Altay｜National Day Free Travel, Northern Xinjiang gogogo

Actually, last year the autumn in Altay came a bit early, mid-September was the best time to see it, by the National Day the birch forests had already shed all their leaves. Timing is really the most important when going to see natural scenery! But only during National Day do we have a long holiday, so we just have to tough it out. Fortunately, although it was late autumn, the scenery was still very beautiful, definitely worth the trip. Here’s a record of the route at that time, for sisters who need a reference.
🕐 2024 National Day
9.30 ✈️ Shanghai - Chengdu - Urumqi Night owl flight
🍚 Transfer in Chengdu for hotpot
10.1 💃 Rest at home - evening visit to Grand Bazaar - Hetian Second Street
🍚 Arrive in Urumqi at noon, eat pilaf
The Grand Bazaar is worth a visit, selling goods and featuring singing and dancing in the square. Both are very Xinjiang in style. Dinner at Hetian Second Street, many tourists, watch out for some pushy selling, the grilled meat is okay.
10.2 🏔️ Tianshan Tianchi (Heavenly Lake)
The snow-capped mountains are worth it! We took a carpool both ways, tip: it’s not easy to get a carpool back.
10.3 🛣️ Carpool Urumqi - Ulungur Lake - Burqin,
🍚 Dinner Burqin Wudaohei grilled fish
We all felt there was not much scenery on the road from Urumqi to Burqin, mostly Gobi desert, and it takes 8 hours by car. If you don’t mind, you can also choose to take the train. The highlight of the day is the poplar forest on the edge of Burqin County (photo 4), very beautiful at dusk. There are also shared electric scooters, making travel convenient.
10.4 🌲 Burqin - Hemu - Jiadengyu - Kanas
🍚 Breakfast at hotel, lunch self-prepared, dinner Kanas Nangbao meat
Hemu’s highlight is the birch forest, Kanas features coniferous forests and alpine lakes.
10.5 🍂 Kanas morning mist + Kanas Lake + horseback riding at Fishing Platform
🍚 Lunch cold noodles Dinner grilled meat
Highly recommend the morning mist 🥰 After watching the mist, you can hike a bit, the scenery is amazing! Kanas Lake is very large, with many little squirrels, but after a while it gets a bit visually tiring.!! Be sure to avoid horseback riding in the afternoon!! Watching the little horses struggling up the mountain felt like watching myself working overtime.
10.6 Kanas - Baihaba - Sky Grassland - Kanas - Beitun - Urumqi
🍚 Lunch grilled buns Dinner Beitun cold noodles + grilled meat The cold noodles are delicious!
Take the bus from Kanas to Baihaba, we got off at Sky Grassland and walked from there to Baihaba, highly recommend this route!! Few people and beautiful scenery, opposite is a whole area of colorful forests and snow mountains, super relaxing.
10.7 Urumqi - Shanghai