Every trip is 100% halal. Certified kitchens, no pork, no alcohol — verified before you fly.
Ramadan & Eid departures with suhoor boxes and iftar tables reserved in advance.
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HomeToursXinjiangIli Valley & the Kazakh Grasslands
Xinjiang · Nature & Highlands · 8 days

Ili Valley & the Kazakh Grasslands

Kazakh horse culture, orchard country and wildflower pasture. Kalajun grassland in June, the Guozigou bridge and Sayram Lake on the road, and Hui and Kazakh halal kitchens every night.

8 days Yining · Urumqi Pace: Moderate From USD 1,420 / person 100% certified halal dining Prayer stops every day
Free quote for this route All Xinjiang routes
Overview

What the Ili Valley & the Kazakh Grasslands is

Kazakh horse culture, orchard country and wildflower pasture. Kalajun grassland in June, the Guozigou bridge and Sayram Lake on the road, and Hui and Kazakh halal kitchens every night.

This is a private departure, not a shared coach. You choose the dates, we rebuild the 8 days around them: Yining, Urumqi, in that order, with the halal restaurants and the mosques placed first and the sightseeing fitted around them.

The halal guarantee on this route: every restaurant is a certified halal restaurant with no pork and no alcohol on the premises. We send the full list with addresses before you fly, and your guide re-checks each booking the day before you eat there. Prayer is easy in Xinjiang: mosques are everywhere and halal restaurants almost always have a washroom and a clean corner for wudhu. On travel days we build in a stop at a town mosque. Id Kah in Kashgar and the Shaanxi Grand Mosque in Urumqi both accommodate women, though the women's area is usually off the main hall and your guide will show you the correct entrance.

Duration8 days
Cities2
PaceModerate
FromUSD 1,420 / person
DeparturePrivate, any date
Dining100% certified halal
Cities

Every city this route passes through

Each one with what you actually see there, what you eat, where you pray and how you arrive.

Yining (Xinjiang)

2 full days · Late May to September. June and July are the grassland and wildflower months.

The Kazakh heart of the Ili valley, green and wet in a way that surprises people who expect desert from Xinjiang. Orchards, horse herds on the hills, and a Hui and Kazakh food culture all its own.

Kalajun grassland — Rolling flower-meadow pasture two hours south, part of a UNESCO-listed natural site. June is the peak for wildflowers.
Ili river valley orchards — Apricot, apple and cherry country. From late May the roadside is lined with fruit, and families picnic under the trees.
Guozigou bridge — The cable-stayed bridge over the Guozigou gorge on the road to Sayram Lake, one of the most photographed pieces of engineering in Xinjiang.
Kazakh horse-meat sausage and smoked horse rib for the adventurous, plus Hui hand-pulled noodles, milk tea, and the Ili apple in autumn. Everything is halal.
Yining Grand Mosque — A large mosque in the Hui quarter with a wide courtyard. Jumuah is busy and welcoming.
Yining (YIN) airport with flights from Urumqi. Also an overland leg on the northern Xinjiang loop.

Urumqi (Xinjiang)

3 full days · May to October for the mountains; July to September for fruit. Winters are cold but the city works.

The regional capital and the most Muslim-feeling big city in China. Uyghur, Hui and Kazakh kitchens everywhere, the call to prayer audible across whole districts, and the Tian Shan snow range visible from the airport road.

Xinjiang Regional Museum — The Tarim Basin mummy galleries and the Silk Road collection. Free, air-conditioned, and a good indoor hour between Dhuhr and Asr.
Erdaoqiao bazaar — A sprawling market of dried fruit, nuts, spices, fabrics and copperwork, with a halal food hall upstairs where the whole family can eat together.
Tian Shan Heavenly Lake — A mountain lake two hours east at 1,900 m, with spruce forest, Kazakh yurts and snow peaks behind it.
Uyghur polo rice pilaf, lagman noodles, lamb skewers over charcoal, naan from the tandoor, and samosas out of the oven. Melon and grape season runs from July to October.
Yanghang Mosque — Central Urumqi, large and active, with wudhu facilities. Jumuah is the easiest of any city on this site.
Urumqi Diwopu (URC), 20 minutes from the centre. Direct flights from Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai.
Day by day

How the 8 days actually run

A working skeleton, not a fixed package. We rebuild it around your dates, your prayer needs and whoever is travelling with you.

