Overall Overview In late June 2025, our family of three completed a long-anticipated self-driving tour of the Xinjiang Ili small loop. The 9-day itinerary spanned across

Overall Overview Yining, Sayram Lake, Tekes, Kalajun, Kansu Gully, Nalati, Tangbula, and Duku Highway. The entire trip offered both breathtaking grand landscapes and a relaxed pace, making it a journey of physical and mental relaxation, visual splendor, and strong family engagement. ✈️ Flight Experience: Both outbound and return flights were with Air China, from Beijing to Yining with a stopover in Korla. However, for unknown reasons, the stopover was changed to a direct flight just before departure, but delays of varying degrees still occurred. The outbound flight landed 2 hours later than scheduled, arriving at 17:30. Fortunately, the sunset in Xinjiang is late, allowing us to complete some shopping and a quick stroll; The return flight was delayed by 7 hours, arriving in Beijing at 1:30 AM. It is recommended to allow ample time when traveling during peak season. With this flight change, Trip.com automatically rebooked a more reasonable flight and confirmed it via phone, so overall, it didn't significantly impact the itinerary. ✅ Overall Itinerary: D1: Arrived in Yining, strolled around Liuxing Street. D2: Sayram Lake, passed by Jieyou Lavender Garden, Guozigou Bridge Observation Deck, arrived at a hotel near Sayram Lake East Gate for rest. The hotel offered distant views of Sayram Lake, and we took photos of the starry sky at night. D3: Departed from Sayram Lake East Gate, toured clockwise to Sayram Lake West Sea Grassland, checked in and rested. D4: Continued touring Sayram Lake from Sayram Lake West Sea, exited from the East Gate, and headed to Tekes via Yizhao Highway. D5: Toured Kalajun Grassland, returned to Tekes in the evening, strolled around Bagua City. Tekes Bagua City (2 days). D6: Traveled from Tekes to Nalati, visited Kansu Gully along the way, arrived at Nalati homestay in the evening. D7: Toured Nalati Grassland. D8: Departed from Nalati, via Duku Highway, Tangbula. Visited Mengket Ancient Trail along the way, returned to Yining. D9: Toured Yining city until 19:00, then went to the airport for the return flight to Beijing. 🚗 Driving Experience: Drove a Tank 400 throughout the trip. Its performance was strong and stable, but the in-car system had issues, with navigation anomalies occurring very frequently every day. Once, it couldn't shift gears, but it returned to normal after restarting the system. However, there were no overall performance issues. The suspension was quite comfortable, especially on unpaved roads, where it performed very smoothly. Particularly in unpaved/high-altitude areas like Kansu Gully and Mengket Ancient Trail, it performed very reassuringly. We recommend families with light off-road needs to prioritize this type of SUV. 🌄 Highlights of Scenic Routes: Sayram Lake: Entered from the East Gate and circled the lake clockwise. Two nights' accommodation were arranged at the eastern campsite and West Sea Grassland respectively. The road around the lake was in good condition, the scenery around Songshutou was excellent, and the starry sky was particularly stunning. Yizhao Highway: Exited from Sayram Lake South Gate via Wild Wolf Valley to Tekes. The scenery along the way was picturesque, and traffic was light, offering a far superior experience compared to conventional routes. Kalajun: The grassland is vast, and the horseback riding and ATV off-road experiences were good. The scenic area's operations are relatively mature, making it suitable for families visiting Xinjiang grasslands for the first time. Kansu Gully: Unpaved road. Although the experience was not as stunning as the core grassland areas, it's worth exploring for light off-roading. Nalati: Drove into the grassland plateau, away from the crowds, with ethereal scenery. Panlong Valley Road and the flower seas along the way were unrealistically beautiful, representing the hidden gems of the Nalati area. Duku + Tangbula + Mengket: Connecting Duku Highway, Baili Hualang (Hundred-Mile Gallery), and Mengket Ancient Trail in one day was the most tiring but most worthwhile day. From magnificent to picturesque to grand, the styles varied, and Mengket Ancient Trail, in particular, was more stunning than imagined. 🏕️ Accommodation Experience: In Yining and Tekes, we chose Hanting Hotels, both very close to the central areas, primarily for rest and shopping. It's recommended to choose 1-2 standard hotels for rest during transit on the road; Saihu Chaoke Stargazing Camp was comfortable, with an excellent location and beautiful scenery, very close to Sayram Lake East Gate, also offering distant views of Sayram Lake; Muye Stargazing Camp had a good location, making it a relatively good choice for a 2-day lake-circling itinerary. However, as it's within the scenic area and only offers tents for accommodation, the facilities were relatively basic; Nalati offers a wide range of accommodation options. Homestays with courtyards are recommended for a more authentic local feel. 🍴 Food Experience: Dining is recommended in Huocheng, Kansu Town, Tekes, and Yining Old City small eateries. Especially recommended are roadside BBQ stalls (before Wild Wolf Valley), Bagua City Night Market, and Han Chinese Grand Bazaar Food Court. Xinjiang cuisine portions are large, so it's recommended for multiple people to share dishes. 📷 Photography & Drone (Due to limited ability, all photos below are raw images and have not been edited): Sayram Lake, Wild Wolf Valley, Nalati Plateau, Panlong Valley Road, and Mengket Ancient Trail are the best places for aerial photography and telephoto lenses. If time permits, scheduling sunrise or sunset photography sessions daily will greatly enrich your visual material. 🧭 Advice for Future Self-Drivers: Don't plan too many routes; carefully select a few classic spots for in-depth exploration; Don't rush the pace; allow time for observation and relaxation; Xinjiang has vast attractions, and accommodation and dining heavily rely on pre-booking. During peak season, please book as early as possible. We were very fortunate to have chosen this route, creating precious memories amidst the plateau grasslands, canyons, and snow-capped mountains. This Ili loop trip was not just a simple journey, but also a process of deep family bonding, and it allowed us to witness the vastness and charm of Western China. 🎯 Summary: Having previously visited Tibet, I naturally compared Xinjiang to it. Xinjiang's scenery is incredibly, incredibly beautiful—grasslands, lakes, canyons, and snow-capped mountains, each with its unique charm, certainly worth the long journey. However, in comparison, Xinjiang's scenery feels softer and more expansive, lacking the 'stunning' impact and the vast, oppressive feeling of the plateau that Tibet delivers. Xinjiang is like an unfolding scroll, suitable for immersive slow travel; while Tibet is like a series of monuments that instantly shock the soul, each with its own merits and lingering impressions.