Pagoda

Chinese pagoda, Ürümqi, China, May 2009

Ürumqi is the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China's most western province. The most "inland" city in the world - the furthest from any major body of water - Urumqi is 3,270 km (2,050 miles) from Beijing. It lies on the northern route of the Silk Road. It's a modern city with a lot of skyscrapers.

From Pakistan we came by bus via Kashgar to Ürümqi. In Ürümqi we stayed in the flat with a young man whom we met through couchsurfing.org. He showed us around in town and we had an interesting time.

By train we reached Beijing in two days.