Indian Travelling to Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (SHOCKING EXPERIENCE)
Nobody even thinks of going to this place. People hardly travel to that region. Neither there is any information. I have made up my mind and decided to go to that region, let's see what happens. This is the least visited province in China. I had to face a lot of problems here.
They took my passport. I am not sure about what is going to happen next. Hey guys, good morning and welcome back to the new vlog. I am Tourvashu. Currently, I am in China's tenth-largest city Xian's Airport. This is both the domestic and international airport of Xian.
Now, it's time to leave Xian. You can see the place that I'm going to, from the video's title thumbnail. Nobody even thinks about going to this place. Going to the place is out of the question. Today I'm going to China's autonomous region called Xinjiang.
It starts from 'X' but it is pronounced as 'Shaziang'. I'm sure you guys are aware of Aksai Chin. Aksai Chin comes under this autonomous region. You are also aware of Tibet. Tibet's autonomous region is the neighbor of Xinjiang's autonomous province. Xinjiang's borders are next to Gilgit Baltistan, Kashmir region and Leh district.
The airport of Xinjiang is 45 km from the city center, which is pretty far. I had to leave at 5 AM, for my flight at 9 AM. I had to leave a little early on the safer side since there were so many problems that I'll tell you later. To come here from the city, there are metro and suburban trains. But all of them start after 6:30 AM, so I couldn't travel via train.
So, I traveled via taxi for 45 km which cost me 120 Yuan. Around $17. I reached in an hour as the roads were empty during the early morning. China is the third largest country in the world after Russia and Canada.
It is almost equal to the size of the U.S.A. It is the third-largest country in the world. China is so large that the distance between eastern and western China is more than 5,000 km.
Today, I am going to the extreme western part of China. I am going to the westernmost city of China. The name of the city is Kashgar. It is locally called Kashgar.
But the Chinese call it Kashi. Similar to what we people call Banarasi Kashi. The Chinese call Kashgar, Kashi in their language. There is nowhere in the airport written 'Kashghar'. You will find Kashgar once you reach Kashgar.
It is 'Kashi' everywhere on the board. Kashgar(Kashi) is 4000 km away from Xian. We are going to cover the same distance as we travel from New York to London on the flight. Currently, the time is 6:30 AM, and I have my flight at 9:00 AM. I am going to the check-in counter while talking to you guys.
Let's look at the procedures. I couldn't finalize my trip to Xinjiang, Kashgar. I've invested a lot of time in planning this trip. I researched a lot about this place, asked a lot of people and I was not sure about going there. I couldn't find any information. Hardly anybody travels to that region and there is trivial information on that place.
I was not sure if I would go there when I came to China. I would talk to a couple of people if I feel right. I was unsure if going into that region would be allowed If it wasn't allowed I wouldn't have gone. My plan for Xinjiang turned out 1-2 days after I came to Xian. I booked this flight yesterday.
The flight is 'China Eastern' Airlines, which cost me $134. With 22 kg Check-In Baggage. A domestic flight takes 5 hours to travel within China country. We will reach Kashgar at 2 PM. Five hours, on a domestic flight. Xinjian is a mysterious region for both the people of China and the world.
Only a few people know about Xinjiang. When I told a couple of local Chinese people about going to Xinjiang People started making weird faces when I asked them about it. They asked me why was I even going there when there is nothing there.
Nobody even thinks of going there, but I have planned to go there. I read a couple of reports and they were also very bad. The report said that people are often not let to go to that region. We will be questioned a lot and there shall be strict checking. Government officials will keep monitoring you. This is the least visited province of China.
I already gave you guys a lot of information at the airport. Let's check in and check what the procedures are. The place which is locally called Kashgar, Chinese people call it Kashi. K A S H I. All the best to me. I had to face a lot of problems.
While I left for the Check-in, they checked the rest of the passengers through the electronic device. As soon as I went, they scanned my passport. They said that you are not allowed with just the electronic check, we need to check you manually. Then, I left for the manual check. They took my passport and checked it. They kept my passport.
Later, they asked me to place my bag down. They asked me to go to the security room to get my bag checked thoroughly. I left for the security room.
They checked my bag thoroughly in the room. I came back. After coming back, I took back my passport. They had different trays in different colors. They kept my bag in the red tray. I was asked to go to the security check again.
I went for the security check again. Again they sent me back. Later they gave me my boarding pass. They even took my phone number, I'm not sure what they will do with it. So, I got my boarding pass for Kashgar, Xinjiang.
After getting the boarding pass I did my security clearance. I have never been to such a dangerous security clearance in my life. They literally checked every part of my body and my bag. It took over half an hour to complete the security check.
I am not sure what is going to happen next. What's going to happen next is uncertain. I'm going there with the mere information that I have. Until now, I went to touristy and popular places in China. This time I am going to have a very uncertain, extreme, and very raw journey, where nobody usually goes.
