We arrived in the city of Urumqi late in the morning and went straight to our hotel in order to freshenup a bit after the night on the train. At the risk of stating the obvious Urumqi is part of the "wild-west" of China and has a population of Han Chinese, Muslim Uyghurs, Kazaks and other minorities that I cannot remember. It is a small city by Chinese standards with a population of around 4 million and has obviously undergone significant devleopment in recent years as it is part of the Belts and Roads initiative. The strange "saddle" shaped building in the first picture is seen as one exits the gigantic train station and somehow sets the scene for the rest of the city.

Our only outing for the day was a visit to the cities Bazaar and its associated Mosque and Minaret. It was an interesting and crowded visit. Lots of fruit and spices for sale as well as clothing of all kinds, housed in halls like a traditional bazaar of an Islamic city. Unlike a more traditional Islam bazaar however there were a large number of people dancing in one of open spaces.

Dinner was Uygher style food, at least that is what we were told. The most identifiable difference was the presence of Naan bread.