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Trip to Western China
Active ImageUrumqi
As I prepared for the trip to Urumqi and the Ancient Silk Road, I didn’t expect much scenery.  What beauty could there possibly be in a dry, desert-place like Urumqi? But great was my surprise when I saw Urumqi and the majestic mountains as we flew toward the city. Urumqi is truly like an oasis in the desert (a very busy and developed oasis).   
Our team first flew into Beijing. We spent several days there recovering from jetlag and did some sightseeing. Then we flew to Urumqi. When we arrived in Active ImageUrumqi it felt like we were in another country. The faces, culture, language, food and scenery were totally different from Beijing. What a pleasant surprise!

Urumqi was like a cultural feast; a feast with many people groups: Uyghers, Han Chinese, Hui, Kyrgyz and Kazakhs. But we also enjoyed the feast for the stomach at a good price; boy oh boy did we enjoy the lamb kebabs! We appreciated the cultures even more after visiting the cultural museum.  The feast of colors found in the clothing from different ethnic groups in Xinjiang lights up the spirit.

We were also grateful for the friendliness of the Uyghers. Many are eager to learn English and that opened doors for conversation with them.
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Our hunger for exploration also took us on a day trip to Turpan, Jiaohe ancient city, Flaming Mountain and wind turbines.  The further away we drove from Urumqi, the drier it got and a beauty of its own unfolded. Then Turpan appeared like another oasis in the desert with its poplar trees and vineyards. Due to the ingenuity of its ancient inhabitants the town has well water (Karez System). As I went down into one of the wells I couldn’t believe we were in a desert. Streams of water flowed under the desert ground.

After about five days in Urumqi, three of us from the team flew to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, for the second leg of our “Silk Road trip”. The other two team members stayed behind in Urumqi a bit longer and then flew to Shenzhen to spent some time there.

Flying over the mountains to Bishkek took my breath away. Imagine traveling over these mountains on a camel’s back.