Kuqa Old Town
Kuqa, Xinjiang Province - Authenticly Uyghur
In the past, Kuqa was the one of the 36 kingdoms of the Western regions of China, and was one of the largest and most prominent kingdoms in this desert area.
When I was traveling around Yunnan Province, I met a girl from Xinjiang Province who was speaking so highly about her province - actually now I know that pretty much everyone in China speaks very highly about their own home province - that she really made me want to go and visit.
It was not easy to find up today date information about this Province in English, but through Chinese speakers friends nearly two years later I had the chance to go to this amazing province for two months.
After i have explored and left Kashgar I decided to cross this he province overland through Hetian and the Taklamaran Desert. As the trip would have been to long all the way up to Turpan I picked this city randomly. After I bought my bus ticket through the desert I started to “google” what to do in Kuqa.
And quickly changed my plan and stayed for couple of days to roam around town.
Broken Promise - Kuqa, Xinjiang province
Kuqa Mosque is a grand Islam temple second only in size to the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar.
Street
Uyghur woman by her rice field
Kuqa - unlike Kashgar which has been demolished and renovated completely - …
… is mostly untouched.
It’s a very good place…
…to enjoy…
…uyghur life.
Night Market, Kuqa
Food stall at the night market in Kuqa
How to get to Kuqa, Xinjiang Province
Kuqa is not a place for everyone. First it is not an easy place to reach, its located in the middle of Xinjiang Province, one of the most remote provinces in China. The hotel options are not that great either, but obviously this is not the reason why we would visit a place like this.
By train:
The Urumuqi - Kashgar train stops in Kuqa -approximately half way. The place is remote and there are only 6 trains a day with approx 11 hours travel time to both Urumuqi and Kashgar.
By bus
There are bus connections to Hetian / Kashgar / Urumuqi and Turpan - 12 hours ride cca. The buses are overnight sleeper buses.
With driver
Alternatively you can rent a car with a driver either from Urumuqi or Kashgar / Turpan.