Hong Shan Park, or Red Hill Park (红山公园 Hóng Shān Gōngyuán), is a pleasant spot to get your bearings upon arriving in Urumqi. The views of the surrounding countryside and distant mountains from the top (1,391 meters above sea level) make the short, steep climb worthwhile.

Reaching the highest point in Urumqi requires another climb, this time up the stairs of Yuǎntiào Lóu (远眺楼), a brightly colored traditional Chinese viewing platform with arched green eaves gracing each red-pillared story.

According to local legend, a dragon escaped from Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake), only to be caught by the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens, who then cut the dragon in two. The severed halves of the dragon became two Urumqi peaks, Hong Shan and Yamalike Shan (雅玛里克山 Yǎmǎlǐkè Shān).

In the late 18th century, after Urumqi suffered severe flooding (blamed on the dragon), a pagoda was built on each hill in 1788 to subdue the dragon. Zhenlong Pagoda (镇龙塔 Zhènlóng Tǎ), a rust-red pagoda whose name means "to subdue the dragon," still stands today on Hong Shan, a symbol of the city that appears with Hong Shan as the logo of a local television station.

Hong Shan, which was once a barren hill overlooking the Urumqi River, was covered in vegetation in the late 1950s; subsequently the river has dried up and has been replaced with a highway. Despite the change in local scenery, the hill remains revered by locals as an extension of Bogda Peak (博格达峰 Bógédá Fēng), a holy spot in the Tian Shan mountain range.

The park also houses an old Buddhist temple, the Grand Buddha Temple (大佛寺 Dà Fó Sì), built in 1797, and a Tang Dynasty Taoist temple, the Jade Emperor Pavilion (玉皇阁 Yùhuáng Gé), destroyed during a local uprising in the 1930s and since rebuilt. Like many other Chinese parks, Hong Shan Park has a small lake and playground equipment.

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