Things to do in Kashgar
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Kashgar
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring is warm and one of the two best windows, but Taklamakan dust storms can grey out mountain views.
Extreme dry heat in the city, but prime season for the Pamirs, Shipton's Arch, Panlong Road and the night market.
The consensus best season, with clear air and harvest fruit, apart from the crowded Golden Week in early October.
Cold and quiet with low prices, but Khunjerab and Panlong close and Karakul becomes a hard frozen expedition.
What's on
- Eid al-Fitr Lunar date, varies by year
Rozi Heyt ends Ramadan with mass morning prayer at Id Kah and days of feasting and visiting.
- Eid al-Adha Lunar date, varies by year
Qurban Heyt, the Korban Festival, brings Id Kah prayer, slaughtered lamb feasts and three days of celebration.
- Nowruz 21 March
Spring new year celebrations across Xinjiang's Turkic communities, with food, music and visiting.
- Golden Week 1-7 October
China's national holiday surge fills the Old City and highway viewpoints and spikes prices, best avoided or booked early.
Best things to do in Kashgar
Kashgar Old City
A rebuilt maze of ochre lanes, workshops and nang bakeries that is best explored by getting lost early or after dark.
Id Kah Mosque
China's largest mosque, a yellow brick complex from 1442 whose poplar shaded square is the heart of Uyghur Kashgar.
Kashgar Live Stock Market
The Sunday Mal Bazaar, where thousands of sheep, cattle and camels are traded by sleeve bargaining and the food rows excel.
Abakh Hoja Tomb
A 17th century tiled mausoleum in calm gardens, Kashgar's finest surviving historic building and worth the short taxi ride.
Gaotai Ancient Homes
Cliff edge folk houses stacked in mud and poplar wood, the oldest feeling fragment of Kashgar across the Tuman River.
Kashgar Grand Bazaar
The city's huge working covered bazaar for Atlas silk, doppi caps, dried fruit, saffron and Yingjisha knives, busiest Sunday.
A Hundred Year Old Tea House
A century old chaikhana balcony over an Old City lane, the best cheap seat in Kashgar for tea, nang and people watching.
Handicraft Street
A rebuilt lane of real working coppersmiths, woodcarvers and dutar makers, and the best souvenir stop in the Old City.
Where to stay in Kashgar
Old City
first trip and atmosphere
The lanes, mosque square, teahouses and night food are at your door, and mornings need no logistics at all.
Central Kashgar and Seman area
convenience and Silk Road history
The old consulate quarter west of the Old City, easiest for taxis and buses and a short walk from every city sight.
New city east and Wanda Plaza area
modern chain comfort
The newest hotels, malls and facilities, a 15 to 20 minute taxi from the Old City atmosphere.
Think twice about
- Airport and train station outskirts
Isolated and windswept with almost no food after dark, so every trip into town becomes a taxi ride past checkpoints.
- Tashkurgan as a Kashgar base
A wonderful overnight at 3200 metres, but six hours from Kashgar with a fraction of the food and altitude every night.
- Old City main gate plaza frontage
The loudest and most tour group saturated strip in the district, while two lanes back is quieter at the same price.
Best restaurants in Kashgar
Kashgar Night Market
Rows of grills opposite Id Kah serving kebabs, samsa, laghman and fresh pomegranate juice at local prices.
Altun Orda
Kashgar's ornate classic dining room, famous for roast mutton, sweet pumpkin dumplings, meat pies and raisin polo.
Haierbage Restaurant
A richly decorated dining room serving the full southern Xinjiang repertoire, ideal for a shared group feast.
Nulan Restaurant
Southern Xinjiang dishes served formally under crystal chandeliers, the most dressed up local dining room in Kashgar.
Yasin Kariagim Silk Road Uyghur Restaurant
A locals' favourite off the Old City shopping road where the meat is so fresh it sometimes sells out by evening.
Ailizati Pilaf Restaurant
A polo specialist where great cauldrons of lamb and carrot pilaf empty by early afternoon, Kashgar's defining lunch.
Grandpa's Grandpa's Dad's Nang
An Old City tandoor bakery famous for warm nang, including rose nang, and the city's best edible souvenir.
