Series of articles
Planning: Self-driving tour in Xinjiang: 9 days and 8 nights, 2600 kilometers, beautiful scenery, delicious food, warm people, and lots of money
Hotels丨Self-driving tour in Xinjiang: 9 days and 8 nights, 2600 kilometers, beautiful scenery/delicious food/friendly people, and a lot of money
Scenic Spots丨Self-driving tour in Xinjiang: 9 days and 8 nights, 2600 kilometers, beautiful scenery/delicious food/friendly people, and a lot of money
Self-driving food article丨Self-driving tour in Xinjiang: 9 days and 8 nights, 2600 kilometers, beautiful scenery/delicious food/friendly people, and a lot of money
I personally don’t like traveling during peak seasons, but by chance, from August 14th to 22nd, my family and I took a spontaneous self-driving tour to Xinjiang.
Since it was a hasty trip during the peak tourist season in Xinjiang, the various expenses were not "economical". But compared with various online group tours, this is a true self-driving sharing, and I hope it can be helpful to friends who are planning to go to Xinjiang.
This hastily arranged self-driving trip to northern Xinjiang for two adults and one child lasted nine days and eight nights, covering 2,567 kilometers and costing a total of 14,648 yuan. During the nine days, with Kanas and Sailimu Lake as the core scenic spots, we successively experienced the natural scenery and customs and food of Urumqi, Burqin, Jiadengyu, Kanas, Hemu Village, Kuitun, Bole, Shihezi and other regions.
I will share my experience of the past 10 days from several aspects, including planning, hotels, scenic spots, self-driving routes and food, hoping it will be helpful to friends who want to go to Xinjiang in the future.
1. Time: Two weeks is appropriate
If you don’t know much about Xinjiang like I do, you must look at the map to get an idea of how big Xinjiang is.
Xinjiang has a land area of 1.66 million square kilometers, which is equivalent to 1/6 of the country. This means that traveling across cities here may not be much different from traveling across provinces in China. For example, on the first day, I drove from Urumqi to Burqin, which is about 533 kilometers; and the farthest I usually drive is from Beijing to Qingdao, which is only 680 kilometers.
In Urumqi, the online taxi driver reminded me not to trust the locals when they say "it's not far away". When they say "not far away", it is very likely that it is only 100 or 200 kilometers...
Therefore, if you want to go to Xinjiang, two weeks is more appropriate. You can visit Kanas and Sailimu Lake. Due to lack of time, I cut off Keketuohai, Nalati Grassland and Duku Highway.
Of course, I didn't have any regrets, because Keketuohai and Nalati Grassland are not must-sees, and in the second half of the self-driving trip, the Duku Highway also made me feel incapable of doing it. I will talk about these in detail in the scenic area section.
2. Cost: about 20,000
In Xinjiang's peak tourist season, this is a very conservative figure. For nine days and eight nights, we actually spent 14,649 yuan. We saved on car rental and part of the airfare through various discounts, otherwise it would have cost more than 20,000 yuan.
Regarding airfare: In Beijing, a family of three can only pay for two people, and use miles to redeem part of the airfare. If you calculate the full price for three people to go back and forth, it will cost at least 3,000 yuan more. When I was struggling to decide whether to go, the airfare increased from 800 yuan to 1,300 yuan in just one night, which was quite helpless.
Car rental costs: This part is not included. If you need to rent a car, the Tank 300, which is common in Xinjiang, is about 300 yuan/day, plus a service fee of about 400 yuan, which will cost at least 3,000 yuan more.
The rest are normal expenses, just learn about them.
3. Route planning: Kanas/Sailimu Lake must go
[Borrowed picture, source network]
If we follow the saying "see the scenery in the northern Xinjiang and see the culture in the southern Xinjiang", I personally recommend that friends who are not from the northwest region choose the northern Xinjiang route, that is, the Altay region (Kanas Loop) or the Yili Loop.
The most famous attractions around Urumqi are Tianshan Tianchi and Turpan. If you are short on time and are considering visiting Kanas or Sailimu Lake, you can consider "coming back another day" for these two places.
In the Altay region, Kanas Scenic Area is a must-visit, and other places such as Baihaba Village (the first outpost in the northwest), Hemu Village, and Keketuohai are optional. As for Wucai Beach, the scenery is average, but it is on the way, so you can take it to watch the sunset when you rest in Burqin.
On the Yili loop: Sayram Lake is a must. Duku Highway can be arranged according to time and energy. I personally want to go there, but after driving to Kuitun, I was half exhausted, time was tight, the weather was bad, and the Nalati Grassland in mid-to-late August also turned from green to yellow, so I gave up. Other attractions are up to you, because I haven't been there, but the reviews are average.
More content
Planning: Self-driving tour in Xinjiang: 9 days and 8 nights, 2600 kilometers, beautiful scenery, delicious food, warm people, and lots of money
Hotels丨Self-driving tour in Xinjiang: 9 days and 8 nights, 2600 kilometers, beautiful scenery/delicious food/friendly people, and a lot of money
Scenic Spots丨Self-driving tour in Xinjiang: 9 days and 8 nights, 2600 kilometers, beautiful scenery/delicious food/friendly people, and a lot of money
Self-driving food article丨Self-driving tour in Xinjiang: 9 days and 8 nights, 2600 kilometers, beautiful scenery/delicious food/friendly people, and a lot of money
