What?! Another itinerary thread! Beijing to Kashgar - 3 weeks

I'd add a bit more time in China and add some stuff.
14-18th Beijing. Overnight train to Pingyao.
19th Pingyao and area with overnight there
20th Morning fast train to Xi'an. Afternoon Xi'an and overnight.
21st Huashan--whether you do as long daytrip or overnight there, your choice
22nd Xi'an. Overnight train to Lanzhou.
23rd Bus to Xiahe, rest of day there and overnight.
24th Xiahe another overnight.
25th (Early)bus over grasslands to Xining arrive midafternoon; change to fast train to Zhangye and overnight there. 26th Zhangye. Overnight train to Dunhuang (in-town station, get the Y train).
27-28th Dunhuang. Afternoon of 28th share-car 2 hrs to Liuyuan South Station; fast train to Turpan, overnight there.
29th Turpan. Afternoon of 29th, standard train overnight to Kashgar. Take the T9517.
30th Arrive Kashgar 09:00-ish. Plenty of time to go to Sunday Animal Market which is only that day, do that first. The main Bazaar market is open everyday and nothing special about Sundays.
31st to Aug 2 Kashgar region/KKH. Karakul if it's open again to foreigners (likely). If not open, there are other places to go (Shipton's, Yarkand).
Aug 3 Leave for Kyrgyzstan.

This is force-fit to get you to the Sunday Market in Kashgar on July 30. Ideally, you could add a few more days into the China part (PLENTY of options for the extra time), arrive in Kashgar on Aug 2-3, do the KKH or other localized trips, do the following Sunday (6th) for the Animal Market then depart for Kyrg on the 7th. But it really depends on how much time you need for Kyrg.

At the time you will be traveling, longer distance train tickets both sleeper and fast will likely sell out. Given that it's mid-June now, you'd be wise to come up with a plan quickly and book tickets (using an agent) based on those dates. If things change enroute, you can refund tickets and get most of your money back. There aren't a lot of good Plan B options for inexpensive transport to fall back on. Accommodation especially in reasonable price ranges in places that accept foreigners, will probably also be in short supply at least as far as Turpan. In Dunhuang, the Mogao Caves requires advance booking--you cannot see the caves without going on a guided tour, and you'll want one of the two (maybe three) daily English language tours. Suggest that once you get as far as Xi'an or Xiahe, that you see if you can arrange to get a ticket. The website for this is completely user-unfriendly particularly for foreigners, but a call to your Dunhuang lodging might work. Failing that, as soon as you get to Dunhuang, go to the Mogao in-town ticket office to get a tour ticket locked in. There's nothing else on this journey that requires specific advance planning for access, although whether the KKH trip will be doable either independently or with Kashgar guide, is unclear now.

Jiejie's itinerary is great.

I would book your Turfan-Kashgar train as soon as you get o China. It doesnt usually sell out all that quickly, but you want a particular train to arrive on a particular day, and it is a VERY LONG train ride. Make sure you get the Berth you want and have that all sorted.

I would think hard about whether you want to do Huashan. The mountains in eastern China are not that spectacular, they arent going to wow like the Himalayas or the Tianshan; what you are going to see in Western China and Kyrgistan. They are different, but the biggest difference is how many people are there with you. They have been developed for mass market tourism, with concrete stairs, vendor stalls and cable cars everywhere. The fun is less in the actual mountain and more in watching the Chinese tourists go about their travel day. It's interesting, but for me, there are other things along your way that are more interesting. Also if you think you might like it, this type of tourist development is growing in China with more and more mountains being made into attractions, so you could put it off till later.

Yes the above itinerary is indeed great, and gives me a few things to think about, so thanks for that! Many of the places you mentioned have been considered, especially Xiahe, has this place looks so beautiful, but on the map it seemed to be in the opposite direction of my general travel. But you pointed out a potential route so will look into this.

I also understand there is so much to see and do, and a measly 2-3 week itinerary covering 5500kms wouldnt do it justice, but the trip in Kyrgyzstan is the pinnacle of the whole trip, whereas China is more about the journey through, so i am prepared to skip a few of the more popular sites, such as Pingyao.

Quick question re: Lanzhou, would i only visit this city to then leave immediately towards Xiahe? i feel this maybe deserves a few days at least but like i said, I want to head in the general direction towards Kashgar. But will consider!

