We booked a day tour to Lake Tianchi east of Urumqi with a local travel agent. The agent said the bus would be big and air-conditioned. But the following morning at 9am, a small minibus arrived to pick us up. We were obviously at the beginning of its pick-up run, and by the time all 14 passengers were on board after making several detours for incorrect pick up points and taking wrong routes etc, it was close to mid-day before we headed for Lake Tianchi. Some of the earlier passengers were already frustrated and started to complain that they were hungry and needed a toilet stop, so yet another stop was made for 15 minutes. Finally we were underway and travelling through the countryside towards Lake Tianchi, located high in the Tian Shan mountain range about 80 km east of Urumqi. It was an interesting drive with desert scenery interspersed with oasis country planted with cereal, nut and fruit crops, and a final steep ascent to the Lake. Although Urumqi is the most landlocked city in the world, almost 4,000 km from the ocean, and very dry, there is a huge variety and amount of fruit available from the oasis plantations. We have enjoyed strawberries, mangoes, dates, apricots, currants, raisins, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, oranges, apples, peaches, nectarines, melons, pistachios, almonds, walnuts and peanuts. As the weather has been hot and our appetites dulled, during the day we have eaten mainly only fruit and nuts.
We arrived at Lake Tianchi at around 2pm, and had a quick lunch with the rest of the group (we were the only westerners) at an Uighur cafe. This was rice and a couple of mutton kebabs, and was very good. Then we were escorted by the Guide to the Lake, but as we are not keen on group travel and all the associated tourist hoo-haa, we crept away to walk around part of the lake by ourselves. Lake Tianchi is quite beautiful, set amongst alpine spruce scenery at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, and watched over by the 18,200 feet-high snow-covered Peak of God. It is hard to believe that such a sight could be so close to the surrounding dry countryside. The air was refreshingly cool and when we'd had our fill of walking (we still had sore legs from Zhangjiajie), we caught a cable car down the side of the mountain to be back at the bus before 5pm, the time the Guide had told us the bus would be leaving.
We arrived at Lake Tianchi at around 2pm, and had a quick lunch with the rest of the group (we were the only westerners) at an Uighur cafe. This was rice and a couple of mutton kebabs, and was very good. Then we were escorted by the Guide to the Lake, but as we are not keen on group travel and all the associated tourist hoo-haa, we crept away to walk around part of the lake by ourselves. Lake Tianchi is quite beautiful, set amongst alpine spruce scenery at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, and watched over by the 18,200 feet-high snow-covered Peak of God. It is hard to believe that such a sight could be so close to the surrounding dry countryside. The air was refreshingly cool and when we'd had our fill of walking (we still had sore legs from Zhangjiajie), we caught a cable car down the side of the mountain to be back at the bus before 5pm, the time the Guide had told us the bus would be leaving.
Tours like these usually include excruciating visits to tourist-trap shops that often involve some sort of product demonstration before the hard-sell begins. Every member of the group is expected to participate, even if you ultimately don't buy anything. We had already stopped for one of these just before we got to the Lake. It appeared to me to be some sort of dry stick exhibition delivered by a salesperson wearing a white lab coat (no doubt to lend some clinical cred), and after the demo was over and we were led into the adjacent saleroom, it became clear that this shop was flogging dried local plant stems and bulbs that no doubt had stupendous therapeutic qualities. We saw one young woman shell out 150 Yuan (the price of three nice dinners for two I winced to myself) for a small bunch of dried stem.
By 5pm we were all quite weary and eager to head back to our hotels. The tour was supposed to conclude with a return to Urumqi by 6pm, but around 7pm when we arrived at the outskirts of Urumqi the Guide shocked everyone by announcing that we still had a jade shop to visit. With one exception (the young woman who had bought the bunch of dried stem at the lake), all the passengers were grumpy (in silence). Most of them, including a very elderly man travelling alone, had onward trains to catch that night, but none of them voiced any objections. We wearily stayed on the bus. It appeared to us that the stop was fruitless as no-one made any purchases. We believe the guide or travel company receives a commission from the shop-owner for such visits, so possibly this ultimately feeds through to a lower price for the tour, so we shouldn't be too cynical. Personally though, we would prefer to pay a slightly higher tour price upfront to avoid having to make those pesky shop stops.
