CHINA 2026 DE
Karakul Lake on the Karakoram Highway below the glaciated Muztagh Ata in Xinjiang

Route 5 · Maximum range

Silk Road to Southern Coast

The route with the greatest contrast: from the desert basin at Turpan through the mud-brick lanes of Kashgar onto the Karakoram Highway between seven-thousanders – and in the same trip onwards to Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing and into the subtropics of Hong Kong. Around 5,000 kilometres, two climate zones, one domestic flight.

  • 🥾 Difficulty 3 / 5
  • ⚠️ Winter in the west
  • 📍 Highest point approx. 4,100 m
  • 🚗 Driver 3 days
  • ✈️ 1 domestic flight, justified
  • 🛂 Kazakhstan optional
  • 🎶 Festival possible on day 19
  • 💶 €2,400–2,800 p.p.
  • Entry: Ürümqi

The character of this route

This is the route for range. Within twenty days it runs from a desert basin that counts among the lowest and driest places on earth, through a Central Asian trading city onto a high plateau at the foot of seven-thousanders – and then right across the whole country to the subtropical port city of Hong Kong.

Culturally the leap is even bigger than geographically. Kashgar is Uyghur, Turkic-speaking, Muslim, and for centuries it was one of the most important stages of the Silk Road. Tashkurgan is Tajik. Xi'an was an imperial capital. Hong Kong is Cantonese with a British legacy. Four worlds, one country.

The price is high and we'll name it openly: at the end of October it is winter in Xinjiang. It is cold, the days are short, some regions are simply not reachable. And the stretch from the west to central China cannot be done by train in any acceptable time – for that there is exactly one flight.

📊 The route in numbers

Bases
8 (Ürümqi, Turpan, Kashgar, Tashkurgan, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hong Kong)
Straight-line distance west to east
approx. 4,000 km – more than Lisbon to Moscow
Time zone
all of China runs on one official time; in Kashgar the sun does not rise until around 9 am and locally an informal second clock applies
Night train
1 (Turpan/Ürümqi → Kashgar)
Domestic flights
1 (Kashgar → Xi'an)
Highest point
Karakul Lake and the passes on the Karakoram Highway, approx. 3,600–4,100 m

💡 Who this route is for

For travellers who see cold as part of the experience and who value the off-season more than comfort. In early November there is practically nobody on the Karakoram Highway – and in return the visibility is as good as it ever gets, because the summer haze has gone. Anyone who wants warm weather and short hops takes Route 6.

The unpleasant part first

⚠️ Winter warning for Xinjiang – please read in full

⚠️ Late October and November in Xinjiang is winter, not autumn

Ürümqi
−2 to +8 °C by day, down to −8 °C at night, first snow is normal
Turpan
5 to 15 °C by day, around 0 °C at night – the most pleasant base in the west
Kashgar
5 to 15 °C by day, −3 °C at night, very dry, dusty
Karakul Lake, approx. 3,600 m
−5 to +3 °C by day, −15 °C at night, the lake shore is starting to freeze
Tashkurgan, approx. 3,100 m
−5 to +5 °C by day, −10 to −15 °C at night with wind
Daylight
In Kashgar it does not get light until around 9 am and it is dark by about 7 pm (Beijing time applies nationwide) – the usable day is short

What that rules out: the mountain region of Kanas in the Altai range in the north is effectively not travellable in November – snow, closed access roads, services suspended. The Khunjerab Pass towards Pakistan closes to tourist traffic around the end of November, so it is not a destination anyway. High-altitude climbing on Muztagh Ata at this time of year is pure expedition territory.

⚠️ Two more points that honesty demands

Density of checks. Xinjiang is the most intensively monitored region in China. Expect ID checks at road blocks, luggage scans at stations and shopping centres, plus hotel registration. Not every hotel is permitted to take foreigners – so book accommodation in advance and explicitly as "foreigner-friendly". This is not a danger, but it costs time and patience every day.