For the train tickets i have checked Ctrip and the train tickets i require are not yet for sale, is this normal or is this purely because im accessing an international version rather than local, but i assume i can book my tickets using this website myself?

Thanks for the rest of the advice! proving to be very very useful !!

Quick question re: Lanzhou, would i only visit this city to then leave immediately towards Xiahe? i feel this maybe deserves a few days at least but like i said, I want to head in the general direction towards Kashgar.

Lanzhou is famous for it's beef noodle soup and it's prostitutes. Both are cheap and only take 30 minutes; the noodle soup is the only one that is worth the trip in my opinion. Xiahe is what you want, Lanzhou just happens to have a train station(Xiahe doesnt).

For the train tickets i have checked Ctrip and the train tickets i require are not yet for sale, is this normal or is this purely because im accessing an international version rather than local, but i assume i can book my tickets using this website myself?

You can book 30 days out on Ctrip, or so it seems to me sitting at my office in the US. Midjuly will open up in the coming week.

Lanzhou is a useless place, and the only downside to the Xiahe excursion is that you're forced to pass through it.

Myself, I'd go at slower pace and stop in Tongren on the way to Xining. I'd cut out Zhangye and spend a day in Linxia on the way from Lanzhou to Xiahe. Don't underestimate how stressful just moving about can be.

@889 and I will have to agree to disagree on Zhangye. I love the place, the people as well as the sights. I agree with everyone on Lanzhou--it's OK for a stop if you need it to make transport connections work, but not a lot there. One thing you can do to cut out Lanzhou entirely and save some time is fly nonstop from Xi'an to Xiahe (Gannan Airport GXH). This flight operates on Sun, Mon, Tues, Thurs. On the 23rd, there's an early flight departing XIY 07:40 arr GXH 09:00. Airport is about 45 minutes from Xiahe town. Sometimes it drops to around RMB 400-ish if you wait until about 2-3 weeks out.

If you cut out Pingyao (also consider cutting out Huashan), then you'd have time to add in Tongren between Xiahe and Xining and still get to Kashgar on Sunday the 30th.

Lanzhou is one of the most polluted cities in China. It's considerably worse than Beijing. Your lungs will probably be begging for you to get out of the city quickly.

There's one interesting museum in the place, which is home to one of the most famous ancient artifacts in China - an old horse statue, which you'll see replicated all over the country. Otherwise, there are some nice hills across the Yellow River from the main town which are interesting to climb a little for the views, particularly when the call to prayer resounds over the city (assuming it's still allowed these days). And you can enjoy the noodles, though you'll have better noodles in Xinjiang (in my opinion).

I bought Kashgar-Turfan train tickets last minute recently; I ended up having to go hard seat. Not the most pleasant trip, to be sure, but you'll survive if you have no other options. The quickest trains make the journey in something like 16 hours, I think. It's faster than it used to be.

Incidentally, I have spent far more than 3 weeks traveling in China, and I have yet to visit Pingyao. There are always things you're going to have to skip...

Heyy thanks all, some great stuff.

Sorry i confused many, i didnt mean to give the impression I was seeking to go to Lanzhou for a few days, I was referring to Xiahe and the surrounding areas haha, but it seems I will have to go via Lanzhou. After some thinking, I will look to add Xiahe to my trip!

After some basic google browsing, it seems there is a new high speed train line from Xi'an to Lanzhou opening? but cant seem to find much info. So to get to Xiahe from X'ian, will be a train to Lanzhou then a bus to Xiahe, is this correct and is this do-able within one days travel?

Thanks for the suggestions! very grateful

If you don't want to go to Xiahe via Lanzhou, I told you in post #6 about the nonstop flight Xi'an-Xiahe which at deep discount, costs no more than cobbling together train + bus and saves time.

The high speed train line between Xi'an and Lanzhou is currently in operation only as far west as Baoji. Supposedly the entire line will be opened sometime this summer, but there has been no formal date announced. Typically, it just opens suddenly and they start selling tickets. I'd lay odds that it will not be operating yet when you need passage through....since your timing is only a month from now. Therefore I'd plan on overnight train Xi'an-Lanzhou then bus to Xiahe. When the high speed runs, it should be possible to leave Xi'an in the morning, arrive Lanzhou about 4-ish hours later, catch early afternoon bus to Xiahe--all in one day.