I just got back from a 10-day trip with my girlfriend to Xinjiang, China's western most province/autonomous region. Let me tell you, it was quite adventurous.
Background first: Xinjiang is China's dominant muslim province. The people aren't Han Chinese, but closer in looks to Turkic people of Central Asia. I did research on the area in college and wanted to see this place first hand. It didn't fail to impress.
The region is so diverse is crazy. You have deserts next to mountains with snow then more deserts and the base of the Himalaya mountains. We visited ruins, vineyards, two gorgeous lakes, numerous animal markets, visited with local families and even took a 2-day overnight trip through part of the desert on camel back! At one point, we were about a two hour drive from Afghanistan.
1 - Tuyoq near Turpan in Central Xinjiang. The ruins are a pilgrimage area for the local Uighrs.
2 - Old stone buildings in Turpan
3 - A lot of Chinese and Uighr locals like to have their photo taken with foreigners. And I'm about as foreign as they come.
4 - At a local street market, one of the specialities is fresh meat. That thing the guy in the chair seems to be blowing into are lungs. He's inflating them so the man buying them can make sure they are good quality.
5 - People come from near and far on certain days of the week to buy and sell animals. I got a quick photo before all these sheep became kebabs
7 - A Tajik woman walking near a yurt. Notice the snow covered mountains in the background.
8 - I wandered around the Taklemakan desert for a day and a half. During the night, it rained three times and got kind of windy
9 - My camel wasn't the most well behaved camel in the world, but he got us from the main camp to our spot out in the desert without too many problems
