Visiting Urumqi, China: Top Sights on Foot

Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, sits at the crossroads of the Silk Road and offers a blend of ancient history, multicultural traditions, and striking landscapes between mountains and desert. Visitors come to explore its museums, mosques, churches, and bustling bazaars, gaining insight into the diverse peoples who have shaped this frontier city. Neywo provides a free audio guide for Urumqi with 28 narrated places to help you discover these sights at your own pace.

Explore Urumqi’s highlights

Ürümqi Shaanxi Mosque

Located in the Tianshan District, this is the largest mosque in Ürümqi for the Hui Muslim community. Its architecture blends Islamic and Chinese elements, reflecting the city’s cultural diversity.

Xinjiang People’s Theater

A landmark in Tianshan District, the theater showcases an Eurasian architectural style with distinctive ethnic character. Completed in 1956 and opened the following year, it has been renovated over the decades and is listed as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a 20th‑century architectural heritage site of China.

Monument to the Martyrs of the Xinjiang People of All Ethnic Groups

Found in the southwest corner of People’s Park in the Saybag District, this solemn monument honors revolutionary martyrs from all ethnic groups in Xinjiang who sacrificed their lives during the revolutionary period.

Xinjiang Museum

The only comprehensive regional museum in Xinjiang, it holds national first‑grade status. Established in 1959 and moved to its current site in 1962, the present building opened in 2005 with a second phase finished in 2022, giving nearly 50,000 m² of floor space arranged in the shape of the Chinese character “he” (harmony). Permanent exhibitions cover historical relics, ancient costumes, unearthed documents, and remarkably preserved ancient mummies. The collection exceeds 40,000 items, including textiles, pottery, jade, metalwork, and leather, with 381 national first‑grade cultural relics. A standout piece is the arm guard inscribed with “Five stars rising in the East, benefiting China.”

Urumqi Museum

The city’s main museum for regional history and culture, it was established at the end of 1989 and began exhibitions in 1991. After several moves, it now resides in the Urumqi Cultural Center, occupying about 33,700 m² with roughly 10,000 m² devoted to exhibition halls. Its permanent display, “Urumqi Historical and Cultural Display,” is complemented by special exhibitions on “Memories of Home” and the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Urumqi.” As of 2021 the museum holds more than 14,000 cultural relics, nearly 80 of them precious, including 16 national first‑class items such as stock certificates from the Xinjiang Commercial Bank and 29 national second‑class relics.

Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Known locally as the Ürümqi Cathedral, this Roman‑rite church on Heping South Road in Tianshan District serves as the mother church of the Apostolic Prefecture of Sinkiang. Founded as a mission by Pope Pius XI in 1930, it attained its current status in 1938. The original structure dates to 1907, was relocated in 1918, and the present building is a reconstruction from 1989.

Ürümqi Tianshan International Airport

Situated in Diwopu township, Xinshi district, about 16 km northwest of downtown Ürümqi, this airport is the main international gateway to the city. It ranks among China’s busiest civilian airports and serves as a major aviation hub on the Eurasian continent. In the early 1980s it was counted among China’s four major airports; today it is one of the nation’s eight domestic regional hubs and an important international air gateway. Designated the western gateway hub airport in 2005, it holds a Skytrax three‑star rating and a 4F flight zone classification, enabling it to handle the largest aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380. Eight airlines operate branches and bases at the field.

Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar

Located in the Erdaoqiao district at 510 Jiefang South Road in Tianshan District, this Islamic bazaar is the largest of its kind in the world by scale. First built in 2003, with pedestrian‑street expansion beginning in 2018, the complex covers roughly 90,000 m². It combines Islamic culture, architecture, ethnic commerce, tourism, and entertainment. Notable features include the Silk Road Tower rising over 70 m, a grand performance theater seating 1,000, and an outdoor pedestrian street stretching more than 770 m with themed sections. The architecture blends Islamic, Central Plains, Uyghur, and ancient Greek influences, and visitors can enjoy resident shows such as Silk Road: A Thousand Years of Impressions, Mutual Learning on the Silk Road, and Afanti’s Dream.

Memorial Hall of the 8th Route Army General Office in Xinjiang

On Shengli Road in the Tianshan District, this site served as the Xinjiang office of the 8th Route Army during the Anti‑Japanese War, providing a vital communications link for China’s far northwest. It is now managed by the Urumqi Museum.

Khantengri Mosque

Situated on Jiefang South Road in the Tianshan District, this mosque takes its name from Khantengri Peak. Though its origins trace back to the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, the current structure was rebuilt in the 1980s, giving it a modern appearance while retaining its historic significance. It is also known locally as the Khantengri Grand Mosque.

Santunbei Mosque

An Islamic mosque located in the Tianshan District of Ürümqi, it serves the local Muslim community as a place of worship.

Erdaoqiao Mosque

Also on Jiefang South Road in the Tianshan District, this mosque provides another venue for Islamic worship in the city center.

Gaotai Gallery

Opened in 2019, this contemporary art space promotes the rich local art and culture of Xinjiang while encouraging cultural exchange with the outside world.

Urumqi Science and Technology Museum

The city’s principal venue for science and technology exhibitions, it also functions as a base for earthquake prevention and disaster‑reduction education. Located in Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, its Uyghur name is Ürümchi Sheherlik Pen‑téxnika Sariyi.

Explore with Neywo

Neywo’s free audio guide for Urumqi includes 28 narrated places and offers two self‑guided walking tours. The first, “Jiefang South Road: Mosques, Minarets and the Grand Bazaar,” covers 4.11 km in about 116 minutes with 10 stops, including People’s Square, the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, the Xinjiang People’s Theater, the Ürümqi Shaanxi Mosque, the Khantengri Mosque, and the Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar. The second, “Qing Temple, Red Army Memorial and the City Centre,” spans 2.53 km in roughly 61 minutes with five stops, such as the Urumqi Confucius Temple, the Memorial Hall of the General Detachment of the West Road Army of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, People’s Square, the Xinjiang People’s Theater, and the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Each story plays automatically as you reach the site, allowing you to move at your own pace without a group or a fixed schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, making the experience accessible to visitors from around the world.

Ready to see Urumqi through the eyes of a local? Download Neywo and let the city’s stories unfold as you walk.