Kashgar

» Xin Jiang

Kashgar Overview & Map Weather Transportation Information

Today's Kashgar weather forcast

The road from eastern and central China divides north and south of the Taklimakan Desert, and Kashgar is where the two branches meet again in the western part of the Desert. Population is a mixture of Uighurs, Han chinese, Kyrgizs, Tajiks and Uzbeks. Together with central-asian merchants visiting for the markets and workshops, and international tourists, the city boasts a colorful ethnic varaiety. The city is said to have the largest bazaar in Asia.

Where to see

Sightseeings

Id Kah Mosque - first built in 1442, it is very distinctive for its yellow walls and Central Asian architecture. Women are generally not allowed inside, but modestly dressed foreigners should have no problem. You should remove your shoes for the carpeted area. Open 8:50-10pm daily, closed during services, admission charge

Tomb of Abac Hoja - massive, elegant building created in 1640 in a typical Islamic style. Also a pilgrimage site. It's 2 miles from the city center, with bus and taxi connections to the People's Square. The mausoleum is open 8:00-5:30 daily, the mosque is open daily as wel, (prayer day is friday), admission charge

Tomb of Yusup Khass Hajip - tomb of city's much loved philosopher and poet who wrote the 13,290 line poem "The Wisdom of Happiness and Pleasure" in the Uighur language

Sunday Bazaar

The Mal Bazaar is the livestock market, where locals from all the surrounding villages come to town on that day (Sunday) to buy and sell animals. It's held on an open (but fenced) ground. It's popular with tourists, but the market is so big it still feels like a working bazaar. Take bus 16 from the Peoples Square to get there (1 RMB).

The Yengi Bazaar is the handicrafts, cloths, carpets and anything-else-you-could-expect market. This market is actually open daily and is less crowded on weekdays. Bargain hard!

Climate

Kashgar is located at the continental climate region, with relatively longer summer time and shorter winter. The coldest season is January having an average temperature of minus 6 degree centigrade and the average temperature for the hottest July is about 27 degree centigrade. The period from April to October is a pleasant time to visit Kashgar while the most comfortable weather condition and ripe fruits in that region make August and September the best two seasons to visit. Moreover two of the most popular local festivals ( Corban Festivals and Lesser Bairam) take place during this period when visitors can enjoy many colorful celebration activities.

What's good in Kashgar food

Central Asian flavor. A wide variety of Muslim food as well as taste from other regions can be tasted here. The main food here includes flour, corn, and rice. The followings are some typical food found in Kashgar.

• Roasted meat is the most popular and commonly seen food in Kashgar. Street stalls cluster everywhere around the city, selling a wide variety of roasted meat. Kabobs are very easily tried here.
  

• Rice Taken by Hands is a popular food at festivals. The main materials are fresh mutton, carrots, onions, vegetables, rice and raisins. Raisins are boiled with sliced onions, carrots and small cubes of fried beef. Then they are put on soaked rice and boiled again. The ingredients are streamed for twenty minutes, afterward served. Before eating, one washes one's hands three times and dries them with handkerchiefs. Sitting cross-legged on cushions, people serve the rice on plates and eat it with their hands.
  There are more than 10 kinds of this rice dish, mainly mutton, chicken and vegetarian, and the most common is the one using mutton.

• Yogurt is a kind of sour dairy products, which very popular among the locals. Muslim people enjoy drinking it all over the year. Yogurt is a nutritious food containing a great variety of mineral substances, vitamin.

Transportation in Kashgar

Airplane

Kashgar Airport is located around 10 kilometers to the north of the ciy, around 10 kilometers away from it. There are daily flights between Kashgar and Urumqi. Flights from Kashgar to Urumqi takes around 45 minutes and costs about 1,200 yuan(150 usd). Travelers take bus No 2 or CAAC shuttle bus to commute between the airport and the city. CAAC shuttle bus takes about 10 yuan.

Tickets office: tel: 0998-2822123

Railway

Kashgar is the terminal point of the Nanjiang Railway(South Xinjiang Railway). There are two train services traveling between Kashgar and Urumqi. Along the rail line is some popular tourist cities including Turpan, Korla.

Although train travel is convenient and relatively cheap, it is time consuming and the conditions of train running on that route are generally inferior to those on the larger routes.

Highway

Kashgar has built a comprehensive highway network with highways spreading over to the neighboring cities, towns and beyond. Highway stretches northeastward along Aksu, Kuqa, Korla Turpan to Urumqi. Buses frequently ply on the Kashgar to Urumqi highway. A bus trip from Kashgar to Urumqi takes around 28 hours. There are also buses between Kashgar and Dunhuang in Gnasu province and Golmud, the starting point of the Qinghai-Tibet railway.

Local Transportation

The flagdown price for a taxi is around 5 yuan. It takes about 30 yuan from the airport to the city. Bicycles are also available for rental in front of many hotels and the price is 3 yuan/per hour and 30 yuan for a whole day.

Sleep

Some recommanded economical and confortable hotels:

• Kashgar Guest House, Tawaguzi Rd., Kashgar, Tel: (0998)2612360 (fax: (0998)2614679).

• Chini Bagh Hotel 337 rooms, Telephone: (0998) 282 2103 Fax: (0998) 284 2299, Seman Lu 337

• Seman Binguan In an old Russian consulate building, the rooms are oddly-shaped with simple bathrooms, commons areas have high ceilings and military-themed oil paintings, 300 rooms, Telephone: (0998) 258 2150 Fax: (0998) 258 2129, Seman Lu 337

Entertainment

Shopping

It's best to avoid the tourists shops. Buy local handicrafts at the workshops rather than the market if possible. Compare prices; but remember that in this part of the world once you start bargaining - people will expect you to buy. Be polite. Local specialties include kilims (carpets), and colorful central Asian hats.

