Entering China from Central Asia

Long-awaited opportunity

Today, I start the next chapter of my trip, undertaking independent travel once again from Sary Tash in Kyrgyzstan to Kashgar in Xinjiang, western China.

Entering China’s Muslim west from its Muslim neighbours may have caused suspicion when applying for a visa.  So, when visa-free travel was introduced late last year, I was keen to make use of it.  This was my long-awaited opportunity to do a land crossing in to China from its western neighbours.

Picturesque exit

Scott from Maryland, USA who is working in Beijing, will be doing the crossing together.  We had met on the Pamir/Wakhan adventure and shared a room last night.

It had not slept a wink as we were still at an altitude of 3170m and had decided against taking a sleeping pill beyond three consecutive nights.

After breakfast (which included the best samsa so far) at 0700, we loaded up Shamurat’s little Mazda and set off at 0740 towards the border at Irkeshtam.  I couldn’t help snapping away at the view of the snowy mountains along the way.  It was better than yesterday’s view which I had trouble fitting into the wide-angle of a camera shot.

Shamurat made a photo stop for us around 0815 at a lookout which offered a view of the mountains, a valley below and a glacier in the upper reaches of the valley.

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Exiting Kyrgyzstan

An hour after setting off, we arrived by a roadside checkpoint where our details were taken.  There was somewhat of an eligibility check to make sure that we could enter China.  They were comfortable with my lack of visa but Scott had to explain that he had a work visa.

Further along, about 1h20 after setting off, we saw queues of trucks waiting for customs and immigration clearance.  We sped past the queue for a couple of minutes to arrive at the immigration checkpoint.  Shamurat had a special permit to jump the queue to take us straight there, as he wasn’t crossing himself.

We said goodbye to Shamurat and walked past the trucks and through the parking area into a creamy-coloured building where Scott had was stamped out of Kyrgyzstan.  Contrary to my expectation, he exited the way we came in whereas I would have expected him to find a door at the other end towards China.

After I was stamped out, I checked with the immigration officer which way to go and he seemed OK with me following Scott’s direction.

Back out in the open area, another officer saw that we had taken the wrong direction and hauled us back into the building and showed us the correct way out, towards China.

So, around 0920 we had formally exited Kyrgyzstan.  That’s about 1h40 after leaving the homestay, of which about 1h20 was driving and scenic stop.

Through “no man’s land”

The Kyrgyz immigration officer arranged for Scott and I to hitch-hike across “no man’s land” as it was too far to walk.  As truck cabs are not large enough for both of us and our luggage, and the driver, we had to take separate trucks we me going first.

The slow ride took over 5 mins and as soon as we were over the Chinese side, I could see that the roads were of top quality with a flyover nearby.

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Entering China

At 0930 Kyrgyz time or 1130 Beijing time, the truck dropped me off inside a large high shed and when I exited by foot, I reported to a preliminary police checkpoint housed in shipping containers, where details were taken.

They were friendly enough and explained that I had a free ride by car to the immigration checkpoint next.  The car was ready to go as soon I was seated but I told them that I wanted to wait for Scott as we both speak so-so Chinese and were supporting each other through the process.

I waited in a holding room in another shipping container, with my passport being held by the police until Scott turned up about 10 mins later.

Chinese immigration

After a short wait, a car was available to take us for the short ride to the proper immigration hall.  We arrived there around 1200 and were taken to a large side room where we were asked questions about our travel intentions.

We were then told to wait and while waiting, we completed our arrival cards.  Our bags were then x-rayed and they took a very superficial look.

When we were given the OK, we joined the immigration queues which consisted of a couple of drivers, some of which had a preferential line for the Belt & Road Initiative.

At the counter, questions about our travel plans were repeated.  There was question about my ethnic group, as being Han vs non-Han, despite being a foreign national.

All was good until the immigration officer tore off the perforated information portion to return to me, so that he could retain the actual form.  In doing so, he tore the barcode and spent a bit of time trying to re-attach it without any sticky tape, so that he could scan the form intact into the system.

It was 1230 when I exited the immigration hall, after making a pit stop at the toilet.

So far, so good.  It has been less than 3h since leaving the homestay and I was now officially in China, of which 50 mins was with authorities on the both sides combined.  Again, Scott was about 10 mins behind me for various reasons.

