Urumqi Overview

Urumqi is the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In ancient times it was the only city on the northern route of the Old Silk Road to act as a center for tax collecting, administration and material supply. Urumqi has numerous natural and man-made sights, and is the place to experience modern Xinjiang. 

The Xinjiang International Bazaar in Urumqi covers an area of 100,000 square meters, and is said to be the largest in the world. It combines shopping and entertainment, and there is also a mosque nearby. Urumqi´s folklore street offers the chance to observe the folklore and sample food and beverages from various localities. The bars in Urumqi are also well worth a visit, particularly the Red Tomato Bar, which is haunt of the local Xinjiang Uygur youth.

The whole city of Urumchi is in zonal distribution along the river, and the city is divided into 4 districts, including new downtown in Northwest, Shuimogou district in Northeast, Shayibake district in Southwest, Tianshan district in Southeast. Because of the difference of longitude, the time in Urumchi differs from the time in Beijing, it’s postpones 2 hours, therefore, if you use time of Beijing in Urumchi, people start to work at 10am, and eat lunch around 2pm, and have dinner around 8pm. There are some different ethnic minorities in Urumchi, but it has more than 70% of Han people living there, and most of the ethnic minorities can speak some mandarin.

Urumqi is a must for any Xinjiang tour, not least because it has the largest international airport in northwest China operating eight international air routes, and is the hub of the Eurasian Continental Bridge.