Not long after leaving the jade shop, the driver stopped the bus suddenly in the busy peak-hour traffic and alighted to check one of the tyres, the same one we had noted he had scrutinized intently and kicked a few times before we left the Lake. He returned and conferred with the Guide who then announced to us all that the bus could go no further and the tour was over. Evidently a split in the tyre had grown, allowing a bubble of tube to protrude, and a blowout was imminent should we proceed. Presumably there was no spare wheel as the passengers were asked to leave the bus and find their own way home from here. Amazingly, none of the passengers revolted or even complained much. Some hailed taxis, others darted to nearby bus stops to catch the next public bus. Luckily for us, the Guide must have felt that we two foreigners would be incapable of finding our way back to our hotel for she invited us to catch a taxi with her and she said she would drop us off on the way back to her office.
She then heroically charged into the melee of concrete trucks, semi trailers, buses, cars, motorbikes and bikes and amazingly returned unscathed to the kerb with a taxi in tow. We, and the elderly man whom she had also taken under her wing, jumped in and we headed for the centre of town. We talked to the old man who said that he had to pick up his belongings at his hotel and get to the train station by 9.30pm. Eventually he was dropped off at a pre-arranged spot (but not at his hotel) to be met by a colleague of the Guide who was to accompany him to his hotel. We finally made it back to our hotel just after 9pm, tired and hungry but gratefully in one piece despite the reckless final taxi ride. We wondered whether the old man met his deadline - we very much doubted it.
By 5pm we were all quite weary and eager to head back to our hotels. The tour was supposed to conclude with a return to Urumqi by 6pm, but around 7pm when we arrived at the outskirts of Urumqi the Guide shocked everyone by announcing that we still had a jade shop to visit. With one exception (the young woman who had bought the bunch of dried stem at the lake), all the passengers were grumpy (in silence). Most of them, including a very elderly man travelling alone, had onward trains to catch that night, but none of them voiced any objections. We wearily stayed on the bus. It appeared to us that the stop was fruitless as no-one made any purchases. We believe the guide or travel company receives a commission from the shop-owner for such visits, so possibly this ultimately feeds through to a lower price for the tour, so we shouldn't be too cynical. Personally though, we would prefer to pay a slightly higher tour price upfront to avoid having to make those pesky shop stops.
Not long after leaving the jade shop, the driver stopped the bus suddenly in the busy peak-hour traffic and alighted to check one of the tyres, the same one we had noted he had scrutinized intently and kicked a few times before we left the Lake. He returned and conferred with the Guide who then announced to us all that the bus could go no further and the tour was over. Evidently a split in the tyre had grown, allowing a bubble of tube to protrude, and a blowout was imminent should we proceed. Presumably there was no spare wheel as the passengers were asked to leave the bus and find their own way home from here. Amazingly, none of the passengers revolted or even complained much. Some hailed taxis, others darted to nearby bus stops to catch the next public bus. Luckily for us, the Guide must have felt that we two foreigners would be incapable of finding our way back to our hotel for she invited us to catch a taxi with her and she said she would drop us off on the way back to her office.
She then heroically charged into the melee of concrete trucks, semi trailers, buses, cars, motorbikes and bikes and amazingly returned unscathed to the kerb with a taxi in tow. We, and the elderly man whom she had also taken under her wing, jumped in and we headed for the centre of town. We talked to the old man who said that he had to pick up his belongings at his hotel and get to the train station by 9.30pm. Eventually he was dropped off at a pre-arranged spot (but not at his hotel) to be met by a colleague of the Guide who was to accompany him to his hotel. We finally made it back to our hotel just after 9pm, tired and hungry but gratefully in one piece despite the reckless final taxi ride. We wondered whether the old man met his deadline - we very much doubted it.
Another fun day in China. You may start out knowing your destination, but the journey itself is sure to throw up surprises, ensuring a day of new sights and adventure for all. It's great!
