Transportation to and from Xinjiang is fairly developed and mainly
focuses on Urumqi as the major hub for traffic to the region. Flights to and
from Urumqi are the most convenient method of accessing the region. Browse our
transport sections for Urumqi, Kashgar, Turpan, and
Yining for
more detailed transport information. By plane:
From Urumqi, daily domestic connections to Beijing, Guangzhou and other major
cities are available as well as daily connections to Kashgar. Some
international flights (not all daily) to Moscow and Islamabad,
are also available. By train:
This is the best way to travel east into the rest of China. To and from Urumqi,
you"ll find direct trains to Beijing, Shanghai,
Lanzhou, Xi"an and Chengdu. Express
trains to take a few days. Trains to and from Beijing take around 44 hours,
and to and from Shanghai takes around 48 hours. We strongly
recommend taking hard or soft sleeper trains. Anyone on a budget who tries taking
a train to Urumqi with a hard seat will quickly discover that the extra few
RMB spent on a sleeper ticket are good value for money. By road:
The best way to get around in Xinjiang is by bus as the highway system is relatively
good. In most of Xinjiang, foreigners are charged artificially jacked up foreigner
prices which can be as much as 200% of the original. If you purchase tickets
at the bus stations, then you may be charged a more reasonable "official" price. If you don"t plan to join a tour group in Urumqi, transport around the region can be
awkward. Public buses are infrequent and it is sometimes worth considering hiring a car or
a jeep to tour about the area if your budget will stretch to it. |