Permits on the Karakoram Highway. For the section up to Tashkurgan and for some side valleys a border area permit (边防证) may be required. Practice changes and depends on the specific destination. It can be arranged easily through a local agency or the driver – but sort it out in advance, don't improvise on the spot. Which is another reason why drivers are budgeted for this section anyway.

And yet: why it is worth it

These exact conditions produce what you cannot get in summer. In July there are coaches parked at Karakul Lake; in early November there is nobody. The air is dry and clear, Muztagh Ata with its more than 7,500 metres stands unobscured, and the Uyghur bazaars run as ordinary everyday business rather than in tourist mode. If you can take the cold, you get the most impressive version of this landscape.

20 days

Day by day

27 October to 15 November 2026. The Kashgar stay is deliberately placed so that Sunday 1 November falls on the big weekly market.

Route 5 – day-by-day overview
DayDateLocation ActivityAccommodationTransport
1Tue 27 OctÜrümqi Arrival. In the afternoon the International Bazaar and the regional museum with the Tarim mummies – the best introduction to the history of the region you can get. ÜrümqiArrival flight
2Wed 28 Oct→ Turpan 🚄 High-speed train into the Turpan depression, one of the lowest points of land on earth. In the afternoon 📍 the ruined city of Jiaohe, cut out of the clay of a plateau rather than built up. Emin Minaret in the evening. Turpan🚄 approx. 1.5 h
3Thu 29 OctTurpan 🚗📍 Flaming Mountains, the Bezeklik grottoes, the mud-brick village of Tuyoq and the karez irrigation system – underground channels that have carried meltwater into the desert for more than a thousand years. 🧭 Raisin farms in the vine-growing valley. Turpan🚗 Driver, day tour
4Fri 30 Oct🚄 Night train A last round in Turpan during the day, then in the evening onto the night train to Kashgar. Sleeper car, soft berth, around 20 hours along the edge of the Taklamakan. One of the great rail journeys in Asia – and the most honest way to grasp the distance. Sleeper car🚄 Night train
5Sat 31 OctKashgar Arrival in the afternoon. Old town lanes, the Id Kah Mosque, craftsmen's streets with coppersmiths and instrument makers. 🧭 Night market in the evening: lamb skewers, laghman, pomegranate juice. Kashgaron foot
6Sun 1 NovKashgar 🧭 Sunday market. The reason this day sits here: the big weekly market including the animal and livestock market on the edge of town is the last large trading event of its kind in Central Asia. Sheep, donkeys, carpets, tools – not a souvenir stall in sight. KashgarTaxi, on foot
7Mon 2 NovKarakoram Highway 🚗📍 The landscape day. Along the Karakoram Highway into the Pamirs: the White Sand Mountains, the Oytagh gorge, then Karakul Lake at approx. 3,600 m below the glaciated Muztagh Ata at over 7,500 m. On to Tashkurgan. ⚠️ −10 to −15 °C at night. Tashkurgan🚗 Driver, approx. 6 h
8Tue 3 NovTashkurgan → Kashgar 🥾📍 In the morning the Stone Fort and the boardwalks across the Pamir wetland meadows – a flat stroll at 3,100 m looking out at the Afghan and Tajik border ranges. Drive back in the afternoon. Kashgar🚗 Driver, approx. 5 h
9Wed 4 Nov✈️ → Xi'an ✈️ The one domestic flight. Kashgar to Xi'an, depending on the connection either direct or via Ürümqi. Reasoning in the transport section – by train it would be over 40 hours. Evening arrival, Muslim Quarter in Xi'an: the same cuisine as in Kashgar, a different world. Xi'an✈️ Flight
10Thu 5 NovXi'an / Lintong 🚄 Early to the Terracotta Army, be there before nine. In the afternoon the Shaanxi History Museum, which tells the story of the Silk Road from the Chinese side – after Kashgar you read it completely differently. Xi'anLocal train, bus
11Fri 6 NovXi'an 🚲📍 Cycle the city wall, 14 km at a height of 12 metres. In the afternoon the Great Wild Goose Pagoda. In the evening 🎶 the first proper night out of the trip – after a week in Xinjiang, quite a contrast. Xi'anBike, metro
12Sat 7 Nov→ Chengdu 🚄 Through the Qinling tunnels into Sichuan. Chengdu in the evening: hotpot in the Yulin district, 🎶 Saturday night in the city regarded as the centre of China's electronic scene. Chengdu🚄 approx. 4 h
13Sun 8 NovChengdu Dujiangyan panda base in the morning, in the afternoon the Sanxingdui museum with its bronze masks – a culture with no connection to the central empire. Renmin teahouse in the evening. Chengdu🚄 + bus
14Mon 9 Nov→ Chongqing 🚄 90 minutes. 📍 Liziba with the metro running through a block of flats, the Kuixinglou stairs, cable car over the Yangtze, and Hongyadong in a sea of lights in the evening. Chongqing🚄 1.5 h
15Tue 10 NovDazu Day trip to the Dazu Rock Carvings, UNESCO World Heritage: tens of thousands of Song-era figures, still coloured. In the evening the view from the Raffles deck over the confluence of the rivers. ChongqingBus, approx. 1.5 h
16Wed 11 Nov🛂 → Hong Kong 🚄 Long rail leg right across the country to West Kowloon, 🛂 passport control in the station. First round in Sheung Wan in the evening. The temperature rises on this day by a good twenty degrees compared with day 7. Hong Kong🚄 approx. 7–8 h
17Thu 12 NovHong Kong 🥾📍 Dragon's Back over Shek O Peak, then a swim at Big Wave Bay. Temple Street and dai pai dong food in the evening. Hong KongMTR, bus
18Fri 13 NovLantau 🥾📍 Lantau Peak, 934 m, Hong Kong's second-highest mountain, then the Tian Tan Buddha and the stilt-house village of Tai O. In the evening 🎶 Friday in Kwun Tong. Hong KongMTR, cable car, bus
19Sat 14 NovYuen Long 🎶🎶 Shi Fu Miz Festival, Tai Tong Organic EcoPark, 12:00 to 04:00, four stages – confirmed. From the Pamir plateau to open-air techno in the New Territories in twelve days: the arc of this route in a single sentence. Details in Route 4. Hong KongMTR + shuttle
20Sun 15 NovHong Kong Dim sum in Sham Shui Po, Star Ferry, Airport Express. Onward flight. —Airport Express

