A journey to adventure and warm hospitality

City rewards visitors with a winning mixture of scenery and culture, Xu Lin and Mao Weihua report in Yining, Xinjiang.

An elegant, blue horse-drawn carriage makes its way along the road, the rhythmic clopping of hoofs blending with the jingle of bells that echo through the air.

It's a novel and certainly a relaxing way for tourists to explore the lanes and corners of the Kazanqi folk tourism area in Yining city, Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Horse-drawn carriages were once a common sight. In the past, when there were no taxis, people used them.