The Wild West
Three days from the Urumqi → Kashgar route, showing how ROAM handles one of China’s most distinctive regions.
Days 6–8 · Kashgar
Kashgar feels different from almost anywhere else on the route: mud-brick lanes, carved wooden balconies, the Id Kah Mosque and a city shaped by centuries of movement along the Silk Road.
This is a city to experience early. Walk before the heat arrives, let the old city gradually wake up, and leave enough space for the food, markets and streets rather than treating Kashgar as a checklist of sights.
Exact route strategy: Start in the old city around 6:00 AM while the lanes are still quiet. Walk towards Id Kah Mosque, then follow the streets where the first bread bakers are already working. On Sunday, make the livestock market an early stop: arriving around 7:00 AM gives you a very different experience from visiting later.
What to Eat
Ancient City Lanes
Dawn is the time to look for bread bakers and small breakfast stalls. Try nan bread, samsa and local tea as the old city starts moving.
Kashgar Roast Lamb
The exterior should be deeply charred while the meat underneath remains tender. It is a simple dish, but one that makes sense here rather than being treated as a generic regional speciality.
Sunday Market
Arrive early for yoghurt, pomegranate juice and other simple foods around the market before the crowds build.
Three stops, three different landscapes
The modern gateway into Xinjiang and the starting point for the journey west.
Desert landscapes, grape-growing country and a completely different rhythm from the cities further north.
Ancient-city lanes, markets, local food and the final stage of the route beneath the Pamirs.
Bilingual Address Card
Every stop includes a Chinese address you can show directly to a driver, keeping transfers straightforward even when you do not speak Chinese.
Ancient City Road, Kashgar, Xinjiang
The Chinese Digital Kit
Every ROAM Route Pack includes the 19-page Chinese Digital Kit: practical guidance for payments, connectivity, trains, transport and the digital tools that make independent travel in China easier.
Eight nights. Three stops. One journey west.
Urumqi → Turpan → Kashgar. Day-by-day planning, hotel recommendations, rail logistics, bilingual address cards and the Chinese Digital Kit included.