The Xinjiang China THEY Don't Want YOU to SEE... (British Couple's SHOCKING EXPERIENCE)

China !!! forget everything you think you know about China for years it's been dark headlines in the news. a land of mega cities and ancient Secrets but what about the reality? the human story? wow we even have a tank in the background with some security With a mix of nervousness and burning curiousity we hopped on the plane ready to see Xinjiang for ourselves with no tour guides no scripts it's just raw reality Welcome to Xinjiang we ventured into Xinjiang. a region shrouded in controversy we are heading in blind, camera in hand. Would we find a cultural Wonderland or a simmering pot of tension? This isn't your average vacation This is about to get real hello welcome to another episode from the capital of Xinjiang we are in Urumqi at the moment and we're super thrilled to be here for many reasons one is thta it is considered as one of the most controversial areas in China if you rely on the western media and what they report then you wouldn't normally hear anything positive coming out of this region because one of them being Muslims aren't treated properly they're oppressed, they can't practice their religion among many other things so why not come down here and see the way of life of people here one of the biggest cities in Central Asia Urumqi in Xinjiang good morning to you good morning welcome to the most Inland city in the world that means it is the most remote City furthest from any sea that is crazy it's a little colder as you can tell we're in the northwest of China now so we took a 3 and 1/2 hour flight morning and now look we're out and about wandering I did not think Urumqi would look anything like this wait let me just go back a little and show you guys what we're talking about because this is main downtown where we're staying and this place is huge it's got tall buildings it's got all the brands in the world I was thinking it's not going to be as developed we thought maybe it's going to be one of the remotest places in China which by the way it is but look this is like any other downtown area in any City it looks beautiful big wide Roads and there's brands everywhere this is so cool look at that so far the first impressions of Urumqi it looks very developed more than I thought it would be definitely so I was not expecting to see big buildings huge malls I was thinking much smaller scale more local but I'm pleased to say wow it just gives you an idea about the development and how far China has come as far as progression is concerned because if this is considered as underdeveloped What this has our favorite shop here, Mixue our favorite place in the whole world shall we start with a mixue? yes we can start with mixue yeah sure should we get it let's go let's do it warm my hands up a bit as you can see from what I'm wearing around my neck it's cold here I mean the rest of China is experiencing spring time Urumqi is still single figures during the day and at night it's minus 3 and it's cold hello this one's my phone yes thank you here we go see we will practice our Mandarin soon yes 1 means one alipay or wechat to the rescue but it's actually so wamr in here also they have these plastic sheets that come down we saw these in Beijing where it was much cooler temperatures again the sunrise and sunset is much later than the rest of China so sun is rising around 8 a.m. and setting around 8:30 p.m. so we're getting up much later we're getting up much later perfect wow look at this we've got some huge bread hello look at this these all on the side is lots of different types here to this is going to be the best in Xinjiang it's very famous and very popular there's lots of different food here Uyghur Cuisine is very similar to middle Eastern right you've got a lot of rice like Pilao rice you've got a lot of Naan bread you've got a lot of kebabs, like the meat skewers as well so we are looking forward to trying this I am so ready for all the different foods we're going to have there's lots of Street Stalls down here feels a bit like a street Food culture where you can go and choose oh my gosh look at all of those wow what is this wow this is huge huge wow there's so many different types of breads as well and there's a big thing about fruits here as well yes there's lots of fresh fruits as well I think the climates are perfect for growing fruits and having a lot of variety as well we've seen watermelons strawberries oranges pomegranate apples and sugar cane oh look at that that's huge as well wow black sugar cane as well darker never seen that variation before I always used to think sugarcane was a thing of warmer temperatures yeah I thought so too I didn't think it would grow here but Urumqi does have very hot summers like temperatures way above 40 they have long daylight hours in the summer but in the winters they're cold they're short they're dark where's my friend going can you see around us there we go okay we are heading straight up this road here you guys we're checking out the local areas we are staying in a very nice hotel it is pretty centrally located so we're going to take a walk through and just kind of see where we end up yeah the plan is to go head over to the bazaar the more hustling bustling part of the city and show you around Urumqi which so far seems very very normal just like any other city so I'm just interested to see what the Western media has been reporting down here so the province of Xinjiang is definitely a very controversial one over in the west if you read the news you will have most likely heard pretty negative things come out around Xinjiang there's lots of questions there's lots of curiosity I guess as to what is going on here is there any truth to it honestly we don't know you guys we are here just to see the city to see Urumqi meet some locals try some really delicious food and see another incredible part of China here we're excited to explore this city I think it's going to be very different to the other cities here in China it already has much more of an authentic and local feel and I also think that there are lots of ethnicities here you guys so it's going to be a bit of a different one it's going to be a bit of a blend there's Kazakhs, Uzbeks there are Uyghurs, there's Han Chinese there's Hui it's a real blend it's very diverse so let's go check it out see what Urumqi is like welcome oh look at that wow this place just opened up from the side alleys to a main square there's a massive mosque there oh is that a mosque or is that like a museum maybe a mosque I don't know I'm just saying it's a mosque because of the Dome yeah true the majority population in this area in this province of Xinjiang follows Islam you guys so we are expecting to see a lot of mosques and I'm curious to see are they the same are they different in style in practice we have got snow on the roads down here as well so you can tell we're not faking it it is chilly