Xinjiang Province and Dunhuang

[teokf]

My wife and I made our first trip to China, in Xinjiang. We went there to see part of the Old Silk Road before it disappear as the speed of development that China is making is changing the landscape of that area that is one-sixth the size of China. I went there with the purpose to photograph the Uighur people. Although the landscape was not my main focus, it became when we traveled the Karakoram Highway. Those scenery were spectacular and breathtaking. Below are a few of the landscapes from the highway and other cities we visited. The following link are the Street portraits of mostly Uighur people http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1693831
For those who are bananas, like my wife and I, who do not read, write, or speak Mandarin I did a brief review of our trip in my Facebook page. The link is https://www.facebook.com/notes/steven-teo/my-first-trip-to-china-in-xinjiang/10155752832523466/

1. Along the Karakoram Highway


2. Along the Karakoram Highway


3. Along the Karakoram Highway


4. Crescent Lake, Dunhuang


5. Heavenly Lake, Urumqi

 

[teokf]

Just a few more

6. Along the Karakoram highway, Yaks grazing on grassland


7. Along the Karakoram highway, Bulungkol Lake. The background are white coloured sand dunes


8. Along the Karakoram highway, Karakul Lake.


9. Grassland in Tashkorgan


10. My bucket list, Sand dunes in Dunhuang

 

[engr]

OMG these are gorgeous!!! How did you get there? By road from Ulrumuqi?

 

[teokf]

OMG these are gorgeous!!! How did you get there? By road from Ulrumuqi?

We landed in Urumqi and after that it was by train to the other cities, except for Tashkorgan which was by private vehicle.

 

[heheapa]

Nice trips and photos. Do you need special pass or engage tour guide to enter Xin Jiang as foreigner?

 

[teokf]

Nice trips and photos. Do you need special pass or engage tour guide to enter Xin Jiang as foreigner?

No, you do not need a special pass. But, from our own experience, our guide applied a special permit for us when we traveled over land from Kashgar to Taskorgan. The local Chinese does not need this permit. And at each security check, we carried the pass, but surprisingly, we were not asked for it. Maybe we being Chinese confused them. Secondly, we did not engage a guide. We did all the arrangements ourselves, only for our trip to Taskorgan we paid a guide to arrange our vehicle + driver. We saved half the cost.

*Note.
I believe that you understand the security issues surrounding that region so being a Chinese has it's plus and minuses. Being foreigners we had to use different lanes (there were three security checks on the way to Taskorgan, everyone had to walk through these checks). Then being Chinese we got shouted at because we were deemed to be in the wrong lane. Those soldiers shouting at us were holding loaded automatics. So, we made sure our passports were held up and visible during those times. But the journey was worth the trouble.