Table scrolls sideways · 20 days, 27 Oct – 15 Nov 2026, no gaps.

Geography

Map

The overview map covers the entire country – from the Tajik border to the Pearl River Delta. That makes the scale of this route obvious.

📍 All stops in Amap (高德) – works in China 🗺️ Open route in Google Maps Karakoram Highway in detail

In China: the Amap link works behind the firewall. Google Maps is blocked on the mainland and OpenStreetMap is unreliable – background, app tips and offline maps.

🚗 Driving legs individually in Amap – with a drawn route

The button above only places markers, no line: Amap's marker endpoint shows up to ten points but no track between them. A drawn route comes from the navigation endpoint – which however only takes a start, an end and one waypoint. So here are the driving legs one by one:

Driver legs only. Rail and flight sections are deliberately missing – Amap would compute them as a car journey and show wrong times.

Note: for this distance the mapping service will not calculate a sensible continuous route – the Kashgar to Xi'an leg is flown.

On the way

🥾 Hiking and viewpoints

In the west these are high-altitude walks without much climbing – the altitude itself is the strain. The hard hikes come at the end, in Hong Kong.

Karakul Lake, approx. 3,600 m

Difficulty: easy, but at altitude and in the cold. A loop along the shore, about 2 to 3 hours, barely any ascent. 📍 The view across the lake to Muztagh Ata and Kongur Tagh – two peaks over 7,000 metres – is one of the great sights of Asia.

