Ürümqi 乌鲁木齐Wūlǔmùqí

About Ürümqi

Ürümqi, from a Mongolian name meaning 'beautiful pasture', is Xinjiang's capital and lies some 2,500 km from the nearest sea, which Guinness World Records counts as the farthest of any large city. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum traces the region's peoples and Silk Road kingdoms, and the International Grand Bazaar gathers market halls and food stalls under a Silk Road tower. South of the city, the spruce forests and meadows of the Tianshan Grand Canyon climb the northern slopes of the Tian Shan.

What to eat in Ürümqi

• Xinjiang fried rice noodles (新疆炒米粉)

Listed sites in Ürümqi

16 sites in Ürümqi are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.

• 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.

Getting to Ürümqi

Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.

• Turpan 吐鲁番 high-speed train 51 min, 29 a day, from ¥49
• Burqin 布尔津 a nonstop route is listed
• Dunhuang 敦煌 train 9 h 21 min with a change at Jiayuguan; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 25 min in the air
• Jiayuguan 嘉峪关 high-speed train 6 h 6 min, 20 a day, from ¥336; one nonstop flight a day, 2 h 5 min in the air
• Kashgar 喀什 train 11 h 30 min, 9 a day, from ¥305; 15 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 10 min in the air
• Zhangye 张掖 a nonstop route is listed

Where you can get to from Ürümqi in a day · All routes

Trips with Ürümqi

• The Silk Road by train: Xi’an to Dunhuang, Turpan and Ürümqi 11 days · Xi'an, Zhangye, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, Turpan and Ürümqi
• Xinjiang: Ürümqi, Turpan, Kashgar, Karakul Lake and Kanas 11 days · Ürümqi, Turpan, Kashgar and Burqin

On the map

Open Ürümqi on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)