it is a bit cold yeah that's the reason I've got this on hopefully it's not going to snow while we're here yeah we don't exactly have winter clothes we are not made for the winter either we hate the cold honestly but it's a long traffic light here while we wait oh there is a green man a red man Over The Other Side Green Man Green Man Okay so look at this just to give you an idea about how big the city looks this is also known as one of the biggest cities here in Central Asia along the same level as Tashkent the capital in Uzbekistan this is massive okay speaking of we've seen a few of these around police cars in town that's quite... I don't know I don't know what to make of it because nowhere else in China we've actually seen anything like this but here there's there's a few so it could be a bit unnerving at times because you don't know what to expect but hey I think they're here just for the safety of people because there were some incidents back in 2012-2013 here in Xinjiang so I think they're just here for the safety of people look at that the view looks so much better from here beautiful love it don't know what the building is I think it's probably a museum or a mosque or a train station no look there's a mosque here behind us oh look at that that looks beautiful I wonder if you can go inside and see what's happening all right so far Urumqi looks amazing it looks way bigger than we expected we still haven't got to the Bazaar yet seems normal minus the extra police obviously so let's go ask Uncle if we can go inside there we are asalam alaikum can we go inside the Mosque yeah thank you wow the architecture looks so beautiful wow the domes are so Grand it's like being in Turkey or something because this is also on the Silk Road the history as it goes back 1500 years ago the Arab traders used to come down here so obviously with them came the religion Islam as well they all settled down here the region of Central Asia obviously it's close to Kyrgyzstan it's close to Kazakhistan as well so there is a lot of Muslim influence in the area let's see if we can go inside let's go this looks like shops yeah there's shops on the ground floor jewelry oh look at this beautiful very nice we came on the ground floor I think we've got like shops and things I've never seen this before in the ground floor of a mosque it's like a big Market I guess it's for all the girls if they want to get their jewelry or the hair products beauty products how can we go up? I think out and up oh is it yeah I think so okay so we were more interested in going into the mosque if we can we seem to have entered the side where there's like shops instead so to my understanding they've converted the bottom floor into shops so it keeps bringing some income for the mosque but I don't know if the mosque's open right now I'm not sure Let's ask our friend here oh is it not time for prayers closed all day? we go out this way okay thank you oh very fancy there we go okay so at the time I don't think we can go I didn't understand if that was closed right now because it's not time for the prayers yet okay so I think when it's time for prayers then they do open up the mosque so you can go and check it out then I guess got you because I don't think there's a lot of tourists who come here so foreigners are not exactly frequenting Urumqi very often so I guess it's not the kind of thing where it's open to people you can't really exactly go in have a look I guess it's only open if you're going in at the right time to pray oh mind the bike oh my gosh that was so close wow this is a lot more developed and built up than I thought it was going to be we've got roads here that are three lanes there's not a lot of traffic about shops on both sides we've got a restaurants we've got a lot of jewelry shops, banks and a lot more cars in this city as well in most of the other cities it feels like it's been a lot of bikes again I would like to say if you rely on all the negativity that you hear in the media about Xinjiang and what's going on down here then you would not expect any of this nope you would not you would live a very miserable and sad life because unfortunately the news is full of constant negativity you guys we like to enjoy the positive things in life we like to come out see things for ourselves and so far it's a pretty normal city my idea of Urumqi was not even 20% of this I'd be very honest because I was thinking should we fear for our safety when we're here no is it going to be developed is there any infrastructure there or not I don't know I see another mosque over in the corner as well there's going to be a lot of these going forwards I think I don't know what this building up here is this looks pretty big oh look we've got some tea on the side some dates we've got another armored vehicle behind us that I'm not going to really point at because I don't want to make it too obvious but look at the signs here yes the signs are in the Uyghur language which is an Arabic script yeah I think we can go because I saw Uncle walking thank you we're on the crossing wait for us there was no green man there so it was tricky but yeah that's an interesting thing as well the Uyghur language is in the Arabic script so that's pretty cool it's like Chinese and Arabic written together it just fascinates me every time I see that but look over there on the shop front the language is all in Mandarin and in the Uyghur language that is so cool right got some 4x4s here got some nice fancy Mustangs here as well just like you would expect from a nice big thriving City A man here keeping the city clean hello look at that beauty some horsepower there we are like a normal city so what's the hype all about negative hype as well I don't understand that like this is a completely different part of China altogether go ahead check the map out probably I might just put it up here on the screen somewhere but Xinjiang Urumqi is the sort of area in China that gets overlooked by 9.9 out of 10 people

