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Capital and largest city of Xinjiang, China

Ürümqi

Ürümqi is the capital and largest city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China.

Ürümqi
Ürümqi · Wikimedia Commons (see file page)
The place

Ürümqi is the capital and largest city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. With a census population of 4,054,000 in 2020, Ürümqi is the second-largest city in China's northwestern interior after Xi'an. Ürümqi has seen significant economic development since the 1990s and currently serves as a regional transport hub and a cultural, political, and commercial center.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What is there

Worth seeing in and around Ürümqi

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

  1. 01
    Xinjiang University

    Xinjiang University is a provincial public comprehensive university in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China. It is a national key university affiliated with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the regional government.

    6.4 km · Chinese university · Wikipedia
  2. 02
    Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar

    The Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar, also known as International Grand Bazaar Xinjiang, is an Islamic bazaar in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China. It is the largest bazaar in the world by scale, combining Islamic culture, architecture, ethnic commerce, tourism and entertainment.

    4.8 km · Islamic bazaar in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China · Wikipedia
  3. 03
    Xinjiang Museum

    The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum, or simply the Xinjiang Museum, is a museum in the Saybag District of Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang, China. It holds over 40,000 items of various cultural relics and specimens, including 381 national first-grade cultural relics.

    2.3 km · national Museum in Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China · Wikipedia
  4. 04
    Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Ürümqi

    The Immaculate Conception Cathedral also called Ürümqi Cathedral is a religious building located in the city of Ürümqi, capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, in the northwest part of China. The temple follows the Roman or Latin rite and is the mother and main church of the apostolic prefecture of Sinkiang which was created as a mission sui juris by the apostolic brief Decet Romanum Pontificem by the Pope Pius XI in 1930 and obtained its current status in 1938.

    3.9 km · church in Ürümqi, China · Wikipedia
  5. 05
    Xinjiang Agricultural University

    Xinjiang Agricultural University is a higher education institution in Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It specializes in courses and research relating to construction in agricultural contexts.

    3.8 km · university in Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China · Wikipedia
  6. 06
    Hong Shan

    Hong Shan, Hongshan or the Red Mountain is an inner city mountain in Ürümqi, capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. The mountain, sometimes referred to as a hill for its smaller size than a mountain in land form, is the symbolic scenic spot of Ürümqi.

    2 km · inner city mountain in Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China · Wikipedia
  7. 07
    People's Park (Ürümqi)

    People's Park is an urban public park in the center of Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwestern China. People's Park and the nearby Hong Shan are very popular recreation areas for local residents.

    2.7 km · urban public park in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China · Wikipedia
  8. 08
    Urumqi Confucius Temple

    Ürümqi Confucius Temple also known as Urumqi Confucian Temple) is a Confucian temple located at No. 15, north side of Qianjin Road, Tianshan District, Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China.

    2.6 km · Confucius temple in Ürümqi, China · Wikipedia
  9. 09
    Zhong Tian Plaza

    China CITIC Bank Mansion, formerly Zhong Tian Plaza is a 59-floor/229-meter tall skyscraper in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China.

    2.7 km · tallest building in Northwestern China and Central Asia · Wikipedia
  10. 10
    Xinjiang Normal University

    Xinjiang Normal University is a public university in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, which was established in December 1978 with the approval of the Ministry of Education, and its predecessors were Ürümqi First Normal School and Xinjiang Teacher Training Department.

    2.1 km · university in Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

See

What Wikivoyage says to see

  1. 01
    Geographical midpoint of Asia
  2. 02
    Grand Bazaar
  3. 03
    Red Mountain Park
  4. 04
    Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum
  5. 05
    Erdaoqiao Folk Instrument Maker Visit

    Visit the small workshop of a Uyghur craftsman specializing in making traditional instruments like the rawap and dutar.

From Wikivoyage: Ürümqi, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Eat

Where to eat

Food is one of the things that Xinjiang is famous for. Fresh naan, spicy kebabs, steaming pilaf, or famous hand stretched noodles — there are a lot of choices, and lots of variety. Confucian Temple, Qianjin Lu. Lunch until 13:00. A beautiful, quiet and peaceful temple. To find it follow the red wall alongside the Autonomous Regional Party Committee building north from People's Square.

  1. 01
    Dumpling House
  2. 02
    Rendezvous

    960 Yan'an Rd (right by the Silk Road Hotel, on the 16, 63,106 and 912 bus routes),.

  3. 03
    Eversun Coffee Minzhu Rd
  4. 04
    The Texas Cafe

From Wikivoyage: Ürümqi, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Go there

Getting to Ürümqi

Airports
Ürümqi Tianshan (URC), 15 km
Stations
Ürümqi South railway station, 5.4 km
  • Dunhuang → Ürümqi
    711 km · quickest by air, 5h 11m · ¥580–900
  • Jiayuguan → Ürümqi
    990 km · quickest by air, 7h 7m · ¥660–1,020
  • Kashgar → Ürümqi
    1077 km · quickest by air, 5h 22m · ¥690–1,070
  • From anywhere
    The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
    Plan a trip

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

Not yet researched

No local-transport research exists yet for Ürümqi

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Ürümqi. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

The nearest places where the work is done
  1. 01
    Karakol and the Issyk-Kul east shoreKG

    12 ways of moving, 20 sources

    762 km
  2. 02
    Karimabad (Hunza)PK

    9 ways of moving, 35 sources

    1,378 km
  3. 03
    LehIN

    8 ways of moving, 25 sources

    1,378 km
  4. 04
    KazaIN

    7 ways of moving, 18 sources

    1,534 km
  5. 05
    KhujandTJ

    9 ways of moving, 27 sources

    1,534 km

If you know how people move in Ürümqi – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.

Around it

Next door to Ürümqi