Xinjiang Cities

Pishan Xinjiang travel guide: silk workshops at Koshtagh, Turdi Aghi Manor and Karakoram foothills from Guma. Includes food, transport and a two-day plan.

Minfeng Niya Xinjiang: the famous Niya ruins are closed in 2026, but the surrounding county of 40,000 people is still worth two or three days of travel.

Qiemo Xinjiang sits two kilometres from the Taklamakan’s dunes. How the Qarqan River keeps the oasis alive, and how to visit China’s second-largest county.

Luntai Xinjiang is where the Tarim Desert Highway starts. A working oil county with a superb Han-era museum, white apricots and the Taklamakan next door.

Why Maralbexi Xinjiang is more than a fuel stop: how the Yarkand bends north at Bachu, Xiaohaizi reservoir, Tangwangcheng ruins, trains and honest tips.

Yengisar Xinjiang is more than a knife town. Apricot orchards, tightrope walkers, pottery kilns and a railway shape this oasis county south of Kashgar.

Xinyuan county Xinjiang is the county behind Nalati Grassland. Kunes River story, the 2026 airport closure, county seat vs Nalati town, food, seasons.

Gongliu county Xinjiang guide: wild apricot valleys in April, Kuerdening spruce forest, walnut gully, Chapqil reservoir, roads, stays and a 4-day loop.

Nileke County anchors the eastern end of the Ili Valley. Inside: a 2400-year-old copper mine, the Jilintai dam on the Kash River, and the S315 back door.

Wenquan county Xinjiang guide: the Alatau border valley, a Bronze Age stone maze, a protected salamander, cold-water trout, seasons and getting there.