Traveling to Xinjiang from Hunan or Sichuan?

Do I have to hit Beijing to reach Xinjiang?

Are there cheap hostel in Xinjiang?

Have you been there?

Have you been to Gansu and Qinghai?

Hey Swept Away...I live out here in Xinjiang and believe I can answer a few, if not all of your questions.

First of all, you DO NOT have to visit Beijing, Shanghai or any other big cities in order to make your way here to Xinjiang. From Hunan or Sichuan you can take a direct flight or a couple of train rides (I think you'd have to transfer trains in Xi'an). No special forms are needed to enter, just your passport as usual.

There's lots of cheap stuff here. Hotels and one hostel in Urumqi (the capital) are everywhere and usually not more than 150 a night (the hostel is I think around 50 or less, though). Once you get out into the smaller cities you'll find that the prices go even lower than that, although the quality of the actual hotel goes down with it.

From Xinjiang you can take a trip into the Gansu province and then from there a short bus or train trip into Qinghai.

I've posted a lot of information about this area on Xinjiang: Far West China[snip], the blog I've been keeping since moving here with my wife. While it is unfortunately blocked for all those within China, I'm trying to build it to become a valuable resource for any traveler wishing to visit Xinjiang.

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