The Ili river runs west out of the Tianshan and across the border into Kazakhstan, where it empties into Lake Balkhash. Yining, also known as Ghulja, sits on the north bank in the middle of the valley, and the river is the city's summer living room. In July and August the days are hot and dry and the evenings are long and mild, so from about seven in the evening the bank fills with families, students, cyclists and people who have simply come to sit and watch the water go past.
The food along the bank
The riverside eating is straightforward and cheap. Lamb skewers over charcoal, dusted with cumin and chilli; whole grilled fish from the river; cold liangpi noodles with vinegar, chilli oil and cucumber; big flat naan; bowls of yoghurt and ayran, the thin salted drinking yoghurt that comes with grilled meat everywhere in Xinjiang; boiled corn and roast sweet potato from carts. Then the fruit, which is the real event in the Yili valley: watermelons and the yellow Hami-type melons sold by the slice or by the whole fruit, apricots, peaches, grapes and figs in season, kept cold in tubs of iced water. Prices are by the piece and very low.
How the evening runs
People arrive before sunset, eat slowly, and stay talking afterwards. There is music - sometimes a busker with a guitar, sometimes a table of men with a dutar and a hand drum - and a steady procession of people walking the promenade in both directions. Near the bridge the crowds are thickest, because that is where the sunset view is. Nobody will mind a visitor joining a table, though you will probably be offered food before you have asked for anything.
Practical notes
Yining is reached by air and by rail from Urumqi, and the riverside is a short taxi ride from the centre; the bridge area is the obvious place to start and you can walk downstream from there. Bring cash or have mobile payment working, since the carts are small operations. The Ili valley is the greenest and most relaxed part of Xinjiang and it makes a good contrast to the desert country further east, so it is worth giving the city an evening rather than passing straight through.
