From the Grand Bazaar to Erdaoqiao, big-plate chicken and oven-baked samsa bring warmth to this Silk Road city.
Published event guides and travel information for Urumqi.
No published event guides or travel information are available for this city yet.
Places and neighborhoods worth exploring in Urumqi.
Red-brown rock and a Qing-era hilltop pagoda create one of Urumqi's best-known silhouettes.
A vast Silk Road-style market complex, described as the world's largest bazaar and one of Urumqi's most recognizable landmarks.
A major comprehensive museum of northwestern China, known for the Loulan Beauty mummy and artifacts from the Niya site.
A mountain lake below Bogda Peak, associated with the Queen Mother of the West's mythical pool, where snow, spruce forest and blue water meet.
A remarkably preserved earthen city, celebrated for its scale and antiquity and described as a witness to 2300 years of Silk Road history.
The fiery landscape associated with Journey to the West's eight-hundred-li obstacle, where red sandstone ground temperatures can exceed 70°C in summer.
Urumqi's signature street-food highlights.
Associated with roadside Shawan restaurants in the 1980s, this truck-driver favorite cooks chicken with potatoes, green and red peppers, long chilies and cumin. Halfway through, broad noodles join the remaining spicy chicken sauce.
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Lamb from the northern Tianshan foothills alternates lean and fat on tamarisk branches or metal skewers, sizzling over charcoal before a final dusting of cumin and chili.
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Rooted in Silk Road food traditions, lamb leg, yellow carrots, onions and rice cook together in a large iron pot, with lamb fat flavoring every grain. The traditional three-finger eating method takes practice.
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A Xinjiang staple with more than two thousand years of history, naan is made from flour, salt, yeast and water and baked against the wall of an earthen oven. Fresh loaves are crisp outside, soft within and fragrant with wheat.
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A signature Uyghur snack: diced lamb, onion and cumin fill thin wrappers that bake on a naan-oven wall. Golden pastry surrounds a juicy, savory center.
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A traditional Xinjiang Hui dish of cooked chicken pulled into strips and dressed with Sichuan-pepper oil, chili oil, garlic and chicken stock. Its appeal combines numbing spice, heat and savory freshness.
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How to enjoy Urumqi's street-food highlights.
Community experiences in Urumqi
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