Shihezi
Shihezi (石河子; Shíhézǐ) is a city in Xinjiang Province in China. Built in the Junggar desert from 1954, it has more trees per acre than any other city in China. It is a quiet little city with friendly people that rarely sees tourists.
Get in
[edit]Take the train west from Urumqi, it runs every 20min from about 8am to 10pm at night, you can pay from ¥30-36, but there is no real speed difference, mostly its just how much leg room you want on the bus. It takes from 2.5 to 3 hours depending on traffic. There is now also a train line, fast train (a little over 2 hours) is ¥24 for a hard seat, slow train (about 3 hours) is ¥12 but they leave far less frequently.
Get around
[edit]Local busses cost ¥1 per ride, taxis start at ¥5 and you should be able to get to most places in town for less than ¥10. It's quite beautiful to walk around any time but the winter, when temperatures stay between -20 and 0C.
See
[edit]Peoples square at night, mountains behind the city rise to 16,000 feet. Mushroom lake
Do
[edit]Visit the university and the medical college, look for English students to talk to.
Buy
[edit]Eat
[edit]The finest watermelon in Xinjiang.
Drink
[edit]Sleep
[edit]Try to stay at the university hotel.
Connect
[edit]Go next
[edit]Take a bus to NanShan (南山) - part of the TianShan 天山 that you can see from town and go hiking. It's about 2 hours outside of town. There are quite a few camp sites if you want to stay the night.