My adventure to Xinjiang began at Daegu Airport. I always have window seats when I travel but for this flight they only allowed seat selection at the check in and they had all gone. This is also the first time I have taken an international flight from Daegu airport (the last time was domestic to Jeju and Incheon).

Gate 1 is sectioned off by a glass wall for international departures and has its own duty free shop, while gates 2 and 3 are for domestic flights . Since Daegu Airport is a dual use military base they were very strict about closing all the windows for take off. Last time Korean Air told us the same thing but Air China seemed to be taking it a bit further this time.

You already get the flavour for China on the flight as the meal was seafood rice. It was a short ride to the very large Beijing Airport where I had to clear immigration and transfer to a domestic flight to Urumqi. From the air the land is very barren immediately outside Beijing and we soon saw vast desert lands, with sweeping dunes, and rippled ridges.

I'd always heard stories about how people would not cross the desert because when people go in they never come out. From the air its easy to see the vastness and how someone could panic, get disoriented, and lose hope in the infinite expanse.

The sand soon changed to large mountain formations made of different shades of red and orange rock . It was interesting how the snow capped run offs were channelled for what little cultivation there is in this barren land.

All of a sudden like a mirage a giant metropolis Urumqi rises out of the desert. I didnt think the airport would be anything special but when we landed the terminal building had 'Urumqi' written in giant arabic letters, and this is supposed to be China!. I can read arabic script but it seems the use of some of the use of letters had been changed as to me it didnt quite sound like Urumqi based on the way I had been taught to read arabic.

It was even more surprising in the terminal as all the signs for baggage, customs etc were in arabic as well as english and chinese. I was then met by my driver, a cheerful young chap happily holding a large card with my name in the arrivals lounge. His english was excellent and I assumed he would be my driver for the tour but unfortunately he only does the airport pickups .

At the hotel I was then met by my guide for my five day stay in Urumqi/Turpan. However, I was more taken by the interior of the hotel which was like the inside of Alladins Lamp from 'I Dream of Jeannie' with massive arches and lifesize lamps throughout the lobby (and yes, this is still supposed to be China!) The room was also nice with the same style of furniture. (see later entry on Xinjiang Hotels)

We then went for a short walk to the International Grand Bazaar close to the hotel. The street architecture was nothing like I had encountered in Beijing/Shanghai and resembled more somewhere from the middle east, as were the people we saw on the street, more middle eastern looking, with some bright coloured headscarves. 

From what I had seen in photos of the International Grand Bazaar, this was a large festival area with a night market and tightrope walkers. Unfortunately none of this was taking place, maybe due to Ramadan the Muslim month of fasting . There was however a KFC in arabic, and french supermarket Carrefour.

Video : Grand Bazaar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6yce4tTxcI

The central feature of the Grand Bazaar is the giant mineret style watchtower, which was closed when we tried to go up, as well as a nearby mosque with four giant minerets, though not as large as the prominent watch tower.

We then went over to the mosque in the Grand Bazaar. The interior had lots of traditional plasterwork with arabic writing and artwork, and looked more like cake decorations. We then came out and headed over to the night market. I was getting lots of stares when I took pictures, but was told it was ok, and that they were more curious about me.

Video : Grand Bazaar Mosque
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UtZ2yvX5i0

The night food market was similar to the muslim bazaar I had seen in Xian . They were grilling skewered lamb, grilled chicken, hot pot with an egg and noodles with vegetables and beef, and other types of noodles and local dishes. We then headed over to a second nearby Tatar Mosque.

Video : Night Market
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hXEcw-0guw

We hit this one during tarawi prayers which last for about an hour after the break of the daily fast during ramadan. Since I wasnt praying I didnt take as many pics although it was quite dark and you would have needed a flash.

Video : Tatar Mosque
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngmIN6SfnqM

This mosque was more interesting style, like an old music hall with three floors, and the two upper floor balconies circle around three sides of the main hall, facing what would be the main stage, or the mihrab in the case of a mosque. Outside was another night bazaar reminiscent of something in Pakistan . Visually its very similar for me but their language is more turkish so gives a foreign feel to me like maybe Iran.

Video : Night Bazaar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBmgTvljM9o

Weather wasnt too bad when we landed, not much humidity so comfortable to walk around. Worried about when I hit Turpan as that is supposed to be the hottest area hitting 42 degrees. The hotel also had Xinjiang TV channels unlike the rest of China which was CCTV, as well as some Russian Channels. Again all the writing and programming was in arabic.

Tomorrow will be my first full day and get to see Xinjiang by daylight and heading in the morning to Heavenly Lake at the top of the mountain range.