Xinjiang,
travelled your own way.

No. Xinjiang is a province of China, so you enter on your normal Chinese visa — tourist (L) or business (M). There is no separate regional visa, and no special registration on arrival beyond the standard hotel registration your hotel performs for you. Apply for your China visa through the Chinese embassy or visa centre in your own country as usual.

Most of Xinjiang is open, and the routes on this site are ones we run regularly for foreign guests. A small number of border counties require an additional permit issued locally — the Pamir and Khunjerab sections of a southern trip are the usual example. We check your exact route against the current rules, tell you plainly what is and is not possible, and file the paperwork for you. Send passport details early: these permits typically need 7–15 working days.

International credit cards are rarely accepted inside Xinjiang — almost all local businesses use WeChat Pay and Alipay, which foreign cards generally cannot top up. So we keep it simple: you pay us by international bank transfer or PayPal, and your driver and guide cover all on-ground costs during the trip. Bring only a small amount of cash for personal souvenirs.

Distances here are enormous — a single day's drive can be 400 km — so the honest answer on comfort is: it depends on the vehicle and the itinerary, which is why we plan both carefully. You travel in a licensed, insured commercial vehicle with a professional driver, and we build in rest, meals and realistic driving times rather than racing between photo stops. Road travel in China is regulated and our vehicles and drivers are fully documented.

Two peaks, for different reasons. June to August: the northern grasslands are green, the mountain lakes are at their bluest, and the Duku Highway is open — this is the classic scenic window. Mid-September to mid-October: the larch and birch forests of Kanas and Hemu turn gold, and the Taklamakan poplar forests follow; this is the photography season and it lasts only about three weeks. Winter is cold but spectacular and very quiet. April is dusty and not recommended.

Buy a local SIM or eSIM on arrival — a passport is all you need. Coverage in cities is good and quite fast; in the deep mountains (Kanas, the Duku Highway, the Pamir) expect patchy signal and no data for stretches of a few hours. Note that some foreign apps and websites are restricted in mainland China, so set up whatever you rely on for communication before you fly, and make sure your family has a way to reach you.

That is the point of travelling with us. The six routes here are shapes, not packages. Add days in one place, cut another, swap a hotel standard, or start from a completely different idea — we will tell you honestly what a route can and cannot do in the time you have.

No. Every trip we run is private — your group, your vehicle, your pace. We do not sell seats on shared departures, and we will not add strangers to your car to lower the price.