A brief history of Xinjiang

Xinjiang’s story is the story of the Silk Road. For two thousand years the oasis towns ringing the Tarim Basin — Kashgar, Khotan, Kucha, Turpan — were the staging posts where caravans crossed between China and the markets of Central Asia, Persia and Rome. The Han-dynasty envoy Zhang Qian opened the route to these “Western Regions” in the 2nd century BCE, and the general Ban Chao later secured it, weaving the basin’s oasis kingdoms into the world’s first great trade network.

Along that road travelled not just silk and jade but ideas. Buddhism flowed east through the oasis kingdoms, leaving the painted cave-temples of Kizil and Bezeklik and the ruined monasteries of Gaochang — and producing the great translator Kumārajīva of Kucha. Later, Islam arrived along the same trade routes, and the Karakhanid court at Kashgar became a celebrated centre of Turkic scholarship. The Tang pilgrim Xuanzang passed through these oases on his way to India, recording the kingdoms he found.

The desert preserved it all. Wind-scoured cities like Jiaohe and Gaochang, mummies thousands of years old, and manuscripts in a dozen lost languages make Xinjiang one of the world’s great archaeological treasure-houses. The ingenious Karez wells — underground channels carrying mountain snowmelt to the oases — still water Turpan’s vineyards today, a living link to that ancient world.

The Uyghur language

The Uyghur language is not related to Chinese: it belongs to the Turkic family, a cousin of Uzbek, Kazakh and Turkish rather than of Mandarin. It is written today in an Arabic-derived script that flows from right to left, seen on shopfronts and street signs across the south of the region.

Uyghur carries a deep literary heritage. The 11th-century scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari compiled the first great dictionary of the Turkic languages here, and the classic poem Kutadgu Bilig was written at the Karakhanid court of Kashgar — cornerstones of Turkic literature. The region’s celebrated Twelve Muqam, a vast cycle of sung poetry and music, is recognised by UNESCO as a masterpiece of intangible cultural heritage.

For visitors and learners the practical picture is straightforward: standard Mandarin is widely spoken across Xinjiang — in schools, on the railways, in shops and tour offices — and is the everyday language travellers will use. Learning even a few words of Uyghur, like the cheerful yaxshi (“good”), is a warm way to connect.

Phrases worth knowing in Xinjiang

Six phrases for the road — mostly Mandarin, with one Uyghur word every visitor enjoys. Tap 🔊 for native audio.

Food of Xinjiang

Xinjiang has one of the most beloved regional cuisines in all of China — so popular that its restaurants are found in every Chinese city. Built around lamb, wheat and fruit, it’s hearty, fragrant with cumin and chilli, and made for sharing.

At its heart are the smoky lamb kebabs sold on every street, chewy hand-pulled laghman noodles, fragrant pilaf rice, and the round, crusty naan that is the region’s daily bread. Around them sit “big plate chicken”, rich noodle soups, and a riot of famous fruit — Turpan grapes, raisins by the sackful and impossibly sweet Hami melons. Eat with your hands, and come hungry.

Say the menu

Tap 🔊 to hear each dish in Mandarin:

Notable cities of Xinjiang

Xinjiang’s cities are oases and crossroads, each with its own landscape and character — from the most inland city on Earth to the great Silk Road bazaar of the west. Four very different places worth your time:

Capital · most inland city on Earth

Ürümqi乌鲁木齐

~4 million people · Grand Bazaar & the gateway north · Hear 乌鲁木齐

The regional capital is the great gateway to the north-west — and, at over 2,500km from the nearest coastline, the most inland major city on Earth. Ringed by the Tianshan, it’s a modern crossroads where the foods, carpets and crafts of Central Asia meet at the lively International Grand Bazaar.

For most travellers Ürümqi is the hub: nearly every flight and railway into the region passes through, and it’s the natural base for a day trip up to the alpine Heavenly Lake beneath Bogda Peak.

Deep-dive guide coming soon

Silk Road oasis

Kashgar喀什

~700,000 people · Old Town, Id Kah & the Sunday bazaar · Hear 喀什

Kashgar has been the great western anchor of the Silk Road for two millennia — geographically closer to Baghdad than to Beijing. Its Old Town is a warren of earthen alleys, craft workshops and teahouses around the Id Kah square, and its famous Sunday bazaar still draws traders from across the region.