⚠️ In early November the shore starts to freeze and there can be snowfields. Windproofs and warm gloves are not optional here. If you are sensitive to altitude: the jump from Kashgar at 1,300 m to 3,600 m in a single day is noticeable – walk slowly, drink plenty.

Tashkurgan: Pamir wetland meadows

Difficulty: easy. Boardwalks across the wetland below the old Stone Fort at 3,100 m, one to two hours. 📍 A wide plain, a meandering river, and behind it the ranges towards Tajikistan and Afghanistan. At its best in the morning, with frost and low light.

Jiaohe, Turpan

Difficulty: easy, but no shade. The ruined city sits on a plateau between two arms of a river and was not built but cut out of the clay. 📍 From the southern end you can see the whole site. Around 2 hours, ideally in the late afternoon.

Huashan as an option

If you want to slot in a mountain day from Xi'an: Huashan with its harnessed plank walk across the south face is 35 minutes away by high-speed train. It does cost one of the two Xi'an days, though – see Route 2, where it is fully built in.

Lantau Peak, Hong Kong

Difficulty: medium to hard. 934 m, steps all the way, around 2 hours of ascent from Ngong Ping. 📍 In clear air the view stretches across the whole island chain as far as Macau. For sunrise you set off at four – in November still dark and pleasantly cool.

Dragon's Back, Hong Kong

Difficulty: pleasant. 8.5 km of ridge path over Shek O Peak with views of the southern islands, and a swimming bay at the end. The best hike for easing back in after long days on trains.

Clay ruins of the ancient city of Jiaohe near Turpan in Xinjiang
The ruined city of Jiaohe near Turpan – day 2
East gate of Kashgar old town with its mud-brick architecture
Kashgar old town – days 5 and 6
The Stone Fort of Tashkurgan above the Pamir plateau
Stone Fort, Tashkurgan, 3,100 m – day 8
Rows of terracotta warriors in Pit 1 near Xi'an
Terracotta Army near Xi'an – day 10

Substance

🧭 Off the beaten path

Sunday market in Kashgar

The livestock and weekly market is not a show: farmers haggle over sheep, donkeys are put through their paces, animals are slaughtered, people eat and argue. The last large trading event of its kind in Central Asia. Go early, wear sturdy shoes, photograph respectfully.

Tuyoq, the mud-brick village

A Uyghur village in a gorge near Turpan: mud-brick houses, vine arbours, raisin-drying houses with latticed walls. A place of pilgrimage and an everyday place at once, and one most tour groups only ever see from a moving bus.

Night train to the west

Twenty hours in a sleeper car along the Taklamakan are not a means of transport but a chapter in themselves: tea from a thermos, card games, sunflower seeds, conversations conducted with hands. Book a soft berth, not a seat.

Tajik hospitality

Tashkurgan is mainly Tajik, not Uyghur – a different language, different music, different houses with a smoke opening in the roof. Guesthouses arrange dinner with families, in winter with a stove and plenty of butter tea.

Karez channels

For more than a thousand years Turpan has lived off underground channels that carry meltwater from the mountains down into the basin without losing it to evaporation. A walkable section shows how the engineering works – frankly more impressive than most temples.

Two clocks

Officially the whole of China has only one time zone. So Kashgar runs an unofficial local time two hours behind Beijing: government offices on Beijing time, bazaars and restaurants on local time. When you arrange to meet someone, always ask which time is meant – one of the most instructive quirks of the region.

Evenings

🎶 Nightlife on this route

The first week has no club scene, and that is not a gap but simply the region. From day 11 it gets busy.

Xinjiang, days 1–8

No club programme. What there is: teahouses, live music with rawap and dutar in the bazaars, night markets running until midnight. Ürümqi has a small bar scene, Kashgar essentially none. Alcohol is more discreetly present in the Uyghur region – no ban, but a different attitude to it.

Xi'an, day 11 🎶

Friday night, the first proper night out. The scene is student-driven, with bars and livehouses around the southern city wall and the university districts.

