Xinjiang questions

For anyone who lives there or knows about travelling in Xinjiang, i have a few questions:

1. should i be worried about anything in particular? many have told me "Xinjiang is dangerous" but i do not believe it, compared to travelling in India, Indonesia, etc. is there any merit in this? Should I be worried about terrorism or anything?

2. I would like to take the train from Beijing to Xi'an, spend a day or two there then take the train from Xi'an to Urumqi, go to Turpan from there, and then go to Kashi. What's the best way to get tickets for these trains? Some friends of mine from China say they have never been able to get tickets on these trains to Urumqi and I'm kind of worried. Can I arrive in Beijing, and get a ticket to Xi'an right away for the next night (spending 1 night in Beijing)? and once I arrive in Xi'an can I get a ticket to Urumqi 2 days later? and what is the availability like from Urumqi to Kashi and back?

Also, if I go from Urumqi to Turpan, and then Turpan to Kashi, spending only 1 day in Turpan, I feel that may not be enough to get a ticket from Turpan to Kashi. Is this true? If so, perhaps I could buy Urumqi to Turpan AND Urumqi to Kashi in Urumqi, and use my Urumqi to Kashi ticket to board the same train when in stops in Turpan (thus it is *my* train just I'm boarding at a later station)? Or is this not allowed and will I not be allowed on the platform in Turpan?

4. Can I find transportation from Hami to an eclipse viewing site like Yiwu? Also, where can I stay around Hami that I can book perhaps online or by e-mail? I'm a backpacker so looking for cheap 😊

I'd be interested if there's anyone else here is going for the eclipse and has tips on getting to a viewing site.

5. I'm vegetarian. How bad is Xinjiang for this? 😊 I eat eggs and I'm not particular if they use the same equipment. I'm only vegetarian because I really hate the *taste* of meat (and seafood too).

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There's been some recent violence in Kashi, but I think you should be fine. A better itinerary would be to first go to Urumqi and arrange logistics for the rest of the trip. Turpan is only about 2.5 hours by bus from there, so you could finalize your trip plans, including buying train tickets, and then head off to Turpan -- you can spend about 1.5 days in Turpan, then head back to Urumqi in the late afternoon and depart from Urumqi to Kashi the next day (this is definitely the sensible and only realistic itinerary if your heading in that direction). Depending on when you get to Urumqi, buying Kashi tickets may be extremely difficult. I was there in August 2006 and wasn't able to buy a ticket because: 1) college students were heading back to school (this also generally crowds the train station); and 2) many vendors take the train to get to the Kashi Sunday bazaar. What I ended up doing, and may be an option for you, is to take a long distance bus. It's not very sanitary, and the bathroom stops are not as "pleasant" as those for a train (an outhouse more or less), but it gets you there in about the same time (~24 hours), the tickets are MUCH easier to get, and much cheaper. Check at the long distance bus station if you can't get a train ticket.

Spending a day in Turpan is a little tight. Give yourself at least 1.5 days -- to see the important sites, you'll need to join a tour group from one of the hotels -- try the transportation hotel, it's cheap and their tours are small and flexible.

Getting a ticket from Beijing to Xi'an may be difficult, depending on when you go. During the Olympics there'll be a lot of foreigners traveling around, and also college students returning to school. Avoid the first week of October -- it's the national week and everyone travels.

Re food, you should be fine -- most dishes come with mutton of some variety, but there's a lot a tomato-based vegetable dishes, and you can still find plenty of Chinese restaurants where you can get tofu-based foods.



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