nobody normally visits down here you would hardly ever see any tourist frequent Uurmqi or Xinjiang normally because it's not easy to get to and also because of the negative press that it gets so far I say head over here guys because nice and normal and a bustling thriving City there's definitely a big increase of cameras as well oh yeah look so now from observation we can say this we've been to a few cities in China we've been to Beijing Shanghai Tianjin Chengdu there's definitely more camera presence here in Urumqi than any other City so far that we've noticed comment below let us know if we're wrong but again not that there's anything wrong with it because we are pro cameras we have no issues because if you haven't done anything wrong you have nothing to be worried about as far as cameras are concerned but then again just stating an observation right be resprectful but look now we're in front of this big dome building and it looks like it's housing lots and lots of jewelry shops what is it? a shopping mall do you think you know what I'm not sure it could be yeah it looks pretty cool like the domes are sweet they look a bit European as well they do I wanted to say that as well they've got that like European architecture to them and the people here the locals their appearance is definitely different to the rest of China yes because it's more Central Asian yeah the features are definitely noticebly different Xinjiang borders how many Central Asian countries? there's definitely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan as well Mongolia, India I think too there's some music going on as well see normal guys just going around their business having a good time music blaring why not 74% of the population I heard somewhere is Muslim and everyone seems to be going on with that business nice and normal so happy days that's what we're here for to see people cracking on with their normal lives going about with that day-to-day life and if there's any mths about the place not being safe or whatever let's just debunk that I mean we're just here stating our observations that's all it is there's another mosque behind there another beautiful Dome there's another one over there beautiful wow I'm just wishing that the Sun comes out because it's getting a bit cold just a little bit but this is why I was saying the locals here the features are very different which is so cool strength in diversity as they say busy busy busy seems like we're getting to the main downtown area or the market area or something because I see lots of people straight up ahead some more food here it looks like a grilled chicken all the food here looks and smells delicious I'm so ready when my tummy's hungry later guys we're going to Feast I can tell you that wow okay let me quickly see which way we're supposed to go we're going here or there because everywhere looks busy and we're at crossroads right now so let's find out also if you guys are wondering we're recording on our big camera we've not been told off by anyone there's been lots of police lots of security forces about no one said nothing we've gone past them they've been on camera as well no one said nothing so again here's another thing that the media would have you believe was really strict down here it's been okay it's been all right no problem. What is this? Is this a mosque, I don't know but the architecture is huge you would not associate this with China no you would not it does not feel like we are in a Chinese City it feels very very very different yes it's giving me kind of similar to Turkish Vibes yeah this is amazing this is very Grand I'm not sure if it's a mosque or if it's just a market I can see shops on the ground floor this looks like a castle look at it it's got the little turrets the Minar at the Top I'm curious to know what this is whether it's some kind of bazaar wow here we are look at this this is amazing it's so many different colors on the outside as well and different designs and patterns looks like it was used for something kind of Regal all right this here is the snow Lotus now what does the snow Lotus represent in Xinjiang so in the region it's normally used as a sign of prosperity it's a sign of Harmony all of the nationalities ethnicities living together in peace that is pretty cool because you've got this here in Mandarin you've got that written here in English as well you've got some writing here in Uyghur Arabic script that is pretty cool to see like all of these writings together this one here as well I believe is Uyghur Arabic script this one is a mix it's a mosque yes but it has the Chinese architecture up top and this one is brand new there we go I like this I like the mix of all old and new old and contemporary but we are heading straight up because Taz is taking us towards the international Grand Bazaar here look this looks like some meat maybe looks good what else have we got some rice and some meat in there yeah that's a big pot look at that wow oh some more and we got naan with that as well got some rice we got some more lamb shanks in there wow the other thing that I've noticed about the Uyghur language is it sounds very similar to Turkish but it's not it's written completely differently it's so loud back there sounds like we're getting close to the bazaar they're grabbing your attention I see it Grand bazaar straight up okay it sounds very similar to Turkish but it's not it's like a regional thing so over the years hundreds and thousands they've all combined together yay that was so cool I love it Taz has seen the food making some dumplings look at that dumplings vegetables some meat he's going to scoop them up there very nice you're famous you're a model do you want some yeah how much money? how much money show the calculator guys this is what happens we struggle with communication a little bit but we tell them do you get it okay so can we get five three Yuan each okay the boys are making jokes I was going to say I think we're probably the butt of some jokes here but look we've got different vegetables it smells so nice I was like we definitely have to sample some dumplings because I think Urumqi is popular for its dumplings yes and maybe it's noodles as well yes I guess there's some noodles I think they're called Lamian Noodles but it means like pulled noodles basically and there's lots of different rice wow this looks good we've got rice over here as well huge pot some meat at the back we've got dumplings Galore dumplings it's going to be a foodie feast while we're in Urumqi I can tell you that that is looking amazing okay this is the place where we've just picked some food up from they've got a nice restaurant inside I bet it's much warmer in there it's looking busy in there already we're going to go and pay we're going to go in here you guys Taz is just going to pay okay finished yes okay let's go very nice are you ready thank you I know how to say thank there we go so slightly different from Mandarin however Mandarin is still widely spoken here so take your dumplings by the side of the road why not it's got to be done I want to have them while it's still nice and hot yes look at this it looks like a flower oh yeah I like how they've done it they've put them in a nice Tin foil pot because it's cold out here right now so if they don't insulate them they're going to go cold they are big dumplings you know look at the size of them wow they are four Yuan each that's not bad that's like £0.40 each have you seen the size look at that these are massive and the steam coming off those be careful they're not hot might be I was going to say maybe hold them because I think that they will be pretty hot look at us just perched on literally the side of the street why not we could have gone inside the restaurant you know and been nice and warm over there but no I don't want to get too comfortable he wants to do it street style 4 Yuan per dumpling