Series
A Trip to Xinjiang
From Sayram Lake and the Duku Highway to Tacheng and the border crossings, documenting several road trips through Xinjiang.
Let’s Go to Xinjiang After watching countless travel videos about Xinjiang, I’d been itching to go for ages. Now that I had some time free, why not make a trip of it❕ To get the full experience, we drove ourselves. Over the course of a week, Sayram Lake was basically the only scenic area we visited. It’s a must-see—the scenery is beyond words. If you have enough time, I’d recommend spending a night inside the scenic area… 
Let's Go to Xinjiang 2 First: wishing everyone good luck in 2025 in the Year of the Snake. Second: this Xinjiang update is long overdue, so you can revisit the first post, Let's Go to Xinjiang. Finally: let's begin part two of Let's Go to Xinjiang. Picking up where we left off, after taking in Sayram Lake, we started getting ready to head to a road-trip paradise—the Duku Highway. It runs across the Tianshan Mountains from north to south, and if you're lucky, in a single day you can experience… 
Xinjiang Revisited—Sayram Lake Half a year later, I’m finally wrapping up my return trip to Xinjiang. Honestly, I’ve dragged this out a bit too long. Xinjiang Revisited—The Border Crossing Xinjiang Revisited—Tacheng After a day of rest, we set off for Sayram Lake early the next morning. With the distant mountains as a backdrop, the border crossing had a charm all its own in the early morning. After a simple breakfast, we headed toward… 
Back to Xinjiang: Tacheng Ever since experiencing summer in Xinjiang last year, I’d had one thought stuck in my head: I absolutely had to come back and experience winter here too. With the New Year holiday upon us, it was time to make it happen. Here are the places we passed through on this trip. Having finished the whole journey, I personally think it was well worth it. One stretch of road followed the border the entire way—an incredible experience, and… 
Xinjiang Revisited: Border Crossings After resting up for a night in Tacheng, we set off for the Bakhtu border crossing the next day. One of the main goals of this trip was to visit some of Xinjiang’s border crossings and broaden our horizons a little. Before heading to Bakhtu, we tried the distinctive local Russian-style ice cream and sour plum drink in Tacheng. The ice cream had a slightly grainy texture and, overall, felt fairly…