Route: Two Day Tour of Urumqi - Heavenly Mountain Safari Park - Vineyard - Urumqi -Grand Shaanxi Mosque -Tartar Mosque - Xinjiang Min Jie Folk Custom Museum - Xinjiang International Bazaar

Grapery in Urumqi

On the first day, you will visit the Heavenly Mountain Safari Park and Vineyard . Take  Bus 528A from the gate of the former South Park on South Xinhua Road until  reach the Heavenly Mountain Safari Park. Situated 25 kilometers away from Urumqi to the east, it covers 75 square Kilometers and feeds 1147 animals of 69 kinds species. Many national-level rare species live happily here. To create a better living environment as well as to cater to the tourists and animal-lovers, theme buildings with popular facilities are available everywhere in the park. The entrance fee is 30.00 RMB per person and the tour bus in the park is 30.00 RMB per person. After the visit, return to the downtown area and have lunch. Take a taxi to the Vineyard (Address: No. 221, Yingbin Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang) to the north of the city. So called for over 30 years, the Vineyard has been renamed as the North Area of the Xinjiang Arboretum in 2006. For people who have to skip the Grape Valley in Turpan because of time limitations, the Grapery in Urumqi can be a perfect substitute. If you come in August, the 24 kinds of sweet grapes covering 0.27 square kilometers will please everyone from here and abroad. Stay overnight. For your reference: Haide Hotel (Address: No.1, Dingfeng Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang; Telephone: 86-991-2322828); Yindu Hotel (Address: No. 36, Xibei Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang; Telephone: 86-991-4536688).

Grand Shaanxi Mosque, Urumqi

On the second day, you will spend almost the whole day in the Uygur Residents Concentrated Zone. The first spot is the largest Mosque in Urumqi- the Grand Shaanxi Mosque (Address: Yonghe Lane, South Peace Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang; Telephone: 86-991-2810028). Due to the location, it is also called the Grand East Mosque. Different from other mosques in Xinjiang, the main construction style is the Zhongyuan Han style prevailing in the Han and Qing Dynasty in mainland China. Surrounding the Mosque, houses almost  all belong to  Muslims. So it's the place second to none to feel the local life of the Islamic people. The second spot is the nearby Tartar Mosque (Address: South Section of the Jiefanf Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang). This famous mosque got its name because people of the Tartar ethnic minority donated the money for its construction in 1897. Usually, female tourists are not allowed to enter Mosques, but this is an open one. With pre-notice to the Mosque, female visitors are allowed to enter. Walk to Shanxi Lane where the Xinjiang Min Jie Folk Custom Museum (Address: Shanxi Lane, Longquan Street, Urumqi, Xiniang; Telephone: 86-991-2828686) is located. Covering 24000 square meters, the four connecting buildings of 5 floors in each building are in typical Islamic construction style. The building will show visitors a Xinjiang Province from the four parts: Snacks Mall, Exotic Mall, Eurasian Merchandise Mall and Jewelry Mall.

Xinjiang International Bazaar

Urumqi has another name as the delicacies center of the western region. Here you can taste various Muslim cuisines and mouthwatering traditional ethnic food of Xinjiang. You may either have lunch at the Snacks Mall or outside the Museum. You can not miss the popular foods like roast Uygur cake, thin-skin teamed tuffed un, roast heep, kebab, rice and flour-filled sheep intestine and lung and Xinjiang rice. Walking southward for 10 minutes, you will get to the Erdaoqiao Marketplace. The famous Xinjiang International Bazaar is across the road. In the Bazaar building and the Erdaoqiao Market Building, stores and booths sells all kinds of ethnic minority goods and handicrafts from China and Middle-Asian countries including Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Mongolia. Every day, thousands of tourists and shoppers gathered here for the ethnic products attractions. You will find it intriguing to listen to and watch  people from all walks of life bargaining here in  local dialects, Mandarin, English, Russian and the languages of the neighboring countries. Xinjiang specialties like Hotan Jade, carpets, silk, dried fruits, Yengisar daggers, essential oils, Uygur embroidered hats, musical instruments are all marvelous souvenirs or gifts for  families or friends. In the evening, if you are not too tired, enjoy either of the breath-taking shows. For your information: The circus performance and the world famous ropedancer at the Adili Circus Flied (21:30-23:30 every day) and buffet dinner with Ethnic Song and Dance show at Bazaar Grand Banqueting Hall (Address: No. 8, South Jiefang Road, Uruqmi, Xinjiang).