This is the most Central Asian-feeling city in China, and the launch point for journeys into the high Pamirs and along the Karakoram Highway toward Pakistan.

Deep-dive guide coming soon

Desert oasis · below sea level

Turpan吐鲁番

~640,000 people · Grapes, Karez wells & Silk Road ruins · Hear 吐鲁番

Turpan sits in a desert basin that dips to 154m below sea level — the lowest point in China and one of its hottest places. Yet it is a lush green oasis, famous above all for its grapes and raisins, watered for centuries by the ingenious underground Karez channels.

Around the town lie the wind-carved Silk Road cities of Jiaohe and Gaochang, the painted Buddhist caves of Bezeklik, and the red ridges of the Flaming Mountains of legend.

Deep-dive guide coming soon

The green north-west

Yining伊宁

~530,000 people · The Ili valley, lavender & Sayram Lake · Hear 伊宁

Far from the deserts of the south, Yining sits in the lush Ili valley near the Kazakh border — a green world of grasslands, rivers and tree-lined streets with a distinctly Central Asian feel. In early summer the surrounding fields turn purple with lavender, grown here on a scale to rival Provence.

Nearby, the vast alpine blue of Sayram Lake and the flower-strewn meadows of the Tianshan make this the green, pastoral counterpoint to the desert south.

Deep-dive guide coming soon

Iconic attractions across Xinjiang

Five Xinjiang landmarks worth building a journey around — from a UNESCO-listed alpine lake to the ruined cities of the Silk Road:

Famous figures of Xinjiang

Xinjiang’s story is told through scholars, translators and travellers — the figures of the Silk Road who carried learning and art between civilisations:

Xinjiang’s economy & way of life

Life in Xinjiang has always turned on water and the seasons — on the snowmelt that feeds the oases, the long sunny days that ripen the fruit, and the trade routes that have crossed the region for millennia. Today its economy rests on three great pillars: farming, energy and a fast-growing tourism trade.

Why Xinjiang matters for Mandarin learners

Mandarin is your practical travel language here. Across Xinjiang, standard Mandarin is the shared tongue of transport, hotels, restaurants and tour offices — so the Mandarin you’ve studied does real, daily work on one of China’s most adventurous journeys.

It’s a window onto a whole other language family. Seeing the Turkic Uyghur language — with its Arabic-derived script — alongside Chinese is a vivid reminder of how much linguistic richness sits within China’s borders, and how the Silk Road wove languages together.

The vocabulary of travel comes alive. Food, markets, prices, mountains, deserts, distances, weather — the high-frequency Mandarin you most need is in constant use, and a Silk Road journey is a memorable place to cement it.

Cultural respect goes a long way. Pairing your Mandarin with a few friendly words of Uyghur, and an open curiosity about the region’s food and crafts, makes for a richer and more welcome visit.

Visiting Xinjiang — practical notes

Getting there: Ürümqi’s Diwopu Airport is the regional hub, with flights from cities right across China, and the high-speed railway links it to Lanzhou and the national network. Within the region, distances are enormous — Xinjiang is roughly the size of Iran — so internal flights between Ürümqi, Kashgar and the north save days on the road.

Plan for the scale: Don’t try to combine the southern Silk Road (Turpan, Kashgar) and the far north (Kanas) in one short trip. A classic first journey is the southern loop — Ürümqi, Turpan and Kashgar — linked by air and rail.

When to come: Autumn (September–October) is glorious: the grape and melon harvest, blazing forest colour at Kanas and comfortable temperatures. Late spring and early summer bring lavender to the Ili valley. Turpan is ferociously hot at the height of summer, and the far north is very cold in deep winter.

The food alone is worth the trip: eat kebabs and laghman fresh off the grill, buy a warm naan from a street oven, and taste the grapes and melons at the source in Turpan — this is some of the best eating in China.

A week in Xinjiang: a few days on the southern Silk Road — Turpan’s oases and ruined cities, then Kashgar’s old town and Sunday bazaar — with an optional add-on to Heavenly Lake near Ürümqi, or, with more time, the long, beautiful haul north to Kanas.

Test your Xinjiang knowledge

Frequently asked questions