was repaired several times in later centuries. - Jirzankal Cemetery 吉尔赞喀勒墓地 National heritage site · on the map
A cemetery of around 500 BC on terraces above the Tashkurgan River, where low round burial mounds lie beside long stripes of alternating black and white pebbles laid across the gravel ground. - Mor Buddhist Temple Ruins 莫尔寺遗址 National heritage site · on the map
The ruins of the largest known Buddhist monastery around Kashgar, where two mud-brick stupas, one round with a domed top and one stepped and square, still stand on a gravel terrace. - Princess Castle 公主堡 National heritage site · on the map
The ruins of a fortress dated to the Tang dynasty, listed as the Gongzhubao ancient city site, about 70 km by road south of Tashkurgan near the Kalachigu valley. - Tomb of Mahmud al-Kashgari 麻赫穆德·喀什噶里墓 National heritage site · on the map
The tomb of Mahmud al-Kashgari, the 11th-century scholar who compiled the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, a dictionary of the Turkic languages, in Baghdad in the 1070s; local tradition holds that he was born at Opal and returned there to teach. - Yarkand Khanate Royal Tombs 叶尔羌汗国王陵 National heritage site
The burial ground of the khans of the Yarkand Khanate, which ruled from Yarkand in the 16th and 17th centuries, lying behind the Altyn Mosque in the old town.
Kizilsu 3 sites
- Azihan Fig Village 阿孜汗无花果风情小镇 4A scenic area · on the map
A traditional Uyghur village in Songtak town just outside Artux, protected as a traditional village and opened to visitors around its fig orchards and Artux-style houses. - Oytak Glacier Park 克州冰川公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A mountain valley west of Oytak town in Akto County, where glaciers come down from snow peaks to forest, meadows and waterfalls. - Aibifu Aijiemu Mazar, Upper Artux 艾比甫·艾洁木麻扎 National heritage site · on the map
A domed shrine-tomb in Upper Artux, rebuilt between 1889 and 1899 by local merchant brothers on a site venerated since the Karakhanid period; local tradition says it honours a merchant from Persia who cancelled the villagers' debts.
Kokdala 1 site
- Kokdala Lavender Culture Park 可克达拉薰衣草文化产业园 4A scenic area · on the map
A lavender park on the edge of Kokdala, the Bingtuan city of the 4th Division in the Ili valley, with lavender fields, a lavender science museum, a showroom for the park's lavender and fragrance products and a souvenir shop.
Kunyu 2 sites
- Desert Veterans Red Tourism Area (47th Regiment) 沙海老兵红色旅游区 4A scenic area · on the map
A red-tourism area in the 47th Regiment's town, Laobing ('veterans') Town, on the southern edge of the Taklamakan, built around the Memorial Hall of the PLA's March into Hotan. - Tuerdi Aji Manor 吐尔迪·阿吉庄园 National heritage site · on the map
A manor house dating to 1915, known as the manor of Tuerdi Aji, on what is now the Pishan Farm of the Bingtuan's 14th Division.
Shihezi 1 site
- Shihezi Military Reclamation Sites 石河子军垦旧址 National heritage site · on the map
Three early buildings of Shihezi, the city founded in the early 1950s by the army's 22nd Corps: the Soviet-style corps headquarters of 1952, known as the 'first building of the reclamation army' and now the Xinjiang Bingtuan Military Reclamation Museum; the 1952 assembly hall, later the People's Cinema; and the 1951 single-storey office and residence of the commanders Tao Zhiyue and Zhang Zhonghan.
Tacheng 7 sites
- Emin Wild Fruit Forest 野果林 4A scenic area · on the map
A mountain scenic area in the Wuerkaxiaer Mountains about 30 km south-east of Emin, where rock outcrops, woodland and waterfalls fill the valleys and the slopes flower in spring and summer. - Lujiaowan (Antler Bay) 鹿角湾 4A scenic area · on the map
A mountain scenic area of more than 19,000 ha on the north slope of the Tianshan south-west of Shawan, made up of Big and Little Lujiaowan between the Bayingou River on the west and the Danangou valley on the east. - Songhai Bay 松海湾 4A scenic area · on the map
A forested valley on the south slope of the Saier Mountains, also called the Haergatu White Pine Forest Park and known locally as Songshugou ('pine valley'), through which highway G219 climbs at around 1,800 m. - Wusu Foshan National Forest Park 佛山国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A national forest park of 39,000 ha in the Tianshan south of Wusu, made up of the Daifuseng, Bayingou and Wulansadeke areas of mountain forest, grassy slopes and river valleys. - Dorben Oirat Ancient City Ruins 道尔本厄鲁特森木古城遗址 National heritage site · on the map
The earthen ruins of a walled town built in the 1640s by the Dzungar Oirats, whose Mongolian name means 'temple of the Four Oirats', and which served for a time as a political, economic and religious centre of the Dzungars. - Hanaka and Seyitqamal Mosque Minarets 哈纳喀及赛提喀玛勒清真寺宣礼塔 National heritage site · on the map
Two red-brick minarets in Shuangta (Twin Towers) Park in central Tacheng, the surviving parts of the Seyitqamal mosque, founded in 1885 by the Uzbek mullah Seyitqamal, and the Hanaka mosque, built from 1910 by Uzbek Muslims, whose minaret was begun in 1928. - Tacheng Red Building 塔城红楼 National heritage site · on the map
A Russian-style brick trading house in central Tacheng, built from 1910 and completed in 1914 as the business centre of the Jixiangyong firm of a Tatar merchant from Russia, and named for the iron-red paint of its street walls.