Chinese Customs

We found a car by the shops a few minutes away by foot.  There were two men in it already heading to Kashgar.  Perfect, we joined them at a fixed price of CNY150, which is a bit much for the 2h ride to Wuqia customs checkpoint, but it is a monopoly route.  The next ride of similar distance is expected to be only CNY50.

Departing by car at 1250, we made a stop for roadworks, then another around 1450 for tolls outside Wuqia where we were also herded into a building to have our passport details entered into a computer, taking about 15 mins.

Once done, it was a further 20 min drive to the customs office.  Arriving there at 1525, it was closed for a long lunch break, set to reopen at 1630 (which is 1430 unofficial local time).

We had an hour in the shadow of the building.  As the sun moved, the shadow got thinner but the doors flung open just as the shadow disappeared.  The customs check took seconds with an x-ray scan of our luggage.

Until this point, it had been under 7h since leaving the homestay, of which 1h05 was spent with authorities and a further 1h05 waiting for customs to open.  The rest was largely travelling time.

We weren’t quite done yet as we left the customs area.  We were directed to a police checkpoint nearby around 1640 and told to wait in a spotless dormitory with immaculately-made beds.  Once again, our travel intentions were asked and accepted without question.

More checks en route

And 20 mins later, we stopped by a large checkpoint office where police asked the same questions and entered information into the computer.

This officer seemed a bit dippy and was very hard to understand.  Like many officials here, they are minorities (surprisingly) and speak Mandarin without the tones.  We had to keep correcting him that Scott was from the USA and I was the only Malaysian amongst the both of us.

Just as we were leaving, I was called back to the steps of the building for another officer to repeat the questions.  Probably, none of his colleagues trusted his competence.

Finally, around 1715, we were allowed to continue.  The two Chinese men were starting to get scratchy with the delays we had caused.  They had already lost about CNY1000 per person from cancelling their onward flight due to not anticipating the customs hall closure.  Having rebooked one for 1915, they were keen not to suffer another financial loss.

 

We got them to Kashgar airport around 1815.  Scott and I were dropped off near the Good Morning Hostel around 1840.

It had been 9h since leaving our Sary Tash homestay, with 1h20 spent with authorities on both sides and 1h05 waiting for customs to open.  The remaining 6h30 was largely driving with incidental quick stops.

Not bad!  Considering today (01 August) is Military Day, I was surprised there hadn’t been any disruption.  And it is amazing that I survived the trip without any mishaps with not a wink of sleep.

Speaking to travellers coming from Pakistan’s Karakoram Highway, their experience was vastly difference.  There was very little questioning about travel intentions but their luggage was inspected in great detail, including having every piece of clothing examined.  The risk from that route, I’m guessing, is narcotics.

Scenery today

As mentioned, the scenery on the Kyrgyz side from Sary Tash to the Irkeshtam border was probably the best this trip, outclassing the Pamir/Wakhan adventure.

As we approached the border, it got the dryer and redder.  Once in China, it was dry and red.

This really confirms that I did the trip in the right direction from Dushanbe to Irkeshtam.  If I had done it in reverse, I would be met with the highlight first, then it all degrades from there on (depending on one’s point of view).

Roads of a different class

For 2000 years it was an important oasis on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East and Europe.

Today, the drive had been very smooth on excellent roads.  It’s probably because Kashgar is on the Belt & Road Initiative that will support trade between China, Pakistan and Central Asia.

Here, I was able to use my phone to catch up on things in the car.  In Tajikistan, I would risk being badly carsick due to the unsealed or potholed roads.

Roads here are sign-posted in Uyghur and Chinese, sometimes supplemented in English and Russian on a separate board as it is too much to have all four languages together.

Dinner

I didn’t want to wander too far tonight after the long day.  Scott and I grabbed dinner at a small Uyghur place that did some meat skewers.  We shared ten of those (mix of lamb pieces and minced) on nan bread.  The only paid drink option apart from the free tea was beer!  It’s so strange for a Muslim (or nominally Muslim) place!

We finished the outing with a walk along a very happening area on Azirete Road with lots of food.  Somehow, it wasn’t so busy when we were looking for food, probably because we were too early.

The walk was cut short with our laundry in the washing machine needing to be put out on the line.  I finally went to bed at 2330, which is 2130 back in Kyrgyzstan.