Caravanistan

You travel on a cargo ship which has some cabins for passengers, and you leave and depart from a cargo terminal with limited facilities for passengers. A bit rough but with the right attitude, and lots of time and patience, you'll manage. Otherwise, flying is about the same cost, less even once you ...

I'll add that blocking your SIM card if you use a VPN seems to be a problem only in Xinjiang. I never turned on my VPN in Xinjiang for just this reason, though I use a VPN elsewhere in China without consequence (not to say it always works of course). As to Wechat, consider carefully whether you want...

Remember, I also said "and keep it clean." That means do not take photos in Xinjiang. Assume everything is sensitive and that their cameras will pick up everything you do.

Enter China with a clean machine and keep it clean. Encrypt and load everything to cloud storage -- places like Backblaze are not expensive these days -- and don't reload it until you've left China. Consider doing a fresh install of your OS first.

You must be registered at a hotel in the city where your are seeking the extension.

Was this the big expensive Jinjiang International Hotel on S Anju Road or the smaller much cheaper Jinjiang Inn on Hongqi Road?

The New York Times is running an article today that analyzes the software that may be run on your phone when entering Xinjiang. Frightening.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/tech ... g-app.html

The general rule is that the more orthodox more run-of-the-mill your application, the less the risk of problems. So I think a ticket and proposed itinerary say Tehran - Beijing - Tokyo would be less likely to be problematical. But applying in a place like Tehran always involves fair risk, no matter ...

While I haven't actually done it, I did email a Russian consulate in Asia about this a couple of years ago, and they said it's possible but that there's a processing time of around 15 days (I forget the exact period). I think there's a similar long processing period for the three-year visa even when...

In all train stations throughout China these days you must have your ticket and passport scanned at the station entrance. But in Xinjiang your passport may be scanned up to three times on your way in. Then once you're on the train, security personnel in Xinjiang will probably come by and ask for you...