Chengdu, days 12–13 🎶

Saturday night in China's electronic-music centre. One thing to note: the two flagship clubs .TAG and AXIS closed in 2025 – the scene has shifted to livehouses and smaller rooms around Jiuyanqiao and Yulin. Current addresses via Resident Advisor.

Chongqing, days 14–15 🎶

Big clubs in Jiefangbei and Guanyinqiao, plenty of EDM, little underground. Relaxed midweek; good as a bar night with a river view, second choice as a techno destination.

Hong Kong, days 16–19 🎶

Four evenings, including Friday and Saturday. What matters are the warehouse venues in Kwun Tong and the smaller places in Sheung Wan – not Lan Kwai Fong.

Day 19: Shi Fu Miz 🎶🎶

The high point: Saturday 14 Nov, Tai Tong Organic EcoPark in Yuen Long, 12:00 to 04:00, four stages – house and disco by day, techno at night, ambient at the close. Date and line-up confirmed. Details and tickets in Route 4.

🔎 Last-minute check – two weeks before departure

Assessment as of: 29 Sept 2026.

Logistics

🚄✈️🚗 Transport analysis

✈️ The one domestic flight – and why it is unavoidable

Your brief was to avoid domestic flights as far as possible. On this route exactly one flight is necessary, and the numbers are unambiguous:

Kashgar → Xi'an by train
over 40 hours, usually with a change in Ürümqi or Lanzhou – very nearly two full travel days
Kashgar → Xi'an by air
direct or with one change depending on the connection, around half a day including transfers
Gain
roughly 1.5 travel days – enough for the entire Karakoram Highway block, which would otherwise have to go

Put differently: without this flight, this route does not exist. Either you drop Xinjiang – in which case you are looking at Route 2 – or you drop central China. The flight is the price of the range, and it is worth it.

🚗 A driver for three days – in the west not an option but the standard

For the Turpan day tour and the Karakoram Highway you book 包车, a car with a driver. On the Pamir section that makes double sense: the driver knows the checkpoints, takes care of any border area permit, knows which places are allowed to take foreigners, and decides whether to carry on if it snows. Price RMB 600–1,000 per day, towards the upper end in the Pamirs because of the distances.

🚗 Driving yourself in the Pamirs: out of the question

China recognises neither the German nor the international driving licence. On the Karakoram Highway you also have altitude, the onset of winter, checkpoints and possible permit requirements. A hire car here is not just administratively impossible, it is also the wrong idea from a safety point of view.

Legs and journey times
LegMeansDurationNote
Ürümqi → Turpan🚄 HSRapprox. 1.5 h Several times a day.
Turpan circuit🚗 DriverDay tour The sights are far apart and public transport is impractical.
Turpan/Ürümqi → Kashgar🚄 Night trainapprox. 20 h Book a soft berth and reserve early – these trains are often full.
Kashgar → Tashkurgan🚗 Driverapprox. 6 h Via Karakul Lake. ⚠️ Clarify the permit situation in advance.
Tashkurgan → Kashgar🚗 Driverapprox. 5 h Quicker on the way back without photo stops.
Kashgar → Xi'an✈️ Flighthalf a day The justified exception flight, see above.
Xi'an → Chengdu🚄 HSRapprox. 4 h Through the Qinling tunnels.
Chengdu → Chongqing🚄 HSRapprox. 1.5 h Very frequent service.
Chongqing → Hong Kong🚄 HSRapprox. 7–8 h To West Kowloon, 🛂 passport control in the station. Take an early train.

Mandatory check

🛂 Border crossing check and the Kazakhstan variant

🛂 Entry into China

No visa needed. Germans enter visa-free for up to 30 days per entry, a rule valid until 24:00 on 31 Dec 2026. Carry hotel bookings and an onward flight ticket out of Hong Kong – in Xinjiang you get asked more often than elsewhere.

Sources: Consulate General of the PR China in Hamburg (4 Nov 2025); FAQs on Visa-free Entry into China, as of 21 May 2026.

