I can't tell you much about Urumqi as my stay there was brief. No sooner had I arrived in Urumqi and I was whisked away to Turpan/Tulufan and went in search of Aiding Lake. This is meant to be the second lowest depression in the world and the highest recorded temperature in China of 49,6 degrees is said to be recorded here. While we drove around the desert looking for this lake (I think it has dried up as we were only able to find salt pans) the thermometer in our SUV edged up to, and eventually past 49 degrees and my altimeter edged down to -159 meters. I think both might need to be recalibrating.
Failing to find this lake, we eventually resorted to swimming in the only water we could find - a storm water drain!
After asking our driver to abandon us in the middle of nowhere, I spent my first night sleeping under the stars, sheltered by grape vines. Its was an unforgettable experience.
On my second day in Turpan we finally gave in to seeing a few of the tourist sites before taking the old road back to Urumqi and swimming in whatever water we could find.
Turpan is the birthplace of Islam in China which I believe arrived in the 10th century AD. Prior to this is was Buddhist and the remains of Buddhas are still evident in the mud walls of the temples in....
Fubar is a place in Urumqi worth mentioning. It serves delightful Chicken burgers and has wifi. The proprietors are very friendly and happily acted as translator for our driver over the course of our two days gallivant around Urumqi and Turpan. Given how insane some of our requests must have seemed, we needed constant clarification from Simon.
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