not bad that is pretty good value and they are huge inside what have they got lamb in them and it looks like a mixture of something got lamb got onions ooh yum I would give these 8 out of 10 easy oh wow really good check this out there's some performance going on here some local ladies dancing where are we look at this but look at the architecture here this does not look like China if I was to blindfold you guys or if somebody was to Blind for me and just left me here I'd be like this is definitely not China the architecture that's very reminiscent of the Arab world wow this is so cool over there I have no idea what that is but that looks pretty cool as well in the golden dome and this music going on different as well this is where people are here in Urumqi everyone is out and about it's busier here or it's the busiest here oh look wow look at that that looks like where they pour that delicious mint tea from we love a bit of that but I think this is a big mall you guys wow I'm loving this place this is amazing this is so different to what I expected and we also have a Urumqi Metro station over here the city is pretty pretty well connected I have to say what have we got over here Mixue and Mary Brown but a Marry Brown there's a double R over there wow this is so cool okay this is pretty cool I was not expecting to see anything like this while we were here in Urumqi I was expecting it to be like a little bit more older fashioned right a bit more like not underdeveloped but just not as many high buildings not as many malls we have a HeyTea and a Chagee over here as well don't know if I've said that right but and by the way Urumqi in the Mongol language literally translates to beautiful pasture and that it is it's got some incredible Landscapes if you head outside of the city it's got some incredible Landscapes maybe we'll get the chance to explore maybe we won't I'm not sure but is that the metro station yes it is I'm not sure take the metro as well then we do of course we do that's another surprising thing about Urumqi no idea they had metros as well okay we'll check that out later today but I want to check the bazaar first yes of course we're going to go check it out see what it is about there's definitely more people out and about here you guys I was thinking that as the day goes on it's probably going to pick up a little bit more because Urumqi feels a bit like late risers right because the sun sets later because it rises later I think they're a little bit days longer yeah so they take their time coming out this is Grand Bazaar Pedestrian Mall there we go I was not expecting to see as many malls here in Urumqi either they're popping up left right and Center Green man in three two one let's go across we go like we mentioned before you guys there are different areas where you have to go through quite a few check points but it's just there for your security makes it a little safer I guess like I was saying we have Mixue there we go okay we're heading in here this way this is the exit okay we need to go through another security over here so this is the way we're going bag check there we go are we ready? we are Grand Bazar Pedestrian Mall Entrance B this is where we were yes we were the other side of the road in this Grand building or we're walking behind it actually okay let's go through here we're going through here right one second I'll put this through see you in a minute we got it okay oh this one's closed I was trying to go through the one that's taped together okay we made it through another bag check so now I think we're into the main area I can already bet this place will definitely come alive at night because it just seems that way what is this Grand Bazar food street is 50 m ahead people are selling dried fruits dates all that kind of thing they're selling breads they're selling nann what else we've got some stuffed toys here all purple for a reason maybe Urumqi has some beautiful Lavender Fields I think as well so that's quite cool I guess that's why we're seeing it look at the genie lamp that is so cool rub one and then you will have your wishes granted you'll have your own Genie and Camels some Camels here you got some traditional dresses so colorful I love it look at this the head wear is so cool with these hanging bits and the ornaments would you like one of these local hats yeah of course it's so bright and beautiful I love seeing the different cultural dress and all the different designs and styles imagine dressing up your baby in this this is so cool so fluffy and plush I absolutely love it can I also just say I've never seen stuffed toy camels look at these that is so cool and a llama I'm not sure what the llama alpaca or llama same same hello my friend thank you later we come back yes thank you the guy knew it the guy knew it he's like just walk around and then come back yes because I need to walk to build up an appetite again because them dumplings were huge right what have we got here maybe there will be something going on here later today because there's a little stage area yes there is there's a stage there's a screen there you've got the lights here so maybe in the evening there's some sort of performance that goes on that would be pretty cool I am super looking forward to check this area out after Sundown because I think it will definitely come to life with the lights going on and where do we go here left looks busy or here left this way left we go left okay I think definitely like you were saying it's going to pick up tonight Iftar time I think everybody's going to be out about doing some shopping but come and look at this you guys because I don't think I've ever seen this animal before let alone a stuffed animal are you ready it's got something to do with fur so I want to see your reaction ready no look up the top what are these these are like a mink these are like a mountain car no they're like I don't even know these are so cool that is so cool and these look are these wolves? do you think these are like foxes no isn't it a mink? isn't that what it's called if that came out at me from the Wilderness if I ever was there taking a walk or something I would absolutely be scared I can imagine but look at all of these they're so furry oh they're really soft and there's loads of different hats at the back so in the winter you're not going to be cold because they look warm some jackets matching one for your kids I love this Xinjiang's got some cool places Urumqi has all the gear you're not going to be cold here that's for sure when those temperatures drop down they've got you covered they've got you covered with some warm gear wow I just love that they have magnets with naan or a magnet is a naan bread is that a meat magnet yeah and there's meat skewers here too like little models of the food and meat skewers together okay we might have to collect a souvenir of Urumqi these are so beautiful I really like them they're Stones painted lots