Ai Ni Chun Yang Kao Rou Dian
A barbecue shop praised for jar cooked lamb and kebabs with rich flavour and no gaminess, at street prices.
Outdoor things to do in Kashgar
Baisha Lake
White sand dunes against turquoise plateau water on the Karakoram Highway, the first great stop on the road up.
Karakul Lake
A high black lake at 3600 metres where Muztagh Ata reflects whole on a calm morning beneath three giant peaks.
Tashkurgan Stone City
A ruined stone fortress above a Tajik border town, with the whole Pamir valley laid out below its walls.
Golden Grassland
Boardwalks over a river wetland below the Stone City that turns gold at sunset, gentle walking at altitude.
Panlong Ancient Road
More than 600 hairpin bends climbing to 4200 metres above Tashkurgan, paired with the intense blue of Bandier Lake.
Khunjerab Pass
The highest paved border crossing on earth at the top of the Karakoram Highway, reached as a full day from Tashkurgan.
Shipton's Arch
The world's tallest natural arch hidden in a gorge northwest of Kashgar, reached by car then an uphill ladder trail.
Dawakun Desert
Taklamakan fringe dunes, old poplars, a desert lake and camel rides on an easy private day trip east of Kashgar.
Best hotels in Kashgar
Radisson Blu Hotel Kashgar
Kashgar's full service international five star with the city's best breakfast, a pool and notably helpful staff.
UrCove by Hyatt Hotel Ancient City of Kashgar Scenic Area
A new, reliably run Hyatt at the Ancient City edge, close enough to walk into the lanes in minutes.
Hampton by Hilton Kashgar
A new Hampton with strong showers, a gym and a praised breakfast, the zero surprises option between old and new Kashgar.
Qinibagh Hotel
A comfortable hotel in the garden of the former British Consulate, a ten minute walk from Id Kah Mosque.
Kashgar Pamir Youth Hostel
The overlander crossroads by Id Kah Square, with helpful staff and a rooftop bar over the mosque, but very hard beds.
Kashgar Old Town Youth Hostel
A sociable courtyard hostel inside the Old Town lanes, atmospheric and cheap with rougher edges than the Pamir.
Is Kashgar expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥300 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥700 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,500 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Baisha Lake: a few days ahead
- Karakul Lake: a few days ahead
- Tashkurgan Stone City: a few days ahead
- Panlong Ancient Road: a few days ahead
- Khunjerab Pass: weeks ahead
- Shipton's Arch: a few days ahead
- Dawakun Desert: a few days ahead
- Radisson Blu Hotel Kashgar: weeks ahead
- Arrange the border permit in Kashgar with your original passport before any Karakoram Highway trip, as it cannot be issued in Tashkurgan.
- Reserve good English speaking drivers and the better Old City rooms weeks ahead in July, August and Golden Week.
- Build the itinerary around a Sunday in Kashgar first, then fit the highway and desert days around it.
Is Kashgar safe?
- Carry your original passport at all times and expect routine identity checks, bag scans and metal detectors.
- Ask before photographing people and never photograph police, checkpoints or security installations.
- Install and test a VPN before entering China, download offline translation packs, and carry cash yuan as backup to mobile payment.
- Dress modestly at religious sites and do not visit Id Kah as a tourist during Friday midday prayers.
Kashgar travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The Old City opening ceremony and main gate plaza are the most packaged half hour in Kashgar, so see them once and use the back lanes.
- Scenic area souvenir prices run about three times Grand Bazaar prices, where bargaining is still expected.
- Agree yak photo prices at Baisha Lake before sitting on the yak, and walk the Karakul shore away from the gate cluster.
- Planning by Beijing time instincts makes travellers miss breakfast, the livestock market peak and the polo sell out.
Getting around Kashgar: public transport and more
- Walk the centre, where the Old City, Id Kah, Handicraft Street and night market sit within 15 to 20 minutes of each other.
- Taxi for Abakh Hoja, the Grand Bazaar and the Sunday livestock market, and agree the return plan before Sunday closing time.
- Charter a car and driver for the Karakoram Highway, Shipton's Arch and Dawakun Desert, as visitor public transport is not practical.
- Take flights for onward travel where time matters, as trains from Kashgar are slow sleepers with thorough station security.
Who Kashgar suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Kashgar your trip
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