Aral Travel Guide

Aral is a county-level city in the south of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It stands on the northern rim of the Tarim Basin, with a city area of about 6937 square kilometers. To the north lie the southern feet of the Tianshan range, and to the south spreads the Taklamakan Desert. The Tarim River flows just south of the city, and one of its sources lies within the city area. The climate is dry and continental, hot in summer and severely cold in winter.

The Tarim River is formed where three rivers flowing down from the mountains around gather. One of its headwaters lies in the south of the city area, and the river's water moistens the oases around. Green spaces are laid out along the river within the city, making cool spaces of water and trees. Orchards of apples, pears and jujubes spread around, and the harvest scene can be seen in autumn.

To the east of the city remain terraces cut by a river that once flowed through this land. A terrain only a dry land can show, it offers a close look at the relation between desert and river. In the desert belt to the south spreads scenery of dunes and riverside woods running on, and in the evening the sand takes on red. In the oases around, cotton and fruit trees are grown actively.

Aral was set up as a county-level city in 2002 and launched as a city in 2004. A branch of the Southern Xinjiang Railway runs from Urumqi, and in 2022 the railway reaching into the city and the airport opened together. From Urumqi it is about an hour and a half by plane and about half a day by rail with a change. It is a place for slowly looking around the oasis scenery made by water and green.