of different designs on them pandas SpongeBob camels that is so cool I really love that ah and these are just so colorful these different hats here with all the beads sequins different designs these ones have got little bits hanging down as well so pretty oh this is beautiful actually this is really nice I love the designs on them all the geometric all the brass wear as well we're big fans of souvenirs down here what are these ornaments wow they've got different animals here too some deer, horses what's this Ram? could be Ibex because it's very popular in the area though yep very true snowy mountainous areas of course little bit higher yes very true I love this already I love this the souvenirs are so cool it's like things that we've not really seen anywhere else in China but then again it's region specific as well these are like your anklets and your bracelets really pretty there's a lot of jewelry around here as well and it's just all really colorful everything clothing hats I've seen some shoes some bags jewelry everything has got really bright colors and I'm so here for it because usually my wardrobe is just black and white Libby for scale that is a massive naan the local musical instruments that's a guitar snake skin this is probably snakes it definitely is wow this is so cool that's like your local Regional guitar beautiful again guys need your help now if you know the name of the instruments comment below let us know what are these? beautiful ring toss if you fancy you can win a Big King Kong there all right I have also noticed another thing is some of these stalls well this one's manned there's some of these that have no people but the stalls are all set up and what they've done is they've left the QR code out so you can see the price which is here 59 Yuan choose what you want to go for and then relying on the goodness of your nature and your honesty pick one up pay for it and finished wow that is amazing I've not seen that anywhere else so the stall not maned the price is there the QR code is there pick whatever you want pay for it wow you got to be honest people wait for me there's henna here can I get some yeah of course you can you want to get it now let's do it there's no one here okay you can't do self henna can you no I was just going to say noone's here I wanted to get some Henna designs like this 30 Yuan for this it looks so pretty I love Henna and anytime I see it I'm always like yes do it do it because I love it but this is the first time I've seen this here in China so there you go you guys this just goes to show the Muslim influence that's here in this Bazaar let's see what's happening here the music's really funky love it again sounds very Turkish it does it does look at these Arabic these are like massive tubes full of fruit making our way down because this looks like a massive Food Market but we got some dried fruits and things here right I thought it was one shop this place seems to go on for a bit so I think it's an underground Market look the Queen! but I don't know what it says it's got some chinese there's a photo of the queen here well did she visit this place in 1986 guys read this and please translate this one for us okay who's that okay we need your help did the late queen visit? otherwise it's quite random to have a photo of her but moving on to the Underground Market that is a giant teapot the traditional Arabic style teapot here which is also Regional too Urumqi & Xinjiang moving down let's see what's happening here they got lots and lots of fruits everywhere I thought for a minute that was real wow they do really big watermelons down here but no it's not real can you imagine we got shops selling Regional clothes and things that's pretty cool got some bits down here as well what is that lavender lavender what's the purpose of this? do you hang this somewhere or yeah I think it's for scent it smells nice but it's very light they're really pretty these are the kind that you'd see in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul in Turkey lots of dried fruits lots of seeds and nuts ooh Some raisins I think maybe grapes a grape you can see the sign right there yumm this is real what these grapes as well yes these are all dried now this is air curing Barn for raisins okay so is this where they get them all from oh look at this so cool so you just leaving them out to air dry then I guess so maybe it's like temperature controlled and then this is pretty cool this has been quite educational can I just say that I have no idea no wasn't expecting any of this from Urumqi what an educational Journey here in Xinjiang Urumqi what is happening here every step you take there is something new going on yeah this is walnut yes look Walnut every time I question it I see a sign warming your hands up I don't know maybe how do you eat a walnut I don't really like them is it warm? look at that it's not it's just light wow there's a lot down here walnuts Jujube there we go these songs really remind me of Aladdin oh look this is honeycomb this is Xinjiang black honey lavender honey ooh different choices there we go you can find pretty much everything you want to find here in Urumqi it's got it all of course is this wine yes from the grapes and from The Vineyards that they were just showing wow no this is absolutely fascinating I was not expecting any of this they have pomegranate it's here too in Urumqi this looks like donkey milk donkey milk powder there you go if you fancy any donkey milk then there you go apricots alright guys you can find absolutely everything and look at this camel milk powder what camel milk powder I guess that's to be expected right because there are camels in the area they're found here this is how they did a lot of their trade back on the Silk Road many years ago so they'd bring all of their goods in on donkeys or camels oh look just like that donkey down there we are wandering these streets you guys inside the grand Bazar we have Xinjiang little flower hats over here these are the colorful ones we were talking about and I can see Taz has already found something what have you found pomegranate oh yum okay cool we found a little stall here which is just on the side in front of this beautiful building over here and Taz decided he's in the mood for some pomegranate 12 Yuan that's the cheapest because normally these are like 20 or 25 or something like that we've started falling in love with pomegranate juice again we love it anyway but it's just not as easy to find it comes in a plastic bottle oh been packaged up for us already is it fresh oh my gosh it's just the way you love it the real deal oh share some share the love oh my Lord this is so good I'm going to get one more if you're going to have this wow that is good that is so strong very fruity very fresh it's quite nice though because it's cold but wasn't from a fridge or anything it was just from outside so that tells you how cold it is oh yum wow look at