🛂 Optional variant: Khorgos into Kazakhstan

Because the route runs far to the west anyway, a detour into Kazakhstan is conceivable in principle. The Khorgos/Korgas crossing lies in the Ili valley north of Ürümqi, and from there it is still several hours on to Almaty.

Kazakhstan visa
Germans enter visa-free for up to 30 days.
Return to China
No problem. According to the official FAQ, question 12, the Chinese visa exemption allows multiple entries with no limit on the number; the 30-day period starts again. FAQ question 9 includes land border crossings.
Time required
This is the sticking point: realistically three to four days for the trip out and back plus the stay.
Geographical problem
Khorgos lies in the opposite direction from Kashgar. Doing both on the same trip is not possible.

⚠️ Our clear recommendation: leave it

The detour would replace Kashgar and the Karakoram Highway – precisely the two high points you pick this route for in the first place. On top of that, the Ili valley is already deep in winter in early November and Almaty in November is wet and grey. The trade is not worth it.

If you genuinely want the border crossing, you are better served by Route 4 or Route 6: there it leads into Vietnam, it is visa-free, the climate is pleasant and it costs only two days.

🛂 Mainland to Hong Kong on day 16

Formally an exit from the mainland with passport control in the station. Hong Kong is a separate immigration jurisdiction; Germans stay up to 90 days visa-free. Because Hong Kong comes at the end, re-entry into China is no longer an issue.

Execution

Practicalities, kit and costs

💶 Cost estimate per person

Accommodation 18 nights + night train
approx. €820 (Hong Kong 4 nights approx. €430)
Domestic flight Kashgar → Xi'an
approx. €180–260
Driver 3 days, Pamir surcharge
approx. €230
Rail incl. night train and HK leg
approx. €350
Admissions and permits
approx. €160
Food and drink
approx. €400
Shi Fu Miz ticket
approx. €60–90
Buffer
approx. €250
Total
€2,400–2,800
The most expensive of the six routes – the distances cost money.

📅 Booking order for Route 5

  1. Open-jaw flight: in to Ürümqi, onward flight out of Hong Kong
  2. Domestic flight Kashgar → Xi'an immediately – the connection is thin
  3. Driver and agency for the Karakoram Highway; settle the permit question at the same time
  4. Hong Kong hotel for days 16–20
  5. Shi Fu Miz ticket for 14 Nov
  6. Night train to Kashgar as soon as the 15-day window opens – soft berths go quickly
  7. Book accommodation in Xinjiang explicitly as licensed for foreigners
  8. From 12 Oct, book the remaining rail legs

🎒 Kit – not a side issue here

  • Proper winter kit for days 7 and 8: down jacket, hat, thick gloves, thermal underwear
  • Warm, sturdy boots – there is often snow in Tashkurgan
  • Category 3 to 4 sunglasses and lip balm: 3,600 m, dry air, reflection
  • A dust cloth or buff for Turpan and Kashgar
  • Power bank – sockets are scarce on the night train
  • Cash in reserve; mobile payment does not work equally well everywhere in Xinjiang
  • And then shorts again for Hong Kong – a temperature jump of over 20 degrees in one day

🌡️ Temperature curve of the trip

Day 1, Ürümqi
−2 to +8 °C
Day 7, Karakul Lake
−15 to +3 °C
Day 10, Xi'an
7 to 18 °C
Day 13, Chengdu
12 to 20 °C
Day 19, Hong Kong
20 to 26 °C
Around 35 degrees of spread in twelve days – that is the appeal and the challenge of this route.

🩺 Altitude and health

The jump from Kashgar at 1,300 m to Karakul Lake at 3,600 m in a single day is the only delicate point. Fine for most people, but: walk slowly, drink plenty, no alcohol on the day you arrive. With severe headaches or breathlessness at rest, do not carry on to Tashkurgan but descend. Check that your travel health insurance covers altitude.

Further reading

Sources

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