1

Arrive in Yining

Yining (YIN) airport with flights from Urumqi. Also an overland leg on the northern Xinjiang loop. Your Muslim guide meets you at the gate with your name on a board. First stop is a hotel we have placed within walking distance of Yining Grand Mosque, so Maghrib is a short walk rather than a negotiation. Dinner is already booked at a halal kitchen we have audited.

2

Yining — Kalajun grassland

Rolling flower-meadow pasture two hours south, part of a UNESCO-listed natural site. June is the peak for wildflowers.

3

Yining — Ili river valley orchards

Apricot, apple and cherry country. From late May the roadside is lined with fruit, and families picnic under the trees.

4

Yining to Urumqi

Leave after Dhuhr and drive out. Urumqi Diwopu (URC), 20 minutes from the centre. Direct flights from Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai. Your guide breaks the drive for salah and for food rather than at a service station of his choosing. You arrive in time for Maghrib at Yanghang Mosque.

5

Urumqi — Xinjiang Regional Museum

The Tarim Basin mummy galleries and the Silk Road collection. Free, air-conditioned, and a good indoor hour between Dhuhr and Asr.

6

Urumqi — Erdaoqiao bazaar

A sprawling market of dried fruit, nuts, spices, fabrics and copperwork, with a halal food hall upstairs where the whole family can eat together.

7

Urumqi — Tian Shan Heavenly Lake

A mountain lake two hours east at 1,900 m, with spruce forest, Kazakh yurts and snow peaks behind it.

8

Depart from Urumqi

A last halal breakfast, then the transfer out. Urumqi Diwopu (URC), 20 minutes from the centre. We hold the vehicle until your flight is called, and if you are fasting we send a breakfast box the night before.

Every day is salah-first. Yining, Urumqi each have mosques we have used before; on the driving legs your guide breaks the journey at prayer time rather than at a service station of his choosing.
Highlights

What makes this route worth the flight

Kalajun grassland

Rolling flower-meadow pasture two hours south, part of a UNESCO-listed natural site. June is the peak for wildflowers.

Ili river valley orchards

Apricot, apple and cherry country. From late May the roadside is lined with fruit, and families picnic under the trees.

Xinjiang Regional Museum

The Tarim Basin mummy galleries and the Silk Road collection. Free, air-conditioned, and a good indoor hour between Dhuhr and Asr.

Erdaoqiao bazaar

A sprawling market of dried fruit, nuts, spices, fabrics and copperwork, with a halal food hall upstairs where the whole family can eat together.

Certified halal restaurants only, every single meal

No pork on the premises, no alcohol on the premises, and the full list with addresses in your inbox before you fly.

Prayer planned into every day

Salah is placed first and sightseeing is built around it, not the other way round. Your guide carries a mat, a compass and a prayer-time sheet.

Halal food

What you eat, city by city

No pork on the premises, no alcohol on the premises, and no kitchen that handles both. This is the part we audit in person.

Yining

Kazakh horse-meat sausage and smoked horse rib for the adventurous, plus Hui hand-pulled noodles, milk tea, and the Ili apple in autumn. Everything is halal. Yining Grand Mosque is nearby, so you can pray and eat on the same street.

Urumqi

Uyghur polo rice pilaf, lagman noodles, lamb skewers over charcoal, naan from the tandoor, and samosas out of the oven. Melon and grape season runs from July to October. Yanghang Mosque is nearby, so you can pray and eat on the same street.

Fasting? Tell us and we run the route in Ramadan: suhoor boxes delivered before Fajr, slow afternoons, and iftar confirmed at a halal restaurant every single night.
Prayer

Where you pray on this route

Not a list of every mosque in the province — the ones we actually build into this itinerary, with wudhu and women’s space confirmed.

Yining Grand Mosque

Yining

A large mosque in the Hui quarter with a wide courtyard. Jumuah is busy and welcoming.

Mosques throughout the valley and prayer rooms at every service area. Long drives are broken at roughly Dhuhr and Asr anyway, which lines up well.

Yanghang Mosque

Urumqi

Central Urumqi, large and active, with wudhu facilities. Jumuah is the easiest of any city on this site.