Currently, it is 8 PM, the boarding will start at 8:30 PM and the flight is at 9 PM. This is the queue for the Kashgar flight. Until the day before yesterday, I wasn't sure about going to Kashgar, Xinjiang, and the regions nearby. Yesterday the plan got finalized and today I'm finally going. Totally a raw adventure! We've come inside the flight.
China Eastern Airline. This is my first time traveling on China Eastern Airlines. This is an aircraft with three seats on either side. It is not so big. They have given me the seat at the end. I don't know why they did that, I will get off the flight at the last.
I am the only foreigner on the whole flight. The rest of the people are all Chinese. Now that I have come this far, let's see what happens next.
This is how my boarding pass looks. China Eastern Airlines. I sat in the last seat.
Most of the people's facial expressions and their looks look a little different from the Chinese. We are going to fly 4000 km from Xian. We are going to China's extreme western point. China's most western city, Kashgar. As you can see, I'm the only one seating here. All the seats next to me are empty.
The passengers are sitting down already. More than half of the flight is empty. The middle row is completely empty. It is completely empty on that side as well. Hey guys welcome back again. After covering 4000 km from Xian, after traveling for 5 hours, we reached Xinjiang, Uygur Autonomous Region.
Right now, we are in China's extreme West. We are in China's most western city Kashgar. I have a lot of things to tell you, people. Normally, when the flight lands everybody takes a video of that. Just as when I took out my camera phone to make a video, people on the flight started screaming at me. They asked me not to take any videos or photos.
This is something happening for the first time in my life. And then, I started leaving taking my bag. The cabin crew of the flight, they told me that I'm not supposed to record video inside the airport, not until I reached the city.
I am listening to something like this for the first time. I had a metal water bottle from which I drink water. Somebody stole it inside the flight. I don't know who did that.
Airhostess searched for it, yet, they didn't find it. Kashgar Airport is around 20 km away from the Kashgar city. As there are a lot of taxis, I could have easily traveled through taxis.
But I took the local bus, as I wanted to experience the local bus here. The local bus was pretty cheap, it cost me 2 Yuan. That is $0.3. The place where I got down, looks like a hostel. The bus dropped me at a center of Kashgar (Kashi) city.
I think the locals call it Kashgar and the Chinese call it Kashi, we will know once we talk to a local. I am not sure what I should call it. My hostel is a kilometer away from here.
We can either take a walk or take a taxi, let's walk while we explore the city. We won't understand if we take a taxi. The city is quite different. There are a lot of nuts here. We find this in Central Asia, Persia, and Iran country. You can see the cap over his head.
Most of them are wearing a cap like this. I didn't find this anywhere in China. Let me cross the road, I have more things to tell you guys. I forgot half of my thoughts already. As soon as I remember it, I will tell you.
First, let me cross the road. There are traffic signals, traffic lights, and a lot of taxis in this city. Look at this. I thought this wouldn't be developed, that this would be a mixture of urban and rural city. But, it doesn't look so populated nor is it noisy.
The roads are pretty broad, they are very well maintained. It is a very neat and clean city. There are traffic signals and traffic lights put up everywhere.
I can see tall buildings in places. There are corns available here. We are getting both roasted and boiled.
As I told you earlier that Xinjiang, Uyger is an autonomous region. This is a neighbor of Kashmir, Leh and Ladhak district. This is a very extreme location, it is right on top of India on the map. Gilgit Baltistan is also very close to Kashgar. There are international buses here that go to Pakistan and Baltistan. People look different from the people from Mainland China (Ethnic group) in Xinjiang.
They look like the Central Asian, some also look like Indians. In China, people call Pakistan Bajistan. B instead of P and J instead of K. As soon as I got off at the airport everybody asked me if I was from Bajistan. Then I told them that I was from Hindustan. People were very surprised.
I spoke to a couple of people on the bus. Even when I told them that I was from Hindustan they were very surprised. It might be that people from India don't come here or they rarely come. Even if they do come, they would have come here for some work.
The flight reached Kashgar airport at 2 PM, now it is 3:15 PM. The weather is weird. While I am under the sun, I feel hot. As soon as there is a shadow, I feel cold. Most of the people are wearing half a T-shirt. People are also wearing light jackets.
It is a mixed type of weather. China is the third largest country in the world by land area. According to this, there must have been at least 4-5 timezone within China just like the U.S.A. But still, there is just one timezone within China. Entire China follows the Beijing time zone. We are about 4000 km (west) away from Beijing.
Yet the timeline of Beijing, Kashgar, and Xinjiang is the same. There is a wedding happening here. Look at this, the bride and groom are going. If I would have come a minute early, you could've seen it from the front. Look at them from behind. The car is decorated.
Everybody along with the car is decorated. As I was talking about the time difference. There should've been a difference of 2-3 hours from Beijing to here. According to China's official time the sunset here happens at 9-10 PM.
Their night starts at 10 PM. The locals here have unofficially adopted a time zone. Around 1.5 hours before that of Beijing.
It is almost the same as India or around half an hour before IST. Before coming to Kashgar, I thought Kashgar was a small town or village. There is not much information on this on the internet. Nor do people come here often, there won't be services here. I thought it would be a small town. But everything here looks so nice.
