China What to Know Before Travelling to Xinjiang Permits, checkpoints, hotels that can and cannot take you, altitude with children, and the context you should read before deciding — from nine days on the ground.
China The Karakoram Highway: Ghez Canyon, Karakul and Tashkurgan From Kashgar at 1,300 metres to Karakul Lake at 3,650, under a 7,509-metre peak — the red walls of the Ghez canyon, the braided rivers of Tashkurgan, and what it takes to get there.
China Kashgar: Old Town, Bazaars and the Sunday Livestock Market Green tiles, arcaded lanes, coppersmiths and a Sunday morning of yaks changing hands — four days in the far west of China, where the map runs out and Central Asia begins.
China Turpan: Tuyoq, Bezeklik and the Flaming Mountains Two days below sea level in the Turpan depression: a mud-brick village at the bottom of a gorge, Buddhist caves above a river, red-striped mountains, and a whole city built of packed earth.
China Dunhuang: Mingsha Dunes, Crescent Lake and the Yangguan Desert The dunes start where the street ends. Two days in the Gansu oasis where the Silk Road split in two — sand ridges, a crescent-shaped lake, Bactrian camels and the desert road west to Yangguan.
China Silk Road China: A 9-Day Itinerary from Dunhuang to the Pamirs Nine days west along the old Silk Road, from the dunes of Dunhuang to a glacier lake at 3,650 metres — by night train, with a guide, and through about ten checkpoints.
