China Urumqi travel guide - MOVING ON FROM URUMQI

URUMQI - MOVING ON FROM URUMQI

Buses connect Urumqi with all major towns in Xinjiang Province, though lots of buses do not start from the long-distance bus station, but from various points around the town. This also means that if you board your bus at the long-distance bus station you'll then find yourself driven to the other place where the bulk of the passengers will embark; the only advantage being that you are less likely to be charged a "foreigner's" price. For the short trip to Turpan, you will save a lot of time by picking up your bus or minibus from the Erdaoqiao market, from where there are departures throughout the day. Private buses, a cheap and hassle-free alternative to the trains, leave from the square outside the train station. Many destinations are served, the most promising being those that lie east in Gansu Province, Liuyuan (the jumping-off point for Dunhuang) and Lanzhou.

Urumqi is the starting point for trains to most major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou - as well as all points in between. The easiest way to buy train tickets out of Urumqi, is to use the travel agents in the Hongshan Hotel - they'll charge about ¥40 commission and usually require two or three days' notice. Buying a ticket by yourself in the station here, and in the rest of Xinjiang, is extremely difficult, as most tickets disappear into the black market.

Routes to Kazakhstan

The opening of the rail link between China and Kazakhstan in 1990 finally sealed the cross-Asia line that connects the ports of eastern China with those of northwestern Europe - a route that offers the potential of substantial time savings over the trans-Siberian route. In the meantime, however, the link is used by just two trains a week in both directions connecting Urumqi and Almaty, departing on Saturday and Monday nights from both ends. In Urumqi, tickets (sleepers only, from about ¥400) can be bought in the international departure lounge at the north end of the train station building, 10am-1pm and 3.30-7.30pm, or for the same price from an office on the first floor of the Yaou Hotel.

Buses run daily from Urumqi long-distance bus station daily for US$60 and take 24hr; alternatively, you can pick up a bus from Yining four times a week (Mon, Wed, Thurs & Sat) for only US$40; tickets are sold at a special office inside Yining bus station. There are two flights a week between Urumqi and Almaty; Kazakh Airlines (see Listings) charges US$136, which is considerably less than CAAC (US$210).

Visa regulations have now hardened: nationals of all countries (except Commonwealth of Independent States) require visas, which can be obtained in Urumqi from the Kazakh Airlines office - for a three-day transit visa costing US$25 you need to show an Uzbeki or Russian visa already in your passport, or an onward ticket out of Kazakhstan; for tourist visas you need to show "visa support" such as proof of paid hotel bookings or an authorized invitation.