Natural Scene

• Lake Karakuli
• Dawakun Desert

Historical Site

• Id Kah Mosque
• Tomb of Abakh Khoja
• Kashgar Old Town

Shopping & Leisure

• Kashgar Bazaar

Kashgar Highlights

Silk Road city highlights

The Silk Road, or Silk Routes, refers to an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe.

• Urumqi
• Turpan
• Kashgar
• Dunhuang
• Jiayuguan
• Lanzhou
• Tianshui
• Zhangye
• Korla
• Kuqa
• Hotan

Twelve Muqam city highlights

Known as the 'mother of Uygur music', the Twelve Muqam has a long history. Cheerful singing and music will always bring you a good mood. So listening to some Twelve Muqam music is a must when you visit Xinjiang.

• Kashgar
• Kuqa
• Yarkent

Islam attraction highlights

The word Islam means "submission", or the total surrender of oneself to the islamic conception of God. An adherent of Islam is known as a Muslim, meaning "one who submits to God". There are between 1 billion and 1.8 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world, after Christianity.

• Id Kah Mosque
• Great Mosque
• Grand Kuqa Mosque
• Qingjing Mosque
• Dongguan Mosque

city highlights

• Xi'an
• Turpan
• Kashgar
• Lanzhou
• Quanzhou

Uygur Ethnic Group city highlights

Xinjiang province, a place of large desert, tasty fruit and friendly people, is where almost all the Uygurs are found. It occupies much of the sparsely-populated Northwest.

• Urumqi
• Turpan
• Kashgar
• Korla
• Kuqa
• Burqin
• Yarkent
• Hotan
• Fuyun

Bazaar attraction highlights

Bazaar is Uygur language, meaning market and trade place. The traditional bazaar was originally held on Sundays, but is currently divided into two sections: one is livestock district which only opens on Sundays and the other is ordinary district which opens every day, but is especially busy on Sundays.

• Grand Bazaar
• Kashgar Bazaar

city highlights

• Urumqi
• Kashgar

Xinjiang Cuisine attraction highlights

Xinjiang Cuisine tends to be very spicy too, with peppers and chili used to much the same effect as they are in Sichuan. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is inhabited by many ethnic groups, and Xinjiang-style food is characterized by roast mutton, kebabs, roast fish and rice to be eaten with the hand.

• Grand Bazaar

Xinjiang Fruits attraction highlights

Xinjiang, enjoys the fame as the 'capital of fruits', of which the fruits have earned a good market in 55 countries. The various preserved and fresh fruits, nuts and the deep processed fruit products have been laid on the tables over the world.

• Grape Valley

city highlights

• Urumqi
• Turpan
• Kashgar
• Korla

Xinjiang Kebab attraction highlights

Xinjiang Kebab is as famous as the roast duck of Beijing. It is a popular snack nationwide -- found in the streets and bazaars throughout China, and a lot of people like it very much.

• Grand Bazaar

city highlights

• Urumqi
• Turpan
• Kashgar
• Korla
• Kuqa
• Burqin
• Yarkent
• Hotan
• Fuyun

Kashgar FAQ & Travelers's Tips

  Weather

1. When is the best time to go?

  Transportation

1. What is the best transportation for cruising around in Kashgar?

  Shopping

1. Where can I exchange money?

  Other Hints

1. How is post communication in Kashgar?
2. Emergency Services
3. Telephone Service

• When is the best time to go?

  The best time to travel is between August and September, when the sky is blue and there is blossom and fruit on the trees.

  The four seasons in Kashgar are very clear. The average temperature for the year is 11.8 degree C, the average temperature of the coolest month of January is -6 degree C, and in the hottest month, July, the average temperature is 27 degree C. Kashgar is a large periods of sunshine and little rainfall, the average rainfall here is only 121mm, but the evaporation capacity amounts to 2162mm, and on average there are 224 days a year without frost here.

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• What is the best transportation for cruising around in Kashgar?

  Hiring a car before arriving to Kashgar will make your trip easy and securely .Book your cheap Kahgar Car Hire and Car Rental securely online with Lonelychina.
  With price discounts of over 15%, you will find that we are amongst the cheapest carhire sites on the Internet. We compare prices from Hertz, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Thrifty and Europcar and quote you the cheapest.

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• Where can I exchange money?

  Money can be changed at Qinibakh Hotel , Wenzhou Hotel (limited to US$, Euro, British Pound, Japanese Yen and HK$) Kashgar Hotel and Seman Hotel. For those who stay in Renmin Hotel and Jindu Mansion , you may change your money at the Bank of China on the North of the Kashgar Peoples Square , it is 5-10 minutes distance on foot (business hours 9:00-16:00, 10:00 - 14:00 Sunday and Saturday). Do not change any money in the street with strangers. If you carry traveler check, you can change it to RMB at the Bank of China , which is not far from all hotels in Kashgar.

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• How is post communication in Kashgar?

  The main post office is located on Renmin Road the center of Kashgar (Ostangboyi end of Handcrafts street), you can send card, letters from the Post Office and your hotels as well. Post cards ,stamps and tourist books can be found in Kashgar Post Office.

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• Emergency Services

  • Police 110
  • Fire 119
  • Ambulance 120
  • Foreigners Section of the Kashgar Security Bureau 2822044
  • Tourist Hotline 2833111
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• Telephone Service

  • Local Telephone Information 114
  • Time Check 117
  • Weather Information 121
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