Urumqi-- specifically, Tianchi

An hour or two outside of Urumqi, there's a beautiful mountain lake called Tianchi, which means Heaven's Pool in Chinese. We went there as a family when we adopted Daniel, and then I didn't get to go when I was teaching English, because I broke my leg the night before our trip. So I wanted to take my family up, partially because it's beautiful, and partially to see how it had changed.

The first time I went, we all drove up in a minibus, and it was probably the most terrifying ride of my life. There were some steep mountain switchbacks, and instead of any guardrails, there were little concrete posts, maybe 20 feet apart from each other. I was happy to see this new development:

Guardrails!

And instead of driving all the way up, it has now been turned in to something like a National Park, and there are buses at the front gate that take you up to the top.

I like the fancy script on the bus, making the Chinese characters look also Arabic. Pretty cool!

 Heaven's Lake IS a beautiful lake:

Kevin took this gorgeous picture with the fall leaves, snow-capped peaks, and glistening lake. It really does look like this!

 Originally, I'd planned this leg of the journey because I wanted to stay the night up in a yurt. But the previous day was really cold, even down in the city, and we knew we'd freeze if we went up camping, especially with our little girls. Plus, we'd get no sleep, and it would basically be the worst vacation choice in the world. So we just did a day trip.
And so did everyone else in Urumqi. It was part of the Chinese National Day/ Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, so everyone had the day off. We walked up the frost-covered road along with hundreds of other tourists and didn't quite feel like we were in the tranquil bliss of nature. Also, you can't quite capture it in a picture, but there was a stage built on the lakeside. It would have been a beautiful backdrop for a Shakespeare in the Mountains kind of production, but since it is China, they were blaring bad Karaoke. (Is there any other kind?) So, while it is a beautiful mountain lake, we were sharing it with hundreds-- thousands by the time we left-- of other tourists, and enjoying it with a piercing soundtrack of Chinese pop.

We hiked away from the music until we found this waterfall. 

On the way back to Urumqi, there were camels grazing along the road. Awesome!!

I saw this lion sculpture juggling two little lion cubs, and I wanted to take a picture with my own squirmy little cubs.

Kevin's idea for an impromptu crib.