Xinjiang Time

All of China runs on one big timezone, which means that in the Western province of Xinjiang, the days' activities often don't start until noon and daylight lasts until 10pm. That pretty much sums up life here:it's the same country as the Eastern areas I've visited but offset, different. 

Lily and I flew into the Western metropolis of Urumqi and then caught a bus to Turpan, a small town a few hours south. There, we visited beautiful old adobe villages and mosques that belong to the Uighers, the majority ethnic group in this province. We also biked through China's wine country. That's right, wine country. I told you it was weird.

After Turpan, we headed for Kanas Lake, a nature reserve wedged into the intersection between China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. Even on the overnight bus trip North, I knew we were going to like this place: I could see a blanket of stars out my window, a rarity in China.

The lake itself is a magent for Chinese tourists, but they are so unwilling to step off of the pavement that an hours' walk from the tourist center yielded a location that felt remote. We found beds at a Kazakh family lodge and spent our first afternoon visiting the lake. I've never seen such blue water!

That night, unwilling to pay for an entire serving of dapanji (literally: big chicken plate--it includes a whole chicken) on our own, we made friends with the two Uigher guys in the room next door. They were recent high school graduates from Urumqi out for a last trip before university.

We were glad to have local friends when the police turned up! Apparently, they had seen us walking in and wanted to inform us that for our safety (and more importantly, for the sake of lightening our wallets) we had better move to the big government hotel. It took several rounds of negotiating and a lot of help from our Uigher friends to convince them that we were doing just fine, thanks.

But the police visit cemented our friendships with both the Uigher boys and the lodge owners and before we knew it, we had stayed up late talking, sipping tea, and listening to a rap remix of "Hotel California." Lily and I couldn't find any relation to the original song, but we still had fun.

We spent the next day hiking with our Uigher friends and taking in awesome lake views, but the true highlight came on our third day, when the lodge owner took the four of us horseback riding. I definitely can't pick the best part of that day: Seeing endless alpine meadows? Visiting Kazakh herders in their yurts? Watching Lily school the cocky teenage boys with her horseback riding skills? Let's just say it was all awesome.

We're back in Urumqi now and looking forward to our first showers in a week before our 24-hour train ride to Kashgar tomorrow. I'm expecting more of the same: a part of China that is unlike anywhere else.