A few days ago I returned from 15 days in China with my good friend and colleague, Joshua Holko. More importantly we spent 12 days in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in remote North West China.
The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is the North Western most region of China bordering on Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Krygzstan. Its Northern and Southern regions divided by the majestic Tian Shan mountains and separated from Mongolia and Russia in the North by the Altay Mountains.
With all these mountain ranges and deserts we were in for a real treat. We travelled to some amazing locations including the Glacial Kanas Lake, the Ghost City, Shan Shan Sand Dunes, the Flaming Mountains, the Rainbow City and more.
This region of China, like many regions of China, has significant cultural significance and numerous historical sites. This region was part of the Northern Route of the Silk Road. The influence of the being part of this monumental trade route and its neighbouring countries can be seen in local populace, architecture and cuisine with a distinct middle-eastern influence.
The Chinese Government is really pushing development in the region which has seen the creation of new major national highways and a big expansion in population and services, but it is far what is the norm in US and the Australia.
This region of China is quite remote and not all too often visited by Westerners with much of the local populace quite intrigued by our presence. And the further into the desert and remote mountain regions we travelled the more emotive the stunned expressions of the locals were.
Overall it was an amazing trip with some truly unique landscapes and some extremes of climate. In a period of 10 days we saw snow fall, a rare desert thunder and rain storm, searing heat and a sand storm.
We never like to tread the well beaten track, so we climbed sand dunes, clambered up and down mountainsides, trudged through mud and snow all to photograph the amazing and unique landscape locations on offer in the region.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing more photographs and more stories about our expedition to this amazing region and the unique amazing landscapes it has on offer. Overall a very successful investigative expedition and I cannot wait to head back!
But for now here is a photography from the Ghost City. The Ghost City is where centuries of howling winds have eroded and weathered the multi-faceted rock formations into eerie and unusual shapes that are known for creating ghostly light at sunset. There are thousands of gorges and criss-cross gullies winding through the multitude of colored rock formations. This scarcely visited area provided a unique opportunity to photograph these amazing rock formations referred to by the locals as ‘yardang’ landscape.
With a bit of exploration down some tracks in the trusty Toyota Landcruiser we found a good place to drive off road and into the rock formations to set up a base camp to hike up and around the landscape. We clambered all over the landscape being mindful of footprints to find what this landscape has to offer. And this location offered it up to in spades.
