Xinjiang - Don't go and you'll never know...

Some people say, "if you don't go to Xinjiang, you can’t know how big China is; if you don't go to Xinjiang, you can’t know how beautiful China is."

Located in the center of the Eurasian continent, Xinjiang is located farther away from the sea than any other territory in the world. Its unique geographical situation has lead to the formation of an extraordinary environment. It occupies one-sixth of all Chinese soil and covers an area 101 times the size of Beijing.

- So, what can we find over this way?

The open road:

They say that the most beautiful sights are always found while on the road.Dot your way along stunning wild highways to appreciate the great scenery in this world.

Dushanzi-Kuqa highway -- Road of Heroes (561 km)

Departing from Dushanzi to Kuqa, we traverse the soaring mountains and sunken valleys. The highway runs through the Tianshan mountain, which is a real “way to the paradise”.

- Tianshan mountain, one of the seven great mountain range systems of the world, is located in the heartland of the Eurasian continent, with a total length of about 2500 kilometers.

Tarim desert highway -- China's first desert highway (522 km)

Known as the "The Green Great Wall" of the desert, the Tarim desert highway crosses what is known as the "sea of death" - the Taklimakan Desert. The road opens up this ominous sand dune sea, turning the desert into an oasis. It is a road of hope; a road to happiness, and a lifeline for developing the rich oil and gas resources hidden the Taklimakan desert inner hinterlands.

Yizhao highway – the Life and Death mountain crossing (180 km)

Beautiful snowy mountains on blue sky, white clouds, vast open prairies, with cattle, sheep and wild galloping horses, all over the mountains, and all along the journey.

Karakoram highway – a road paved with life (1224 km)

At the "roof of the world", between the frozen Himalayas and the Karakoram Mountains, a there’s a line that runs, stretching across the Pamir plateau and thousands of miles. Last century, in building the Karakoram Highway, close to 700 people laid down their lives.

Travelling on the highways of Xinjiang is like moving on a river through time and space . The roadside scenery as it flows past you is enough to watch for a lifetime. Every second, every pass, something completely new appears to captivate you, and you never expect what comes next.

- Primal Color

Xinjiang is blue. It is the clearest spring waters and the deepest azure skies.

Xinjiang is yellow. It is the forever distant mountains over the lonely sunset sands of the desert.

Xinjiang is green. It is the grass on the eternal prairie of life and hope.

Xinjiang is white. It is the pure gleam of virgin white ice and snow.

- Seas of flowers

Primrose: The Actaz grassland on Wusun mountain is a place imbued with a kind of unbound, ethereal beauty. In May, when the flower sea-blooms it’s like something from a dream.

Flowering: May to June

Tianshan Red Flower: Every May, on the hillsides and fields around Yili, Xinjiang, an expanse of Tianshan red flowers opens up, vying with each other to show their beauty. The sea of scarlet petal, like a hospitable local, welcomes every all friends from afar.

Flowering: From mid-May to early June

Huocheng Lavender: In Huocheng lavender flowers drift low on the plains like a purple fog. Spotted patches knit together, merging into a blue-violet river over the grass.

Flowering: mid to late June

Zhaosu Rape flower: Throughout July, the season of the rape flower, scenery abounds on Zhaosu plateau. Thick swathes of golden yellow Brassica Campestrus and sunflowers run across a background of vast green, like a huge oil painting brushed onto the canvas of the sky.

Flowering: late June to mid-July

Altay Sunflowers: Come in July and you will see a foreground of big yellow sunflowers before a towering horizon of distant mountains under a blue, cotton-cloud sky. The gorgeous view and sweet flower-scented highland air keeps pulling passers-by back in as they try to walk away.

Flowering: mid-july to mid-august

- Magic Valleys

Kuqa Grand Canyon: The mysterious Tianshan mountain range grand canyon features reddish-brown peaks shooting into the sky, like mountains of flame frozen by the gods into solid rock. In the valleys, walking along the corridors of rusted rock, you feel like you’re entering the quiet lair of some giant monster of the earth.

Anjihai Grand Canyon: People say that "God didn't take Van Gogh, but instead left him in the Anjihai Grand Canyon." This place feels less like the real world and more like an ancient scroll of abstract modernist art. Stand cliffs edge before this artwork and look on in wonder.

Dushanzi Grand Canyon: seeing the Dushanzi grand canyon is like seeing the historical grounds of a battle between a mighty river and the earth. Erosion has sculpted the vertical cliff face into towering crowds of erect statues.

Wensu Grand Canyon: people have been inclined to refer to the Wensu Grand Canyon as the "living museum of geological evolution" in Xinjiang. There is so much to see - rock strata clearly distributed, folds on the earth caused by immense compressive forces, tall peaks stooped in various curious postures, jagged, strange and drenched in color.

Nurga Canyon: if it hadn't been discovered by accident, the Nurga canyon would still be hidden away, undiscovered and unexplored in the deep North of Xinjiang. The huge peaks and mountains we see today have formed through thousands of years of wind erosion.

- The Most Unmissable

Selim Lake – don’t miss it. Selim lake is like a pool of bright liquid sapphire, skirted by mountains and lit by the sky.

White Haba, you can't miss it. In the evening light of the setting sun and early morning mist, kitchen smoke curls into the air as the cattle and sheep graze on the mountain slope. The village paints you into a landscape scene of harmony between man and nature, putting you at peace.

Kanas, the definition of unmissable. A wide and deep lake set in the bosom of the mountains. Following the natural curve of the mountain ridges, the long surface of the lake bends into a giant crescent. The mountains, lake and grassland – each beautiful in their own right – combine into a captivating drawing.

Wucai beach, whatever you do, don’t miss it. When the wind blows, the colorful rocks make strange sounds, making it even more mysterious.

Flaming mountain, just don’t miss it, okay! Flaming Mountain is the hottest place in China, with maximum air temperatures reaching 47.8 degrees Celsius in summer, and with surface temperatures of up to 89 degrees Celsius. Eggs can be baked in the sand. Hot air visibly churns and billows upwards, just like blazing flames licking into the sky.

Devil city, you can't miss it. Devil city is a typical Yardang landform. Incredible huge stone pillars of various shapes stand side by side on the Gobi. Winds resonate through the columns of stone resonating to produce a devilish moan unlike any sound wind should be able to make. From the terror in the hearts of those who discovered them, this was named the ‘Devil city’