Dear Edna,
Thanks for contacting Top China Travel!
The name of the town where you can see the lavender flowers field in Ili is Qingshuihe Town(Chingsixoz, 清水河镇), Huocheng County(霍城县), Ili Kazakh Prefecture of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China.
Ili is one of four major areas for the production of lavender in the world, together with Provence in France, Hokkaido in Japan and Caucasia area in Ruusia. The lavender planting area in Ili has reached to 20,000 Mu (unit of measurement in China), and the production of lavender account for up to 95% in China.
Best place to see lavender in Ili: 65 Tuan (65团)and Sengung Hui ethnic village(三宫回族)乡in Huocheng County is named after “Hometown of Lavender in China" and is the best places to see lavender flowers. Except for the two places, 70 Tuan(70团场), 71 Tuan(团场)70, 73 Tuan(73团场), 67 Tuan(67团), 68 Tuan(68团) are also great sites to visit. If you want to know more about lavender and lavender essential oil, you may go visit Melancholy Princess Lavender Garden (解忧公主薰衣草园) in Qingshuihe Town(Chingsixoz, 清水河镇). There is a Lavender Museum in the garden.
Best time to visit Ili to see lavender: In mid-June, when is the blooming season of lavender flowers in Ili every year. But the Flowering only lasts for a short time, only a week or so. In recent years, lavender has already been harvested before 20 June. There are two flower seasons in Ili: the first period is from late May to mid-June; the second period is late-July to August.
How to go from Urumqi to Ili: as the public transport in Xinjiang is not so convenient and the distance from site to site in Xinjiang is quite far, it is recommended to rent a car to travel around there. Car driving from Urumqi to Ili takes about 10 hours, would be quite tired. If you want to save money and want to bus at local bus station, you may go to Urumqi Nianzigou Bus Station to catch the buses that leaving for Ili, then transfer to local bus or taxi in Ili to get to the lavender base. It takes 10 to 12 hours.
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