The far north of Xinjiang, in the Altai prefecture, is a different country from the deserts of the south: forested mountains, rivers, lakes and a short, intense summer. Burqin, a small town on the river of the same name, is the last stop before the road climbs into the Kanas national park, and a few kilometres downstream is a geological oddity that has become one of the north's most photographed places.
The rock
Wucaitan, the five-coloured beach, is a bank of sandstone and conglomerate on one side of the Burqin river that has been eroded by wind and water into ridges, gullies and rounded knolls. The rock is banded in colours - red, ochre, yellow, purple, grey and pale green - because the beds differ in mineral content and have weathered at different rates, and the wind has sculpted them into shapes that change with the light. Across the river the far bank is green: poplar, willow and meadow, with the river running between. The contrast between the bare, banded rock and the irrigated green valley is what makes the site.
When to go
The colour is strongest at sunrise and sunset, when the low light brings out the reds and yellows and the shadows pick out the ridges, and it is at its most saturated after rain. The site has a boardwalk and viewing platforms on the rock side, and further paths down to the river; a bridge crosses to the green bank. Summer is short here and the light lasts late into the evening, so a visit after eight at night in July is still in full daylight; by September the evenings close in and the poplars begin to turn.
Practical notes
Burqin is about a day's drive north of Urumqi, and most visitors break the journey there on the way to Kanas and Hemu, or on the way back. The site charges an admission and is a short drive or taxi ride from the town; it is open from morning to late evening in summer. Bring a jacket, since the wind on the exposed rock is cold even in July, and expect the platform to be crowded at sunset in high season. There is food and lodging in Burqin, whose riverside night market grills fish from the river and is a good reason to stay overnight.
