Kashgar Transportation

There are daily flights between Kashgar and Urumqi. The flight takes one and a half hours and costs around RMB 1,300. Leaving Kashgar for Urumqi is no easy task. It is a good idea to book tickets as far in advance as possible. This can be done at the Xinjiang Airline Office on Jiefang Nan Lu, south of the People´s Hotel. Local travel agencies charge RMB 50 to book each plane ticket. The airport is 11 km from the city center and there are regular bus services from the airport to the city for RMB 6. A taxi should cost approximately RMB 30.

The railway has reached town and Kashgar (or Kashi, in Chinese) has become China´s westernmost railway station. Everyday at 14:42, K888 starts from Kashgar and arrives at Urumqi at 14:52 the next day. K886 leaves Urumqi at 13:22 and arrives at Kashgar at 13:16 the next day.

The bus between Urumqi and Kashgar goes via Aksu, Kuqa, Korla and Toksun. The trip takes about 36 hours and costs RMB 200. Sleeper buses are more comfortable and cost RMB 400. Some people hire jeeps and drivers and cover the distance this way. The best place to find out more information about this is in John´s Information Cafe opposite the Seman Hotel. Foreigners are often asked to pay 100 per cent more for bus tickets than the Chinese. This is technically illegal, but it is difficult to do anything about. There are also buses from Kashgar to Tashkurgan, which is the last town along the Karakoram Highway that heads to Pakistan.
By the way, it is illegal for foreigners to set off from Kashgar to Lhasa.