-- From Torugart to Ürümqi

The 29/06, we arrived at the Kyrgyz external checkpost, the police force controlled our passports, then we continued to the customs and immigration checkpost. At the barrier, a soldier informed himself by radio and asked us to have patience. An English speaking customs officer said to us to await the opening of the offices the following day and he indicated us the place where to bivouac for the night. The 30/06, control started around 9 a.m. and took less than one half an hour for the three vehicles which were visited summarily. Our passports were stamped, we gave the customs declaration filled at the entry in the country and we paid 160 soms.

Kirghiz customs and immigration checkpost
29/06/2006

The chronicle of our entry into China is worth to be told briefly:

Leaving Kyrgyzstan, we went until the top of the Torugart pass where the brick arch photographed by our friends of the association of the Silk Roads in 2000 and 2004 did not exist any more. We continued the road to the old checkpost where we awaited our guide which arrived around 2 p.m., Beijing time. There were already three Swiss motor homes and two French four wheels drive vehicles in parking under the control of the army. Our guide “Tursum” gave us another version of impossibility to enter the vehicles into China, the Chinese person in charge having to sign the documents missed for obscure reasons. We installed our vehicles in the enclosure of the old station by making safe its. The new checkpost is located at approximately 100 km of track towards Kashgar. We filled out there two documents, a card of civil status and a document concerning health. Then after waiting, we were controlled, visualization of the eye for health, recording of the passport and scanner of the hand luggage. After one hour of tarred road, we arrived at the hotel in Kashgar where we remained with our expenses up to July 4. The days of July the 01 and 02 were devoted to make purchases and to visit the city. The “Bank of China” was open the weekend, but it accepted only the Visa card and the travellers. The 03/07, we were authorized to descend the vehicles from the old checkpost to the new checkpost to put them in a park guarded by the army. The wheels of our vehicles were disinfected for 50 CNY. Of course the days in carpark were not free, 80 CNY. Finally the 04/07, we turned again to the new customs checkpost, one hour of road from Kashgar, to enter the vehicles into China. Arrived around 12 noon we left the vehicles towards 14:30 after having recorded our passports once again. The vehicles were visited summarily. However the microphones of our CB radio were taken by the customs, they should be returned to us in Ürümqi. Agency CITS gave us, two number plates for the vehicles and two plasticized cards, the automobile license and the driving license. Officially we were in China!

I noted that the pane of the left window in the front face of the body had a longitudinal crack. There was no impact. The cause was probably torsions of the cell on the difficult tracks in Mongolia and besides then an abrupt change of temperature at the time of the night spent in altitude at the old Chinese checkpost.

The road tracklog 
from Torugart to Hotan 
from the 30/06/2006 to the 05/07/2006 

Kashgar is one of the mythical cities of the Silk Roads, western crossroads of the north and the south road of Taklamakan. It had made me dreamed during many years. Alas, I was very disappointed while entering Kashgar to discover a modern city with broad avenues encumbered by an important traffic of vehicles. The old city is limited to some asphalted and well maintained streets. Admittedly the old city still has trade of dinandery, of tinplate industry, of joinery and of course of restaurants. But there are the subject of a systematic restoration, he remained only some traditional houses.
We visited Abak Hoja tomb as well as the Id Kah mosque. These two monuments as well as the cattle market and the Sunday market gave an idea of the animation of old Kashgar.

Traditional house
“Old Kashgar” 
02/07/2006 

Mosque square 
Id Kah  
Kashgar 
< 02/07/2006 

The program envisaged to take the northern road of Taklamakan by Aksu and Kuga. Tursum proposed us to take the south road by Hotan skirting the desert. It makes it possible to take the “Desert Highway" from Niya which crosses Taklamakan from the south to the north.

The road alignment 
from Hotan to Niya
05/07/2006The

The “Desert Highway” was built for oil research in the Taklamakan desert. It is well asphalted and made it possible to support an average speed higher than 75 km/h during the 500 km. Taklamakan is the second largest desert in the world after the Sahara. To avoid the formation of sand banks, the road is bordered, of each side, by 15 lines of tamarisk sprinkled by water pipes with a station of pumping every 4 km maintained by a Han Chinese couple. The station draws, twelve hours per day, salted water in the ground water thanks by a diesel engine which then drives back it in the sprinkler pipes. The last 80 kilometres, from west to east, are in very bad state with many bumps sometimes limiting speed to 20Km/h.

Station of pumping
“Desert Highway” 
06/07/2006 

The Chinese highways are of excellent quality. They aren't free and there are equipped with restaurants and rest areas at Asian mode.

The motorway tracklog
from Korla to Ürümqi
07/07/2006 

The highway from Korla to Ürümqi is boxed in a very windy valley. At a few kilometres from the city, a park of wind mills was set up and some new machines were under construction at the time of my passage.

Park of wind mills 
Ürümqi 
07/07/2006 

Ürümqi was visited in July 1982 at the time of my first journey in China. I didn't recognize the city which passed from 800.000 to nearly 3 million inhabitants. The evening of our arrival was devoted to the visit of the French supermarket Carrefour which sell only Chinese products. The provincial museum of Xinjiang installed in a modern building was opened for the public in 2006. The exhibits and the objects presented are remarkable. It is worth than a two hour fast visit.

Centre town
Ürümqi
08/07/2006

The 08/07, we left Ürümqi in middle of afternoon to Turpan. The morning was occupied by each team to solve technical problems and to make purchases. Personally, I made install a plastic film on the fissured pane of the window in front of the body. We learned that we could not recover the microphones of our CB radio. Agency CITS was to try an action on the people in charge for the customs.