Horse riding tour around Hanas Lake, China

Planet

We fully understand and appreciate the importance of developing itineraries that are sustainable and reduce the impacts of tourism on the environment wherever possible. Indeed, all of our tours maintain a great respect for the natural surroundings in which we visit and travel. This itinerary is acutely aware of the need to protect rural regions like Xinjiang province both for current and future generations to fully experience.

Conservation:
In order to help preserve what remains of both China’s wonderful cultural and natural heritage, we ask that all of our travel participants help protect the environments they visit by being respectfully aware of the unique locations we take them to. The importance of sustainable travel, particularly in sensitive natural environments and ecosystems, is something we also value highly. As a bonus of our unique approach, you will also discover that our tour groups are small in size so that are impacts are minimised, and of course, so that we can afford you the attention you deserve!

Activity:
This is a 7-day horsing riding tour in northern Urumqi in Xinjiang Province. We will have enough time to ride in and around Hanas Lake.  All our staff come from the area where we will ride to. We have already built up close relationships with our partners for many years. Traveling by horse provides a completely different angle to experience the land and its people, reducing the impact that cars or other vehicles have on the landscape.

Water:
Water is very important during this pure horse riding tour. We suggest to bring your own travel mug to fill in the boiled water instead of drinking the bottled mineral water continually. Such measure could really reduce the amount of rubbish we produce.

Waste:
We encourage clients to stick to bring all waste to next town on this travel route and disposed of appropriately in local garbage collection facilities. So that we could reduce, reuse and recycle on this trip as much as we can.

Flora and fauna:
Our local guides will have a set of guidelines for each tour. The flora and fauna (flowers and animals) are in abundance and wide variety in remote villages along this tour. And the weak ecological environments are complex and multiplicity, and they are damageable. When out on the field on horseback we advocate ecological tourism. If visitors are damaging the footpaths, we will take alternate special routes that suitable for horse riding tour.

Office:
It is advocated to recycle paper and ink cartridges to reduce the waste in landfill sites. We turn off printers, computers, battery chargers and transformers at the end of each day and use energy-efficient bulbs and low-energy appliances

People

We are also exceptionally aware of the need to use local ‘green’ tourism services and businesses to ensure that the natural and social environments that host tourism are protected and well-managed. This includes the use of locally-sourced produce such as food and crafts, for example. However, perhaps one of the greatest reasons for using locally-owned accommodation is that you will see the ‘real’ China in its various guises. You will sample traditional villages, ancient customs, cuisines and ways of life that can be significantly different to anything you may have experienced before. We will also take you to incredible places away from the tourist crowds to ensure that your experiences are genuinely unique. We fully believe that this is a wonderful way to learn about this spectacular country and have no doubt that you will agree!

Accommodation and meals:
We choose hotels very carefully which use have any environmentally responsible practices in place such as recycling, renewable energy, water saving initiatives etc.  For instance, the night porter from the hotel will turn all lights and lamps off in public areas once the guests have gone bed and then turns them back on at 7am. Housekeeping turn lights and TV`s off in rooms once they are serviced. And we encourage clients to reuse their own towels, bed sheets for the whole staying. Our clients are also encouraged not to turn their room air-conditions under 26 degrees. And we stick to stay in locally owned and simpler styles of hostel in small village like in Hemu and Jaidengyu. We endeavor to include and strongly encourage our travelers to eat locally produced food and goods. This reduces energy resources consumed through production and transport of the food and goods purchased by our travelers.

A fair wages to local guides and drives:
We use all local guides and drivers so that we learn about the culture and way of life directly from those who live it and put money into local hands and economies. All receive fair wages and are provided with training opportunities both direct from us and from the local tourism bureau. Our guides are also responsible for advising travelers of the appropriate recycling options available in each place.

Local crafts and culture
The folk arts and crafts have a great variety and distinct characteristics with a long history in Xinjiang Uygur. We encourage travelers to purchase craft items direct from the artisans. Guides include visits to workshops of famous Xinjiang carpets according to the interests of the group.

Travelling with respect
We realize the mutual understanding is the first step to maintain harmony. There is no good culture and bad culture but just different culture exist in our world. In our products, we try to provide more opportunities for tourists to go inside local communities and try to explain both tourists and local communities their different behaviors, thinking and altitudes from both sides and especially explain the cultural reasons behind. The more the both sides, tourists and local communities understand each other, the more they respect the each other and their culture.

Group Size:
This small group tour has a maximum of 16 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people.