The easiest major city in China for a Muslim traveller. Prayer times are posted in shop windows, hotels know the qibla direction, and nobody asks why you are stepping out.

On the road: your guide carries a prayer mat, a compass and a prayer-time sheet calculated for your exact dates, and stops the vehicle rather than the prayer.
Getting there

Airports, stations and onward connections

Yining

Yining (YIN) airport with flights from Urumqi. Also an overland leg on the northern Xinjiang loop.

Urumqi

Urumqi Diwopu (URC), 20 minutes from the centre. Direct flights from Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

Timing

When to go

Yining

Late May to September. June and July are the grassland and wildflower months.

Urumqi

May to October for the mountains; July to September for fruit. Winters are cold but the city works.

May, June, September and October give the best combination of temperature, clear mountain views and manageable crowds. July and August are hot on the Taklamakan side but fine on the northern slopes. Winter is very cold, and travel to certain areas can be restricted at short notice — we always confirm current conditions before you commit to flights.

What is included

Everything in the price

Certified halal breakfast, lunch and dinner every day — the full list with addresses sent before you fly
A Muslim or halal-trained guide for the entire route, plus a private vehicle and driver
Qibla-ready hotels, twin or double rooms, with a halal-friendly breakfast
All airport and station transfers, with the vehicle held until your flight is called
Entrance tickets for every sight named in the day-by-day plan
A printed prayer-time sheet calculated for your exact travel dates
Prayer mat, compass and bottled water kept in the vehicle every day
Packed halal meals on the long driving legs
24/7 WhatsApp support anywhere on the route, in English
No shopping stops, no commission detours and no hidden costs
Price note: from-prices are per person on twin share for a private party of two to four travellers. Your final quote depends on travel month, hotel grade and group size — we always send an itemised quote before any payment.
FAQ

Questions travellers ask us every week

It is private. There is no seat-in-coach departure and no joining other travellers — the vehicle, the guide and the 8 days belong to your party alone. You pick the start date and we build around it. That is also why the halal logistics work: a kitchen booking for four people is a conversation, not a contract.
Every restaurant on this route is a certified halal kitchen with no pork and no alcohol on the premises. In Yining, Urumqi we use: Kazakh horse-meat sausage and smoked horse rib for the adventurous, plus Hui hand-pulled noodles, milk tea, and the Ili apple in autumn; Uyghur polo rice pilaf, lagman noodles, lamb skewers over charcoal, naan from the tandoor, and samosas out of the oven. You receive the complete list with street addresses before you fly, and your guide re-confirms each booking the day before you eat there.
Yining Grand Mosque in Yining (A large mosque in the Hui quarter with a wide courtyard. Jumuah is busy and welcoming.); Yanghang Mosque in Urumqi (Central Urumqi, large and active, with wudhu facilities. Jumuah is the easiest of any city on this site.). On the driving legs your guide breaks the journey at prayer time. Every vehicle carries a prayer mat, a compass and a sheet of prayer times calculated for your exact dates.
Expect one substantial drive between each base, usually timed to leave after Dhuhr, plus shorter local legs. Yining · Urumqi over 8 days is a comfortable fit for most families.
Yes, and we do it often. Suhoor boxes are delivered to your hotel before Fajr, afternoons are kept slow, iftar is confirmed at a certified halal restaurant every night, and we find you a mosque for Taraweeh wherever you happen to be. If you want to spend the last ten nights or Eid in one city, tell us and we will re-cut the route around it.
International flights and Chinese visas are quoted separately. Travel insurance, personal shopping, optional activities outside the plan and tips are not included — and we do not add shopping stops to make up the difference. Everything listed under What is included is genuinely in the price.

Let us plan Ili Valley & the Kazakh Grasslands for you

Send us your dates and who is travelling. A Muslim advisor replies within one hour during China working hours with a day-by-day halal plan for this route — restaurants, mosques, prayer times, hotels and an itemised price.

WhatsApp an advisor WeChat Email us

What you get, free

  • Day-by-day halal plan for Ili Valley & the Kazakh Grasslands
  • Certified halal restaurant list with addresses for Yining · Urumqi
  • Mosque and prayer-time sheet for your exact dates
  • Itemised quote — hotels, guide, vehicle, tickets, meals
WhatsApp · reply in ~1 min WeChat · scan to add Call our advisor