7 Days in Karamay

The first well blew in on 29 October 1955; the exhibition hall needs about 90 minutes, free with ID and closed Mondays.

1. karamay no 1 well
2. karamay oil museum

The 8.51-km river park threads the town and the Irtysh diversion, finished in 2000, enters at Jiulongtan's nine dragon heads; summer evenings bring riverside lights.

1. karamay riverfront
2. karamay jiulongtan
3. karamay century park

Morning at the 13-metre seeping mound, then out to the Baijiantan side where nodding pumpjacks work the flats of the old "hundred-li" oil zone — a working landscape, not a set.

1. karamay black oil hill
2. karamay baijiantan oilfield

Drive the 100 km north to Urho (about 1.5 hours) and walk into the red-walled gorge the Baiyanghe river has cut below town; overnight in Urho.

1. karamay baiyanghe canyon

The 45-60 minute shuttle loop among the yardangs earns its name when the wind rises; sunset is the highlight. Add reeds and waterfowl at Ailik Lake; entry with shuttle around CNY 60.

1. karamay devil city
2. karamay ailik lake

Models of the Cretaceous creatures whose fossils came out of these hills, then the drive back to Karamay for a riverside evening.

1. karamay dinosaur park

150 km south to Dushanzi, where the Kuitun River cut walls about 200 m deep at the Duku Highway's zero-kilometre marker (561 km of road). Continue about 60 km to the Anjihai canyon in neighbouring Shawan county, its cliffs dropping several hundred metres — then trains from nearby Kuytun reach Urumqi in roughly 3 hours.

1. karamay dushanzi grand canyon
2. karamay anjihai canyon