this you guys oh look what Taz found he's found a little Corridor of love hearts always and forever I love it this is so cool you've got this heart tunnel on the pedestrian street here in Urumqi this is really cool it's like very colourful let's walk through it just make sure to walk on the middle bit oh yeah it's got little dips in it don't want to go through it that would not be so fun look we got some street art over to the side as well this is beautiful there's donkeys everywhere is that's a clay over? there is a dedicated Naan store here okay we have to go and look at this can we eat some I just saw that bit outside that's the Clay Oven yes of course we can is the answer let's go in and then maybe we can go back and take photos that is amazing directly opposite look at this huge mosque but beautiful there's another one look at that oh you know what I just found the tower that I've been looking for for so long there is that Tower back there yes all right let's see the naan store first yeah let me finish my pomegranate let's go inside take you guys with us and and show you what the naan inside looks like because this is the speciality of the region of Xinjiang where there's so much naan but it's called Nang here is it slightly different yeah Nang same thing though yeah exactly the same thing just slightly different pronunciations so anyway we're going to head in let's go I love this look at this big Nang bread Taz for scale it is huge imagine if you were given that to eat yummy okay let's go in we're going to go and check out this Grand Bazaar Nang so in we go through the Nang door I think this is going to be an experience and a half welcome to the Museum of Nang look at this we have a ginormous Christmas tree of Nang breads wow is it real no made just for display imagine people would come in and try to eat them or something I love that that is so cool wow and then look we have here Nang with flour made from wheat flour or corn flour the Nang with wheat flour have the original flavor of wheat which permeates all over the tip of the tongue it's the most common nang just plain with some sesame got a star one up there small size bigger size nang with edible oil I wasn't expecting it to be sweet what have you found something cool up here look at that the wall ooh yeah I think this is kind of like the traditional style of table as well so you sit on the floor it's a lower table and you sit around like communal style also in the Nang Shop these are the photos that we have I don't know are these guys like local celebrities who've been here look at that enjoy the naan here guys you can sit here enjoy I love the tablecloth very seasonal very colorful I love the pattern on it beautiful okay I understand thank you welome the donkey is a special symbol of Xinjiang apparently cool look at this another massive naan and this is the clay oven in which the naan's prepared is it on right now thankfully not because it would be a blast furnace well okay so you stick the Naan here all around like this and then you've got oh my guys at work this is an actual clay oven here it's on the wall there like a tandoor he sticks it on there and then he's going to put it right down inside ready and so he's probably got 20 or 30 in there on the go at the same time and he's dipping it in what seems to be butter or garlic or something it would be garlic I think wouldn't it be egg could be eeg it seals the bread I think so then it doesn't go dry I think it could be it could be anything like a glaze almost look at the stack of Naans in the back so many naan on Naan this is the Naan dream world here guys yeah it is okay crazy look at the pattern on the floor as well so gorgeous finished at the Naan store beautiful I love it oh the entire floor is like this so cool eat naans until your hearts content these are actual this is real now this isn't on display look you can actually get it how big that is wow oh my goodness there's all different sizes all different shapes five yuan five another five these are all five how much was the big one the big one is eight yuan that can feed a whole family for less than a pound you got some chilies here well you've got quite a bit of variety of stuff going on these are some sweets some more sweets these are the the nut bar almost like a granola bar but it's got nuts sugar glazing that was pretty cool that was really cool actually all right enjoy that let's go and check that tower out because I wanted to see what that looks like we're almost here couldn't find it earlier and now we have there's the donkey again this is the symbol of Xinjiang apparently so go stand next to this guy this architecture is literally like being in an Arab country like the Middle East Jordan or somewhere in Morocco or even Abu Dhabi in the desert somewhere isn't there a really similar really famous mosque in Uzbekistan that looks exactly identical to this entrance but it's decorated with like blue and green tiles yeah it looks so similar to that that's what it made me think architecture is literally nothing like you would imagine being in China this is very very cool what is this I don't know I mean I thought this was a Minar like a tower from a mosque but it's like a standalone Tower so I don't know maybe like a Viewpoint from up there must be cool the views of Urumqi from up there must be amazing so what do we have down here on the ground level again some more shops some more musical instruments but this place is coming to life now but you can tell as the day goes on there's more and more people coming out so Urumqi is a late start to the day kind of thing because the days here are so long it's so loud here feels like everybody's just woken up what time is it almost 300 p.m. can you go up I think so I think you might be able to go up there is an entrance there here's the tower there's different things here second floor third floor all the way to the seventh floor what's happening let's have a look right what's the deal I see 30 yuan okay is it locked no it's just a heavy door hello hi can we get two 30 yuan two and we're going to go up I'm not sure if the seventh floor is the highest or if it's just the highest you can go to I don't know but we've got lots of different pictures in here these are beautiful this looks like they're depicting the different kind of landscape some of the culture I absolutely love it seven floor all the way okay you can go and it's 60 and means yes yes there we we go we're picking up the ticket you can go to the seventh floor all the way to the top oh okay so we can go up to the seventh floor so there we go we're going to go and see what it's like I wonder if we can see outside if we can see the views and things like that so all the way to the seventh okay thank you so you can go to the seventh floor but there's bits on every single floor okay let's do this wow we're starting off great you guys look at these costumes and outfits oh they're beautiful okay