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View Plans & PricingArea: 457 km² (county-level city)
Population: ~700,000 (2020)
Shihezi means "stone river" in Chinese, referring to the stony riverbeds in the area. It is a city in Xinjiang built by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
7.0/10 — Residents enjoy a balanced lifestyle with modern amenities and cultural richness.
Shihezi has no commercial airport; Urumqi Diwopu Airport is the nearest. Shihezi Railway Station connects to Urumqi and other cities on the Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway. Buses and taxis serve the city.
Shihezi University is the main higher-education institution, a national key university under the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
Shihezi lies on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains with an arid continental climate. It is an oasis city and an important cotton and agricultural base.
Visit the Shihezi Military Museum, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps memorial, and the surrounding oasis farms.
Day 1: Shihezi Military Museum and city center.
Day 2: Oasis farms and Tianshan foothills.
Try Xinjiang lamb kebabs, hand-pulled noodles, pilaf, local melons, and dairy products.
Buy Xinjiang cotton products, dried fruits, melons, and Uyghur crafts. Main shopping is in the city center.
Local Vibe: Shihezi is a Xinjiang city built from scratch by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (bingtuan). Locals are practical, proud of their agricultural oasis, and used to turning desert into farmland. The city is orderly, green, and full of people from across China who came to settle the frontier.
Fun Facts:
• Shihezi was founded by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a unique paramilitary-economic organization that settled the region.
• The city is famous for its cotton, melons, and wine, produced from irrigated desert land.
• Shihezi is one of the most livable and green cities in the Xinjiang desert thanks to massive irrigation.
Shihezi locals speak their own flavor of Mandarin. Try these phrases to earn a smile:
Yaxshimusiz — Hello.
Rahmat — Thank you.
中 (zhōng) — Good / okay — Mandarin usage.
• Bingtuan Settlers — Millions of soldiers, farmers, and engineers from across China transformed Shihezi and the surrounding desert into productive farmland.
• Agricultural Scientists — Researchers developed irrigation and crop techniques that made Shihezi a leading producer of cotton and fruit.
• Uyghur and Han Musicians — Local musicians blend Uyghur and Chinese frontier folk traditions.
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