Xinjiang is the largest region of China and the heart of the Silk Road, a landscape of desert oases, snow peaks and Turkic-speaking old towns strung along the old trade routes. A luxury train turns the long distances into the point: you sleep through the empty kilometres and wake in a different world each morning. Several of China's flagship trains run here, from the pan-China Silk Road Express to the Urumqi-based New Orient Express and the relaxed Tianshan Express.
Xinjiang divides cleanly in two, and a good itinerary covers both. The north is landscape: the Altay lakes, the Yili valley and the northern slopes of the Tianshan. The south is the Silk Road: Kuqa, Kashgar and Tashkurgan on the road to the Pamirs. Every Xinjiang programme in this market is built around touching both halves, and that is the main reason the journeys run as long as they do. One note on the Duku Highway, the mountain road across the Tianshan that appears in a good many brochures: its Bayanbulak section is not open to foreign passports, so for foreign-passport travellers read it as background rather than as a highlight.
Highlights
Urumqi
The regional capital and main rail gateway, a modern city at the foot of the Tianshan with the lively International Bazaar and the Xinjiang Regional Museum.
Turpan
The hottest, lowest basin in China, ringed by the Jiaohe and Gaochang ruins, the karez irrigation channels and endless vineyards.
Kashgar
The western crossroads where the old mud-brick city, the Sunday livestock market and the road onto the Pamir Plateau meet.
Kanas & Hemu
Alpine lakes and birch forests in the Altay, the most photographed autumn colour in the north and a quiet counterpoint to the desert south.
Tianshan & Ili
The heavenly mountains and the Ili valley: Nalati grassland, Sayram Lake and the summer pastures, green in June and gold with poplar in October.
The Pamirs
The roof of the world: Karakul Lake, Muztagh Ata and the Karakoram highway on to Tashkurgan, reached from Kashgar. A border management zone, so the permit is arranged by your operator.
Kuqa
The ancient kingdom of Kucha on the Silk Road: the Kizil Thousand-Buddha Caves, the red sandstone Tianshan Grand Canyon, and an old town of painted doors and quiet mosques.
The trains that reach Xinjiang
Xinjiang is the best-served region in the fleet. The Silk Road Express runs multi-day Xinjiang itineraries including the 17-day Panorama from Xi'an into southern Xinjiang; the New Orient Express is based in Urumqi and is the gold standard for the region; the Tianshan Express takes a more relaxed corridor through the Tianshan; and the White Cloud Express 2027 grand loop also crosses Urumqi, Kashgar, Kuqa and Yili.
Silk Road Express
The flagship for the full crossing, from Xi'an toward Kashgar, with a 17-day Panorama across Xinjiang.
New Orient Express
Urumqi-based, three gold-diamond cabin tiers and the most established Xinjiang product.
Tianshan Express
A relaxed, scenic run through the Tianshan mountain corridor.
White Cloud Express 2027
An 18-day north-south Xinjiang grand loop via Urumqi, Yili, Kuqa and Kashgar.
Best time to go
Late May to June and September to October are ideal: warm but not scorching, with the October poplar (populus) colour a particular draw in the south. The Duku Highway over the Tianshan opens only from around June to October, so plan mountain crossings in summer and early autumn.
Practical notes
- Distances are huge; a train is the comfortable way to cover them, but build in rest days in Urumqi or Kashgar.
- Some border areas near the Pamirs (Tashkurgan) require a border permit for foreign travellers, arranged through your agency.
- The Duku Highway and high passes close in winter; southern Xinjiang (Kashgar, Turpan) stays open year round.
- The Duku Highway is open to mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan travel documents. The Bayanbulak section alone is not open to holders of foreign passports; where an itinerary includes that section, foreign-passport guests travel a substitute routing arranged by the operator. Overseas guests travel a substitute routing arranged by the operator (full guide).
- Halal cuisine dominates; vegetarian and international options are easy in Urumqi and on the trains.