Overview
Heavenly Lake is the obvious day trip from Urumqi and it earns the reputation. Two hours east of the city, a glacial lake sits in a valley directly beneath Bogda Peak, the highest summit of the eastern Tian Shan at 5,445 metres, with permanent snow and glaciers on its upper slopes.
The setting does most of the work: Tianshan spruce down to the shoreline, the peak filling the head of the valley, and water that shifts from green to deep blue as the light changes. A cable car climbs to a viewpoint above the eastern end, and the shoreline path on the western side gives an hour or two of easy walking with the mountain in front of you the whole time.
We add a Kazakh yurt lunch and a short visit to a herding camp, which turns a scenic stop into something with a bit of cultural weight. It is a comfortable trip: good roads, a short transfer, and walking that anyone with reasonable mobility can manage.
- Heavenly Lake beneath the snow-covered Bogda Peak at 5,445 m
- Cable car to a viewpoint over the lake and the glacial valley
- Shoreline walk through Tianshan spruce forest
- Kazakh yurt lunch with a herding family
- Wangmu (Queen Mother of the West) temple on the eastern shore
- Easy day trip from Urumqi with a two-hour transfer each way
Itinerary
-
1 Heavenly Lake & Bogda Peak
Lunch Not included08:00 - Departure: Pick-up from your Urumqi hotel. The drive east takes around two hours, climbing out of the Dzungarian basin into the foothills of the Bogda Shan.
10:00 - Arrival and shuttle: Private vehicles stop at the visitor centre; from there a park shuttle takes you the last few kilometres to the lake at 1,980 metres.
10:30 - The lake: Tianchi, or Heavenly Lake, is a glacial barrier lake about 3.4 kilometres long and 1.5 wide, held behind a moraine dam and fed by meltwater from the glaciers on Bogda. The peak dominates the southern end of the valley and stays snow-covered through summer. On still mornings it reflects in the water from the western shore, which is where we walk first.
11:30 - Cable car: Up to the viewing platform on the ridge to the east, from where you look down the length of the lake with the mountain directly ahead.
13:00 - Lunch: At a Kazakh yurt camp in the forest above the shore. Kazakh cooking is simple and built around what the herds provide — boiled mutton with onion, hand-pulled noodles, flatbread, and tea with milk and salt. Kumis, the fermented mare's milk, is offered and is an experience.
15:00 - Wangmu temple: A small Taoist temple on the eastern shore dedicated to the Queen Mother of the West, who according to legend bathed in the lake — the Chinese name, Tianchi, means heavenly pool and comes from the story. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times.
16:30 - Departure: Transfer back to Urumqi, arriving around 18:30.
Important: The lake is at 2,000 metres and the weather changes quickly. Bring a layer even in July, and sturdy shoes for the shoreline path.
Gallery
What's included
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off in Urumqi
- English-speaking guide
- Private air-conditioned vehicle with driver
- Heavenly Lake entrance fee and internal shuttle bus
- Round-trip cable car to the viewpoint
- Lunch at a Kazakh yurt camp
- Bottled water and light snacks
Not included
- Hotel accommodation
- Dinner and alcoholic drinks
- Tips for guide and driver
- Travel insurance and personal expenses
- Optional boat trip on the lake
- Optional horse riding near the shore
