FROM BLOOMING FLOWERS TO MELTING SNOW
The first time I saw pictures of the almond hills of Ili, I promised myself to come here, to the “ten miles of almond blossoms”, to the place of arid deserts with endless magical beauty.
THE FIRST TIME I SAW PICTURES OF THE ALMOND HILLS OF ILI, I PROMISED MYSELF TO COME HERE, TO THE ³TEN MILES OF ALMOND BLOSSOMS´, TO THE LAND OF FAMOUS CHINESE BEAUTIES LIKE IPARHAN, DILRABA DILMURAT OR GULNAZAR, TO THE PLACE OF ARID DESERTS WITH ENDLESS MAGICAL BEAUTY.
The name Xinjiang comes from the Qing Dynasty, meaning
“New Frontier” in Chinese and representing the expansion of the Qing frontier at that time. Located in the northwest of China, bordering with Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, Xinjiang is home to a number of ethnic groups, including the Uyghur, Han, Kazakhs, Hui, Kyrgyz, Mongols, and the major religion in Xinjiang is Islam.
KASHGAR, AN OASIS IN THE DESERT
Our journey begins with long flights from Hanoi to Kashgar, one of the oldest cities in the world with a more than
2,000 year history, located in the southwest of Xinjiang. More than 1,000 years ago, Kashgar was a beautiful oasis on the Silk Road and also the capital of the Uyghurs, the hometown of Iparhan. Coming to Kashgar, you should not miss the cattle market held on Sundays where farmers bring buffalo, cows, sheep, goats, etc. to buy and sell in the traditional way. And don’t forget to visit the old town of Kashgar to see the ancient architecture of the Uyghurs, try a lamb skewer of Xinjiang style, buy freshly baked naan bread, join a tea party with vibrant ethnic music and watch the Uyghur girls dancing in red dresses. Walking along the streets of ancient Kashgar, seeing traces of thousands of years left on the roofs, watching
the people selling goods such as carpets, housewares, spices, or small decorative stone items, sometimes I felt that thousands of years have passed here but everything seems to have remained intact.
Leaving Kashgar, we rode along the Karakoram highway, which is called the 8th wonder of the world, to Tashkurgan, a small town near the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, which is also adjacent to the border of Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. We came here in early April, the beginning of spring. On the high peaks, the snow was still white and Lake Karukal was still semi-icy, reflecting the blue sky and creating a magical landscape. Along both sides of the road, white almond flowers fluttered with newly sprouting shrubs after the snowy days, sometimes a flock of yaks or sheep wandered on the grass under the trees. The weather in Kashgar is unpredictable and moody - the previous day it was still sunny with blue sky, the next day it had a swirling desert sand storm.
TEN THOUSAND MILES OF ALMOND BLOSSOMS IN ILI, YINING
Returning to Kashgar for the next flight, we arrived at Xinhua Gou in Ili, Yining. Ili is located in the Ili River basin in the northern part of the Tianshan Mountains, populated mainly by Uyghurs and Kazazhs. In the Tang Dynasty, after exiting Dunhuang, besides going through the Taklamakan Desert, it was possible to follow the Silk Road to bypass the Ili River basin to reach Persia (modern Iran). Ili was also the westernmost part of China in the Qing Dynasty. Different from other arid areas in Xinjiang, Yining is enriched by the sediment of the Ili River, with the green fields stretching smoothly for miles, favorable for agricultural development and animal husbandry. Xinhua Gou in Ili,
Yining is a valley of apricot flowers, planted by Chinese youth during the cultural revolution and has been a popular tourist destination for the past ten years. Unfortunately, due to the hot weather, this year the flowers bloomed earlier than expected. When I arrived at Xinhua Gou, the flower hills were dying. But the good news is that with the help of a hospitable driver, we found a small Xinhua Gou nearby.
There are very few tourists who know about the hill of flowers that we found, so we had a hard time making our way up the hill. But the payoff was worth the effort. When I sat under a blooming almond tree and looked down at the valley, I thought I was standing in the middle of Zhe Yan’s peach blossoms in the novel “Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms” by Tang Qi Gong Zi.
The almond flowers in Yining are quite special; when they bloom, they have a pinkish color, then gradually turn to white, so the pink flowers intertwined with the white, creating a scene like a fairyland.
ON THE HIGH PEAKS, THE SNOW WAS STILL WHITE AND LAKE KARUKAL WAS STILL SEMI-ICY, REFLECTING THE BLUE SKY AND CREATING A MAGICAL LANDSCAPE.
More than 120 km from Yining city is Lake Sayram (meaning “blessing” in Kazakh). According to the locals, this lake is a symbol of love, the teardrop of star-crossed lovers, a gem lying at the foot of the snow-capped mountains. The resort is built near the lake, its architecture influenced by Russian and Kazakh culture, so it looks like a small European village made of pine wood. Xinjiang is one of the five autonomous regions of China, but unlike Tibet where you must have an official permit and go through a travel company, most of the tourist sites in Xinjiang allow foreign tourists travel solo with a Chinese visa. Your passport, in addition to your personal information and travel schedule, though, will often be checked by police. In one day, you may have to go to the police station for 3-4 times and it is quite time-consuming to complete the procedures, but the police station in Sayram left me with the nicest impression on the journey of friendliness and hospitality overcoming language barriers.
HIDDEN PARADISE IN KANAS
Leaving eastern Xinjiang, we continued our journey northward to Kanas Nature Reserve and Hemu village. When you mention Kanas, people often think about Lake Kanas, a crescent-shaped lake located along the valley surrounded by the Altay Range. After the snow-melt, this turquoise lake is the deepest freshwater lake in China and was formed more than 200,000 years ago. Kanas is “mysterious beauty” in Mongolian, because the lake is often covered in frost. From Moon Bay, you can watch the Kanas river flow through the poplar forests like a blue ribbon stretching across the mountains.