The gate which i board my plane while transiting at Kunming to 乌鲁木齐 (Urumuqi). There wasn't a direct flight so a transit is unavoidable. Unfortunately, the plane was delayed for 2 hours and i was tired to death.
The food box which was provided during the flight, promoting tourisim in yunan.
This is the first sign (one of many to come) which reminds me that i'm heading for a muslim destination. It also signifies the end of consumption of pork during my silk road trip. That is, until i reach 兰州, where the majorities are Han Chinese.
My first stop - 乌鲁木齐.
Because of the delayed flight, we reached our destination at around 8pm. Luckily there wasn't any activities at night cos we were all tired to death. Imagine travelling since 2 a.m. till 7 p.m. !
Our first taste of the local food, a local restaurant run by their majority race - 维吾尔民族, Uygur race.
Our dinner - 手抓饭, 酸奶(yougurt), toppled with a small portion of salad. The rice's not bad, cooked with their staple meat - mutton, till it's soft. The 酸奶 is a challenge however. It's really sour, especially at first try. One will need a number of tries until you get used to its sour taste. In an attempt to 'help' us, they provide sugar for us but it's really pointless to add it in cos you won't get to taste the local food isn't it?
The local beer which we bought while roaming in their night market. One of the many brands which i got to try cos there's a new local brand whenever you reach a new place.
Fried chicken drumstick which i bought at the night market.
We bought mangoes too!! ha.... 20RMB for 1kg.. It's really sweet and juicy. aahhh.... i miss it.
The night food market! Barberque meat sticks prove to be the most popular among all the varieties of food there. Stalls selling barberque food are all fully packed. Here's a glimpse of what else the market offers....
Salted chicken...
ho ho.... barberque mutton, as in they practically take the WHOLE goat and barberque it. I couldn't resist having a go cos mutton is their staple food so THIS got to be GOOD! We bought 1 kg for 35RMB. It proves to be like sooooo GOOD! By the time we got back to our hotel (we didn't eat it at the stall cos it's too packed and the charcoal smoke and cigeratte smoke was too overwhelming), the mutton bits was cold. BUT... the meat's so tender and their unique seasoning's sooooo delicious!!!! It wasn't so strong that it masked the original mutton smell. I LOVE IT!
Our chopped barberque mutton...
Local bazzar (大巴扎)
A market where the locals shop. It's funny how we are now the minority race in China where Han Chinese rule. The minoriy race, 维吾尔民族, are the majorities here. They are 80% blood-linked to Eurasians so many don't look like Han Chinese at all. In fact, they even have their own language but speak Mandarin too because of trading purposes. Most are muslims so there's little temples here. Mosques, on the other hand, are a common sight. Even the buildings here have a muslim touch in them.
I was interested in their local KFC menu so i got in for an ice-cream.
Look what i got on my handphone!!! ha... this cute little local boy!!! keke.... so handsome la! wa kao.... Should marry the 维吾尔 race....
The carvings on the tower in the middle of the bazzar.
Their local milk ice-cream which was made from goat's milk. 1RMB each, can you imagine that??!!
It has a mild vanilla taste and its such a relief cos the afternoon's pretty hot.
Their local produce - dried raisins and dried dates... The price tags which they put are redundant cos the price is ALWAYS open to bargaining unless otherwise stated.
Pomegranate juice, 5RMB for a cup. It's surprsingly nice, soothing and sweet.
Their local mosque next to the bazaar.