Tumxuk 2 sites
- Yong'an Lake 永安湖 4A scenic area · on the map
A lake-and-desert recreation area on Yong'an Lake, part of the wetlands of the lower Yarkand River south of Tumxuk, where open water, reed beds, desert poplars, sand dunes and a bare mountain ridge lie side by side. - Tang Wangcheng (Toqquz Saray) Ruins 唐王城 National heritage site · on the map
Ruins of a walled town on a rocky hill north of Tumxuk, known in Uyghur as Toqquz Saray ('nine stations'), which was the seat of the small kingdom of Weitou under the Han and the Tang garrison town of Jushide on the road between Kucha and Kashgar.
Turpan 16 sites
- Grape Valley 葡萄沟 5A scenic area
Grape Valley is a green gorge cut into the Flaming Mountains on the north-eastern edge of Turpan, watered by the snow-fed Buyluk River and lined with vineyards, orchards and Uyghur villages. - Flaming Mountains 火焰山 4A scenic area
The Flaming Mountains are a long ridge of bare red sandstone across the Turpan basin, so deeply gullied that at certain times of day they look as if they are on fire; in the novel Journey to the West the Monkey King has to borrow a magic palm-leaf fan to put out their flames. - Gaochang Ruins 高昌故城 4A scenic area · National heritage site
Gaochang, also known as Qocho, was the leading city of the Turpan basin for some 1,400 years: capital of the Gaochang kingdom, a Tang county seat and then capital of the Uyghur Qocho kingdom, until war destroyed it in the 14th century. - Huoshanhong Winery 火山红酒庄 4A scenic area · on the map
A modern winery and leisure resort in Turpan's Gaochang District, where visitors ride sightseeing carts round the estate. - Karez Folk Custom Park 坎儿井民俗园 4A scenic area · on the map
A company-run park opened in 2000 on the West Gate karez, an old underground irrigation channel on the western edge of Turpan's old town. - Kumtag Desert Scenic Area, Shanshan 库木塔格沙漠 4A scenic area · on the map
The dunes of the Kumtag Desert, whose Uyghur name means 'sand mountains', run right up to the southern edge of Shanshan town. - Loulan Winery 楼兰酒庄 4A scenic area · on the map
A working winery of the Turpan Loulan Winery company at Shuangshuimo in Shanshan County, rated as a 4A scenic area in 2023. - Turpan Karez Paradise 坎儿井乐园 4A scenic area · National heritage site
Turpan's karez are hand-dug underground channels that carry snowmelt from the Tian Shan across the gravel plain to the oases, and this park, opened in 1992 by the Xinjiang Karez Research Association, is a place to see one from the inside. - Turpan Museum 吐鲁番博物馆 4A scenic area
Turpan Museum is one of China's national first-grade museums and holds finds from the oasis's ancient cities and cemeteries. - Tuyoq Valley 吐峪沟 4A scenic area · National heritage site
Tuyoq is an oasis village of mud-brick Uyghur houses in a gorge through the Flaming Mountains, with Buddhist cave temples cut into the valley walls above it. - Astana Cemetery 阿斯塔那古墓群 National heritage site
Astana was the main burial ground of the people of Gaochang from about the 4th to the 8th century, laid out in family plots on the gravel plain a few kilometres from the old city. - Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves 柏孜克里克千佛洞 National heritage site
Cut into a cliff above the Mutou Valley in the Flaming Mountains, Bezeklik was a Buddhist cave monastery used from about the 5th to the 14th century and served as a royal temple of the Uyghur Qocho kingdom; 83 caves survive, more than 40 with murals. - Boxiha Caves 伯西哈石窟 National heritage site · on the map
A small Buddhist cave temple of the Uyghur Qocho kingdom in the Mutou Valley area near Bezeklik, with ten caves and stupa remains on the ground above. - Emin Minaret 苏公塔 National heritage site
The Emin Minaret is a tapering tower of sun-dried brick built around 1777 in honour of Emin Khoja, a Turpan ruler who sided with the Qing; it is also called the Sugong Tower in Chinese. - Liuzhong Ancient City Ruins 柳中古城遗址 National heritage site · on the map
Liuzhong, today's Lukqun, was a garrison town from the Eastern Han dynasty, when Ban Yong based his Western Regions headquarters here in AD 123, and later a Tang county seat. - Taizang Pagoda Ruins 台藏塔遗址 National heritage site
Taizang Pagoda is the ruin of a large Buddhist temple-stupa from the Tang and Uyghur Qocho periods, a square mud-brick and rammed-earth mass that still rises in stepped tiers lined with niches, some with traces of paint.
