Xinjiang Regional Museum, situated in Xibei Road, Urumqi City, is a large comprehensive museum and center for collecting and studying the cultural relics of Xinjiang.

The museum, built in 1953, has an exhibition hall covering about 7,800 square meters. The construction here is in a Uygur style, and the internal decoration is rich in ethnic features. Over 50,000 items of treasure are displayed here, not only to represent the ethnic life and humanity here, but also to illustrate its revolutionary spirit. With such abundant items, the exhibition is widely known for its comprehensive and informative nature.

Xinjiang Regional Museum is split into 2 sections - one is devoted to archeological treasures from the Silk Road and the other showcases the province’s minority cultures.

The Silk Road exhibits have an array of tools, coins, jade, fabrics, pots and paintings all from the area. The most dramatic and interesting exhibits are the "Mummies of Urumqi" - ancient corpses preserved and found in the desert sands. The corpses include a baby who died around 3,800 years ago, still wrapped in swaddling as well as a couple who died at different periods but were found buried together. The most famous however, is the "Luolan Beauty", a corpse of a woman believed to have died in her 40s and to be of Indo-European ethnicity. Discovered in 1980 in the riverbed of the Tieban in Loulan city, the corpse is believed to be around 4,000 years old. When found, she was still clutching a small purse and wore leather and fur sandals.

The minority cultures hall introduces tourists to the lifestyle and customs of 12 minority cultures including the Uygur, Kazakh, Russian, Mongol, Kyrgyz, Hui, Tajik, Tatar and Uzbek people. It has life-sized models of a Uygur house and different types of yurts (cloth tents used in the grasslands by the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Mongols). There are also household objects, handicrafts, hunting tools, musical instruments, and clothing on display.

The Heavenly Lake, a barrier lake, was formed after its river courses were blocked up by the mud-rock flow of glaciers in ancient times. It encompasses more than 4.9 square kilometers, is 90 meters deep, and is part of a remarkable legend. It is said that it was the Fairyland Pool that the Queen Mother of the West (a mythological figure, usually described as a beautiful immortal, who dwells at Jaspel Lake in the Kunlun Mountains and in whose huge palace grow the magic peach trees which bear the fruits of immortality once every three thousand years) met King Mu of the Zhou Dynasty and gave a banquet in his honour in those remote days. Another story says that it was a silver mirror of the Queen Mother of the West’s inlaid on her dressing table.

Over the centuries, many celebrities and scholars made trips to the Heavenly Lake. Overwhelmed with admiration of the unique, charming and wonderful sight, some people felt a strong urge to write poems and some could not help drawing pictures; still others celebrated in song in high spirits. Although many works written or drawn by scholars or celebrities reached the height of perfection, they could not surpass the beautiful scenery created by nature.

The Tartar Mosque is located at the southern end of Jiefang Lu, covering 3000 square meters. The Tartar Mosque, also known as Yanghang Mosque, was built in 1897 with private donations from the Tartar Community.

Also known as the Yanghang Mosque, the Tartar Mosque is decorated with crescent and wood-and-brick geometric carvings. The dome takes the shape of an octagonal pyramid, a traditional Tatar architecture style. The mosque is unique in its use of traditional Tartar architecture. This mosque is the main center of worship for Muslims in Urumqi, containing a chapel that can hold over 1000 people at a time. The mosque is open to all tourists. However, people need to get permission to visit.

About 70 km (about 43 miles) away from Urumqi, the Southern Pastures lie in the Southern Mountains at the northern foot of Karawuquntag Mountain. Covering an area of 119 sq km (about 29,406 acres), the Southern Pastures are hugely popular with visitors as well as being the natural summer retreat of Urumqi residents.

Standing in the pastures, visitors can see the forest of emerald green spruce on a chain of undulating grass hills dotted with combined flocks and herds. As you immerse yourself in this beautiful site, the singing of the Kazakh may envelop you and inspire you to sing with them. You can visit one of the traditional yurts, located in the spruce forest, where you will be welcomed by a generous host with fragrant milk tea, mare's milk, cheese and roasted lamb. If you are lucky enough, you will be able to observe the amazing horseracing and traditional Kazakh dancing.

The highlight of the Southern Pastures must be the West White Poplar Gully. It is the preferred place in the Southern Pastures for touring the pasture on horseback. Walking in the gully, visitors can appreciate the snow-capped mountains decorated by tall, straight firs whilst horses and cows graze leisurely on the green grassland. Local Kazaks in milky white yurts will entertain visitors with offerings of fragrant milk tea, mare's milk, cheese and roasted lamb. The local youngsters are happy to share their dancing and enjoyment of horses with visitors, being very welcoming. Other spots in the Southern Pastures are also wonderful. Chrysanthemum Tai, Zhaobi Mountain, Miao'er Gully and Daxi Gully are fascinating and amazing places to visit too.

20km northeast of Jiayuguan, in a barren section on the outer limits of the Gobi desert, lies the Xincheng prefecture, within which is contained the Xincheng Wei-Jin Art Gallery (Xincheng weijin mu). The Gallery is actually two tombs that, although known about for quite a while, were not infiltrated until 1972. Within this area, the large stretch between Jiayuguan and Jiuquan, there are over 1,400 tombs built between 220 AD and 419 AD, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. This area is not overly tourist-filled and as such, makes for one of the nicer trips from town.

Jiayuguan Wei-Jin Art Gallery is known as the largest subterranean art gallery in the world, housing numerous, colourful murals on its cold, stone walls. Most of the tombs are familial ones, housing bodies of three or four generations, although currently only tomb numbers 6 and 7 are open to the public.

The corridors and caves of the tombs are filled with interesting sights: the walls are lined with delicate patterns and lines symbolising cloud, water, fire, gods and weird animals. The corridors are paved with tiles in diverse flower patterns. Most of the inner chamber walls depict, in colourful murals, the contemporary routine life of the master and mistress, and their various entourages. Others, however, also reflect the political, cultural, military, and scientific development of the Wei and Jin Dynasty age...an insight into this ancient Chinese feudal society.