Xinjiang: Mogui City, Jun 2024

Mogui (魔鬼城) or Demon City, also known as Wind City (乌尔禾风城), of Yadan Landform in Xinjiang is so called because of the screaming sounds that can be heard when the strong winds pass through the pillars of stone and sand.  “Yadan” means “steep-walled hill” in Uyghur and this wind-eroded landform looks like a huge fortress with castles of different heights and multicolored stones scattered all about.  It was once a large freshwater lake about 100 million years ago until after two major curstal changes, it turned into a vast area of sandstone and mudstone, geologically known as “Gobi Platform”.  The mounds here are all strange looking carved by the strong winds and some rise as high as a four-storey building.  Wind City reminds me of Gharameel in AluLa of Saudi Arabia.  We spent the night in Karamay, which surprisingly turns out to be one of the richest cities per capita in China.  This town is also known as “Black Oil” and has vast oil resources.  Having said that, our hotel, Karamay Long Hua Hotel (克拉玛依龙华酒店), was quite average.

Karamay Long Hua Hotel (克拉玛依龙华酒店)

 

Here at Demon City, there is the option to drive into the site in your own 4×4 and visit places that the normal entrance does not include.  We were one of the few people there and were free to explore as we pleased.  I believe it is the better option compared to going around on scheduled buses and having many tourists taking photos around you.