Ürümqi 16 sites
- Tianshan Grand Canyon 天山大峡谷 5A scenic area · on the map
A mountain scenic area and national forest park covering about 1,038 km² of the Tian Shan's northern slopes in Ürümqi County, at an average altitude above 2,000 m. - Amalong Fantasy Park 阿唛龙幻想乐园 4A scenic area · on the map
An amusement park in the Ürümqi Economic and Technological Development Zone, on the western side of the city. - Baishuijian Ancient Town 白水涧古镇 4A scenic area · on the map
A tourist town built in old style beside the Baiyang River gorge at Dabancheng, reopened in 2014 after older buildings on the site were refitted, with a mock-Tang city gate where a staged welcome dance is performed, a folk-custom street, craft workshops, inns and a wetland park. - Hongguangshan Scenic Area 红光山 4A scenic area · on the map
A hill on the northern edge of central Ürümqi, between the Xinjiang International Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Olympic Sports Centre, crowned by the Hongguangshan Grand Buddha Temple, a Chinese Buddhist temple complex that opened to the public in 2021. - Hongshan Park 红山公园 4A scenic area
A hill park in central Ürümqi around Hong Shan, the 'Red Mountain' of Permian red sandstone that serves as the city's emblem, laid out in 1985 after decades of tree-planting. - Shuimogou Park 水磨沟公园 4A scenic area
The core park, about 4 km², of the Shuimogou scenic area in north-eastern Ürümqi, where the Shuimo River runs between hills replanted with trees since the late 1970s. - Silk Road Mountain Resort 丝绸之路山地度假区 4A scenic area · on the map
A ski and mountain resort on the northern slopes of the Tian Shan in Shuixigou town, Ürümqi County, also known as the Silk Road International Ski Resort. - Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar 新疆国际大巴扎 4A scenic area · on the map
A large market and tourist complex in the Erdaoqiao area of Ürümqi, opened in 2003 and extended with a pedestrian street from 2018, built in a mix of Islamic, Uyghur and Chinese styles. - Xinjiang Tianshan Wildlife Park 新疆天山野生动物园 4A scenic area · on the map
A large wildlife park in Dabancheng District, south-east of Ürümqi, where a range of animals are kept in large enclosures. - Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum 新疆维吾尔自治区博物馆 4A scenic area
Xinjiang's regional museum and a national first-grade museum, founded in 1959, in a building opened in 2005 and enlarged in 2022, with a catalogued collection of more than 24,000 objects. - Eighth Route Army Xinjiang Office 八路军驻新疆办事处旧址 National heritage site
The former Eighth Route Army office in Xinjiang, which worked from 1937 to 1942, when the Communist Party kept representatives such as Chen Yun, Deng Fa and Chen Tanqiu in Dihua (Ürümqi) under the provincial ruler Sheng Shicai; Zhou Enlai and Wang Jiaxiang were among those who stayed there. - Mao Zemin's Former Residence 毛泽民故居 National heritage site · on the map
The small office and home of Mao Zemin, Mao Zedong's younger brother, who lived here while serving as acting head of the Xinjiang provincial finance department in 1940–41. - Shaanxi Grand Mosque 陕西大寺 National heritage site
Ürümqi's largest Hui mosque, founded in 1883 by Muslims from the Wei River valley of Shaanxi, rebuilt between 1902 and 1906 and long counted first among the city's historic Hui congregations. - Ürümqi Confucius Temple 乌鲁木齐文庙 National heritage site
The Ürümqi Confucius Temple, on Qianjin Road in central Ürümqi, is described as Xinjiang's only surviving Confucian temple and its only intact temple complex in late-Qing style. - Wulabo Ancient City 乌拉泊古城 National heritage site · on the map
The oldest and best-preserved walled town in the Ürümqi area, a rammed-earth enclosure of about 25 hectares whose walls, 2–7 m high, keep bastions, barbicans at the gates and three inner compounds; scholars variously identify it with the Tang town of Luntai or earlier Han-era settlements. - Xinjiang People's Theatre 新疆人民剧场 National heritage site · on the map
A landmark theatre at Nanmen in central Ürümqi, completed in 1956 and opened in January 1957 as the new autonomous region's main venue for political meetings and performances.