Ye'erqianghan Mausoleum, Xinjiang Uygur, China

4Christo02 5:00 PM Oct 11, 2017

Only useful with a competent guide
Yarkand is a place rarely visited by foreigners and the mausoleum is the main attraction. The mausoleum itself is an impressive while somewhat boring place if you don't know too much about the background. However, if you bring along a guide that can tell you more about the history of the rulers and soldiers buried here, it will be very much worth your while. The stories of khans and dukes vying for power in this barren land can easily compete with e.g. Game of Thrones. During my visit it was not permitted to stay in town over night, so I did not run into any domestic or foreign tourists.

4MarcelTraveller 5:00 PM Aug 24, 2018

Amannisa Khan mausoleum: like a fairy tale, best to see in evening sun.
On the afternoon of 11th of May and the next morning we have visited the old town of Yarkand. Unfortunately we had only a short time for our visit in the afternoon because safety checks during our trip by car from Hotan made we arrived after 8 hours (!) of driving and mostly waiting at 6 p.m. Finding the most interesting area of Yarkand when we prepared our trip at home was rather difficult, because all internet sites including Tripadvisor gave different information. On Tripadvisor a mosque in Kuqa is even located as touristic ‘thing to do’ in Yarkand. Here some information about the mausoleum and the visit of the sites in Yarkand in general. 1. The Mausoleum of Amannisa Khan is located in the touristic area of Yarkand. The mausoleum is in the north eastern corner. It is located around a square, east of A Le Tun road, with the crossing of Lao Cheng road. When you go to 38°24’59”N 77°15’28”E, you’ll find the mausoleum and you are on the square with the most interesting sites of Yarkand. 2. The mausoleum is very interesting to see. It looks like a very fragile building and is very worthwhile to see and to make pictures. The best time for pictures is in the evening, when is had a golden glow in the evening sun. Because we arrived late, we haven’t visited the interior, but we’ll think the outside is most interesting as it looks like from a fairy tale. 3. Around the square are more buildings to see. On the west side of the square is the newly built and restored city palace of Yarkand. North of the square is the Al Tyn mosque and the entrance to the Royal Graveyard. On the east and south side is a restaurant and are shops. The restaurant was closed - we think for a longer time - and looked desolate probably because of a lack of visitors 4. Around the Mausoleum and the square are signposts and is information even in English. Although a lot of effort was taken to make Yarkand interesting for tourists, we have seen no other foreign visitors during our stay.