here we go we honestly are not too sure what we're walking into are we taking the steps why don't we take the steps on the way back okay so let's go up in the lift and then come down work smart not hard so I'm not taking the steps going up I'm taking the steps on the way down because less work it's a very smart idea while we wait for the lift look at these outfits here wow they're so colorful and bright it's the night view of where we are right now amazing look at that yeah we've got the mosque on the one side or actually at the front there and then we've got the big tower in the Middle look at that beautiful let's wait for this lift and then we are going to head up I think we're going to go to the seventh floor and work our way down you guys so there we are where is it so you can go as high up as the sixth and from there I think you take the steps oh got a little video playing so you got a little video going on here don't understand a little history about the place maybe no maybe an ad but all right it's about some reflexology and now there's a rooster wake up Early guys talk about random not sure but sixth floor very nice oh is this like a little cafe wow yeah I was not expecting this up here oh my days it looks like we're in Arabian Nights these Lamps are so beautiful look at this this is nothing short of quite literally very extravagant Arabian cafe or something I had no idea this place existed here look at the views and it's still snow peak mountains there look oh I only just saw those they are covered the Peaks are still snowing wow this just gives you guys an idea how cold it is down here it is actually freezing it's only going to get colder at night because it drops down below zero so happy days this is a little view of the city of Urumqi not bad what else is happening here let's have a look so you can go all the way around do a little 360 my friend sat here already chilling so this is the place where you probably just sit down here oh hello hello what are you doing here small world yeah so crazy they should be called like the dome city because there's domes everywhere quite literally like there's some here some there there we were down there literally just a minute ago come this way look you're going to see dome here Domes everywhere I think from here I can probably see about five mosques already so that just tells you there's a lot here it's all in quite a close neighborhood but I love it we're going up can do yeah I don't know can we there's like colorful steps here going up but does it go all the way up don't know I think the downtown area is there okay give you guys an idea look at that there are some high rises here in Urumqi as well again all see this is why I always recommend everyone anytime you're traveling right anytime you hear something about somewhere always make sure you go there if you can if you can travel there go check the place out for yourself because it might be so so opposite to what it's made out to be in the news because in the news it was like literally all negativity down here but it couldn't be farther from it hello I found it what is it I don't think this is a view from here though I think there's something like a display maybe we don't know what's happening on the seventh floor but is it even open there's some kind art telling a story but as I was saying if you hear anything about any place mostly if it's negative if you can travel to the place check it out for yourself make up your own mind because most of the times it would be very different to what you hear in the news or in the media just like with Urumqi such a cool place what a pleasant surprise guys I have had such a cool time here already this morning it's very very different to the rest of China but so cool so we came up to the seventh floor which is the highest that you can come to and there's all different artwork along the walls and there is some explanations but it is all in Chinese of course so there's no view as such from this floor but we did just manage to slightly translate this one here where this big stone is and it looks like it's something to do with Buddhism and I think they said if you touch the stone and you make a wish your wish will be granted there's like these different prayer cards kind of and they're hanging here looks like people have written something on it and then you leave it make your wish I guess and it should come true at some point so this is cool look the whole way around all the panels are decorated this is just to give you guys an idea how big of a city Urumqi is it goes out quite far in the distance it's sprawling like one of the biggest cities here in Central Asia right that's what I've heard it is they're population that I had according to the censes in 2020 is over 4 million which makes it one of the largest I think tashkent is around 3 something million people but yeah it's one of the largest here in Central Asia which is absolutely crazy I had no idea because it's quite a remote City it took us 3 and a half hours on a flight so imagine if you were on the east coast in Shanghai I think it takes 5 hours yeah 5 and a half hours from Shanghai to which it is far China is a huge country that just gives you an idea that from end to end it's 5 and 1/2 hours yeah you don't realize you don't think it would be but isn't it bigger than Australia the same size Australia I think so by land mass China is like the top five that's crazy wow wow we are done here on the sixth floor I just wanted to you guys to have an idea about how big Urumqi is so this is one of the highest points here that we can actually get to I think they might be somewhere higher than this but this is where we are right now so enjoy the views we're done here so let's go down !!!!!! so there's bits on the walls and everything is really educational as you come down and look at this what is that? that's like a village with a wolf look at this is that a real wolf? taxidermy oh wow that is so cool yeah that made me jump even though I know it's stuffed, that's weird oh all right so we've got a Xinjiang Beauty here and there's a village a depiction of the village here of how beautiful it is looks very very beautiful and then there's this wolf running wild everywhere and then you come to the rescue and oh there's some camels here I love it and now just like that we're back on the ground floor yay we made it let's explore Xinjiang and Urumqi a bit more smells really nice thank you bye-bye out here oh it's picking up it's party time so we can see straight up it says Silk Road pedestrian street and you will never guess what we've seen while we're on the site of the grand Bazar of course Mixue we cannot go anywhere without there being at least one so I'm kind of not surprised but look at this I think we can go inside I'm not sure what to expect we've got lots of dates and dried fruits and nuts and things out here let's see the Silk Road pedestrian street... these are dates!!

