Xinjiang Secret Trekking Guide

🌟 Tekes Autumn Colors: When the Grassland Wears a Golden Wedding Dress

🌄 This land embraced by the Tianshan Mountains hides Xinjiang’s most beautiful autumn fairy tale. Tekes County, a border town famous for its Bagua City layout, transforms into a natural palette every September. In the morning mist, the rolling grasslands look like they’ve been sprinkled with gold dust, the leaves of the birch trees shift from greenish-yellow to dazzling gold and red, and the distant snow-capped mountains quietly guard this colorful feast.

📜 A Symphony of History and Nature
Standing by the Tekes River, the water reflects the thousand-year-old poplar trees. These "desert hero trees" witnessed the camel bells of Zhang Qian’s mission to the Western Regions and saw off Genghis Khan’s iron cavalry. When Qiu Chuji traveled westward through here, he wrote in "The Journey of the Perfected of Eternal Spring": "Mountains and rivers intertwine, vast and majestic." Eight hundred years later, this grandeur remains undiminished.

🌾 The Poetic Scene of Nomadic Migration
If you encounter a migrating flock of sheep at dusk, you will understand what a "flowing golden river" means. Kazakh herders continue a thousand-year tradition, driving their sheep from summer pastures to winter pastures. The sunset stretches the shadows of the sheep long, the joyful leaps of the herding dogs, and the camels carrying yurt parts all become the lively notes of the autumn grassland.

🏡 Time Stories in Bagua City
Tekes County town is the world’s only well-preserved Bagua-shaped city, with eight main streets extending according to the Bagua directions. The autumn sun bathes the blue-gray ancient city walls in warm tones, and the aroma of baked naan in the alleys mixes with the sweet scent of apple orchards. Locals say this city was designed 700 years ago by Taoist master Qiu Chuji according to "heaven and earth positioning," and even the mulberry trees on the street corners hide feng shui secrets.

✨ Special Experience Tips:
- Watch the sunrise at Kalajun Grassland in the early morning, where the grassland in the mist looks like a floating golden ocean
- Drive along the Hemu Road, where every turn leads into a painterly birch forest
- Visit a herder’s home for a bowl of mare’s milk wine and listen to them play the dombra while singing autumn harvest songs

When the last poplar leaf falls into the embrace of the Tekes River, I know this golden story will continue until next year. After all, in Xinjiang, even autumn is epic in length.

Post by Martinez Melissa Missy | Aug 16, 2025