The town looks big and developed. Although, this is not the capital of the Autonomous region. My first expression is going pretty great in Kashgar, Xinjiang. I don't know how 'Hello' is said here. Should I tell them 'Hello', 'Ni Hao' or 'Salam'? I'll ask somebody about this.
These women are making tik tok. There are a lot of double-hump camel statues. These are Mangolian backtrian camel. These are breaded in these regions.
They are also bred in India, Leh and Ladakh. All these regions are pretty close by. China is pretty close to Leh and Ladhak. This is the old city of Kashgar.
It shows my hostel is nearby but I am not understanding a thing. I'll ask the locals about this. People ride electric two-wheeler here. Everybody uses an electric bicycle.
Similar to the rest of China. Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is the largest administrated division of China. 50% of the population in this autonomous region belongs to the Uygur ethnicity.
Uygur people follow Islam. They are also called Uygur Muslims, you would have heard about it in the news or articles. About the Uygur Muslims. There are two official languages in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
One is the Uygur language spoken by Uygur ethnic group. The other one is the Chinese language, Mandarin language. Both the official language work here. I have reached the exact location of the hostel, it might be one of these.
This is the old town, I booked without seeing the location. But, it's a good thing that this is an old town. I'll ask them since they don't look like tourists. I don't know if I should talk to these people in Chinese Whatever the hey, hello, and thank you. Or should I speak in Uygur, but I don't know how to speak in Uygur? I am very thirsty, let me drink some coconut water. I forgot the name of this.
Plum And this is Plum. Coconut water tastes very different from India. It gives a strong taste. The water is very thick inside. The coconut tender got into trouble. I was drinking the coconut water, the police came all of a sudden.
They started to leave taking their things. He started running all of a sudden. He took all his stuff and started running. I thought I would at least pay him for the coconut.
I thought that I will ask him for the cost and then pay. I couldn't pay his money as the police drove him away. I felt very weird here. She is telling.
I still don't understand this area. This is the old town of Kashgar, I'll tell you about this. I'll ask these old people who are sitting here. She is not able to understand English. I am not able to find the hostel for an hour. The map doesn't work here, I don't understand the map that works.
I'm trying to talk to the locals, but they are also confused. I made 2-3 locals to talk to them, nobody is understanding a thing. I think he is understanding something.
All the services from Google are banned in China. Google is in English but has the wrong information. The rest are in Chinese and I don't understand it. He has come to help me, but he is also confused. He got me a little further but there are two ways here. Let's see where it is.
I think we have reached. The photo of the hostel's location looked something similar to this. I think it is somewhere close. He is still talking to them. He is talking for the past 15 minutes, and although he is a local from within 200-300 meters he is confused. This is the hostel.
I'll tell you about the historic city after I get settled. There are drawings and paintings on the wall. I feel like we have come to a different world. Just like how I had been to Sakha Republic, Magadan.
Feels like we have reached a different world. He asked me if I was from India or Pakistan. India is called Yindu... She is asking something, there is a lot of security issue.
She is asking for my passport. This is the hostel's reception. She is taking a picture of my passport and Visa.
In the Chinese language, India is called Yindu As I told you that this place is 1.5 hours behind Beijing. Although they follow the time that is based on Bejing, people here locally follow their timezone which is 1.5 hours before Bejing. Same as India.
In India, it is 1:40 PM. Here in their local timezone, It is 1:40 PM. There are a lot of rooms and dorms here. She is taking me to the room.
The hostel is very nice, I had not expected that there would be a hostel like this. There is something written in Chinese or Mandarin everything. Tourists who stayed here have written all this.
Everybody is a local domestic tourist, and everything is written in Chinese. Everybody has written their name along with the dates. I can't see any other language other than Chinese or Mandarin.
I can't see any other language except that. The way is very narrow and the stairs are wooden. Only the wall is of stone the rest are of wood.
The floor and the stairs are all wooden. There are four beds in my room. I got this bed. This is the bed I got. I took the least beds room in the whole hostel.
There are four beds, this cost me $10 per night. In Chinese Yuan, it is 70 Yuan per night. There is a small balcony which they have decorated. I think I'll have to take off the shoe to get on this. Currently, I think it is 3:30-4 PM in Beijing time. It is 2 PM local time.
It is the exact time in India. The city is looking beautiful. This is a Kazghar tower, I'm unsure about the name. The left-hand side is full of old city. I walked down this path. We can see the double-hump camel there.
If I knew it earlier I would walk this way. It took me an hour to find this. It is a completely new side of Kashgar city. It is still developing. There are a couple of hotels even there. This is a mixture of the old town and the modern city.
This is a very historic town. This is the washroom. This is how the washroom looks. There is a washing machine. This is the toilet, probably the washroom is separate.
I am all sweaty, it is very hot outside. The sunset also happens late. I'll rest for a while and after an hour or two I'll show you around.
2023-07-01 21:33