yeah wow they are look they're stuffed yeah they'r walnuts oh we love a good date we're quite partial to a good one aren't we that would be really good for winter as well keep you nice and warm inside yes for sure oh this looks like a a Bazar like a market aha oh wow wow look both of us at the same time it looks like a market when you go to Egypt or the Arab countries like Dubai we're on the inside now of the Silk Road pedestrian street and it feels very similar to Turkey yes to Istanbul to the Grand Bazaar oh look at all of these we've got the musical instruments and then we've got these ones here which are knives they're obviously not just usual knives wow look at that collection they're fancy blades and different handles on them too that's so cool I love it wow and he's uh doing something to it maybe sharpening it or polishing it I think actually maybe cleaning it look at all of this inside we've got an even grand part in here this looks really fancy and through there I think we're going to take a walk through here though and see what else there is lots of Gems and Beads here wow look at this we got some soaps some beauty bits some more dates I think over here wow I can't believe this you guys I was not expecting to feel as though I'm walking through this bazaar we've got magnets as well and more of these traditional hats that these girls are wearing and even more jewelry and the jewelry is very bright very out there big designs these are all like hanging earrings the ones that are much longer than the usual I am so surprised it's quite quiet in here though it's kind of tucked away you almost wouldn't really know it was here we were almost on our way out until we saw it we've got some rugs over here as well very nice wow oh my goodness you guys this is crazy Urumqi is full of surprises today I wasn't expecting to see half of this but some gloves we definitely be needing those they look nice and warm down there like thick these are camel wool I think socks I love the blue colour and the designs on all of this Pottery looks very much like Uzbekistan yes the color on all of these all the bronze wear brass wear don't know what the right word is you guys but all these plates up here too and the dresses wow I love this look how bright they are and shiny there's lots of beading and detailing on them you would be able to spot me from a mile off if I was wearing one of them and these bags as well so nice we saw some of these designs outside really cool oh this would be so warm right now feel that so soft I love this place already this is like a market lovers absolute dream if you like to shop and you like to walk down busy Market Streets you can come here it's not so busy which is actually so nice because you can breathe you can enjoy there's all these different crafts different bits and pieces all of these beads as well and gems I think they're used to make all of these beautiful necklaces bracelets different bits and look we've got bowls even and a teapot made out of Jade I think it's it's a certain type of stone that's all in Uyghur language is it? yeah oh there we go every day is a school day here you guys we did not think that any of this would be here and honestly we are learning lots already about being here in Urumqi seeing things for ourselves experiencing things I love these so cool they're like little miniature ones this so pretty a completely different side of China that you would not expect exists so I would suggest 10 out of 10 if you guys are making a plan to visit China if you've got a Time come here you would not regret it because there's is so much diversity in this beautiful country of China literally like everywhere you go there's something new going on and Xinjiang is a completely different region all together like Urumqi has been really really good like we did not expect this at all wow we're blown away completely look at this so we just stumbled across this store because Taz saw saffron and we spoke with this lovely lady and she was telling us that you can put it in your drink so you can drink it you can yeah you can have as as tea wow okay pretty cool I don't think I've ever seen it like this Saffron you can put like in your spices in your food right what is this and the what is this and the is this to eat uh yes or is this drink yes eat okay is it like a plant yeah yes okay and what's the name yes is it spicy or how do you eat it? and it's good for your health? okay okay there you go wow thank you very much that's so cool you guys thank you bye I love to see the different spices as well because you know back in the UK we don't really get markets like this right where they have all like fruits displayed um all your different herbs and spices so to us this is something really well to me this is something very new like I don't really see it and whenever we get the chance I really like to ask what's this? what do you use this for? like it's really interesting to know okay let's go check out the rest of this Market let's do this look at these camels that we found outside you guys so camels obviously are known in Xinjiang because they transported lots of the goods through the Silk Road but we came outside right now to the Xinjiang international Grand Bazar we are right in front of the tower that we went right up to the top of and we saw all the beautiful views out of the city but it's definitely picking up now there's a lot more people here they are late risers here in Urumqi everybody's out later on people have got their little tripods over here we're taking photos there's all the elderly sitting along this little wall here it's so cute beautiful mosque in the background where is Taz? where did he go? okay we spent some time here in the international Grand Bazaar which is like we were saying earlier almost one of the world's largest bazaars or it is one of the world's largest bazaars so we came to check it out down here like we said earlier you do have to go through like certain security points to be able to get inside it's all like gated off like this bit just here you have to obviously go through certain exits and entrances they can control who comes in and out makes it nice and safe for everybody but this is crazy wow we even have a tank in the background with some security protection going on they've got the uh soldiers who are sticking out the top no this has happened twice we've walked past it there was nobody at the armed vehicle and twice when we walked past somebody just popped up so that was a little bit of a surprise it's like Jack in the Box yeah straight out makes me jump a little bit actually when they come out it makes like a sudden noise but look at this over here we now have this looks very traditional and Chinese looking this is I am not even too sure it looks like we might have a restaurant down the bottom and then some kind of Temple perhaps I have a feeling this is a mosque as well is it it's got a crescent of course it is, it does you're right and it's got some writing in Uyghur Arabic as well so it might be see I even thought I was like look we got Chinese building yeah say it's a Mosque but it's a traditional Chinese Mosque there we go pretty cool huh I love it got some strawberries here very nice hello there some really nice strawberries there look great all right should we get some of these okay that's like a plain one I think this has some sort of filling in it yes it has meat uh Sesame that looks like Bagels that's like all fresh look at these ones here these ones look like uh hello um meat inside yeah okay oh yeah you're right what is that? this is noodles? and this one? okay so it's like a lamb shank on the inside which one would you like? can we get one of these that looks good because this was all covered in there like steam coming up as well so you can tell this is nice and fresh should we try one of these yeah sure um can we get one this one thank you I think this has like a little lamb shank inside cuz I see a bone sticking out so probably it's a a lamb shank covered with bread that would be cool how much? I don't understand the symbols here for money I think for the numbers we just put our calculator it's 18 that's actually very decent okay there we go we got a bag for this you guys so we have some oh yeah Rehmat means thank you in Uyghur okay there we go they've got their blanket over these buns guys so that they keep them warm thank you so they can keep them nice and warm but these look so good oh yummy I think they're stuffed with noodles if we understood right and then one is I think we think meat cuz we saw like a bone kind of sticking out at the top so I'm interested it's going to be very very good I hope it smells good and look now we've got some busy customers Taz has just started I'm ge

2024-05-10 03:22

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