Khorgos border crossing Q&A (Almaty - Urumqi)

[Mitsch]

Ah sorry I forgot to ask today, as I was crossing (28th)

I took the Nighttrain from Beijing to Urumqi aka Wulumuqi（乌鲁木齐）then continued to Yining（伊宁) and stayed there for one night at a hotel near the station.

In the morning I took the first train to Khorgas aka Huo'erguosi(霍尔果斯).
At the station plenty of Taxi drivers who will take you the bus terminal (霍尔果斯国际客运站) 20 Yuan seems to be the price.

At the Bus terminal, which opens at 9:30am Beijing Time there are Busses to Almaty and Zharkent aka Jarkent(扎尔肯特) I can confirm what earlier travelers postet. The price is 70 Yuan.

I was on the first bus and when we arrived at the border at 10:30 Beijing time the border was still closed. After 20 minted they opened but inside there was no one to scan the health declaration so we had to wait for another 20 minutes.
In my opinion you have enough time while queuing to scan the code either with WeChat or AliPay and fill out the information.

I would suggest though to try to be one of the first to be at the passport checks, as checking my passport took them much longer then everyone else’s. I was lucky that my bus was waiting for me, but I guess if you are in the end of the queue you have to wait for the next bus.

They checked my passport for quite some time to see if it’s fake then asked me about my travel route and where I stayed and which method of transport I used. Then they wanted to see my phone and scrolled a littlebit through my pictures. That’s it. All together maybe 15 minutes.

I had a second phone in my backpack and nobody cared.

The Kazakh side was very easy and quick.

I am happy that everything went so smooth, as some reports here indicated differently and I was a bit worried.

On another topic for people who are coming to China I can recommend esims from NOMAD. They have great reception all over China and there is no blocked sites. So you can use WhatsApp, google etc. without using a VPN. That was actually quite handy.

[merodrem]

Hi! Could you let me know the result? I too want to pass the border from Khorgos during the holidays, possibly on 3rd, if it is open. Much appreciated!

That's the dates I mentioned. So now it's closed, and it will reopen the 4th.

[indizio]

Hi! Could you let me know the result? I too want to pass the border from Khorgos during the holidays, possibly on 3rd, if it is open. Much appreciated!

That's the dates I mentioned. So now it's closed, and it will reopen the 4th.

Thank you! I am now in Urumqi and will try on 4th. Happy holidays!

[indizio]

I passed the Khorgos border from Urumqi to Almaty on Oct. 4th.
I was in a hurry so spent some money for fast move. There were some ups and downs.

9:00 - 14:40 1st class train from Urumqi to Yinning (about $30)
15:30 - 17:00 Didi from Yinning to Khorgos(Huergosi) international bus terminal (about $30)
18:00 - 20:30(22:30 China time) Bus from Khorgos via border to Zhakent (about $10)
20:30 - 23:30 Unofficial taxi(a cargo van) from Zhakent to Almaty hotel. (about $20)

Pro: The Didi trip from Yinning to Khorgos was very pleasant as I had a nice view in the front seat. A pretty lady driver as well. She also helped me to book the bus ticket at Khorgos. The Japanese cargo van from Zharkent to Almaty was also nice as I was the only passenger and sit in the front.

Con: Arriving at Zhakent at night, some 20 taxi drivers(probably every unemployed man in the town) swarmed to me at the bus station. They grabbed my bags and my arms and my waste very forcifully without giving me time to pick one driver. It was very offending and chaotic and apprently some of them joined just for fun. I almost ended up hitting someone's face and the whole fiasco calmed down only after I made some violent action. It could be a fearful situation for female travelers as they will take it as a chance to touch your body. Typical in some countries.

All in all, it was a good experience that I saw the two societies just across the border have very different cultures. China is very safe and strict and they have cameras and police everywhere and people behave like sheeps. Just across the border, you feel the air of freedom but the circus also begins with some people behaving like monkeys. I even began to become sympathetic to the Chinese monitoring system in the region. Anyway, if you feel alone in the bus station, just pick the driver as fast as you can so he can protect you. Think about the money later. (Should be less than 10000 tengen anyway)

- Also be careful that in Khorgos the Didi map leads to the old bus station on the main road, which is closed. You should go to the new station near the New State Gate(a big arch), which is 30 seconds from the border. The last bus was scheduled at 18:30 but we actually left at 18:10, as there was no point waiting for more passengers. The whole border was empty at that time of the day.

- I think it is doable to do the trip between Yinning to Khorgos with a bus because you have more than 3 hours in hand.

[wanderers]

We crossed on 5/2, much as previously described. Some additional info

1. There are direct Yining-Almaty buses for 200 RMB, see https://www.chuxing365.com/ for schedule (Chinese only), via Khorgas or Dulata.
2. From Yining to Khorgas is 23 RMB, see above URL for schedule.3. Outside Yining bus station, there are shared taxi to the border for 70 RMB/seat.
4. Tax from Khorgas to the border is 20 RMB fixed price. All drivers refuse to use their meter..
5. At the Khorgas border it's 180 RMB to Almaty (until around noon), and 90 RMB to Zharkent, leave when full.
6. That day we passed a huge market at Kokdala. They had at least as many animals as in Kashgar.

[Sulaket]

Hey! My feedback crossing the border from China to Kazakhstan on May 8th.

I arrived at Huoergossi station on the early morning train the day before. Unfortunately the border was closed that day because of national Kazakh holiday (May 7th). It was also closed on May 1st and will be on May 9th (Victory day). So maybe watch for holiday before going.

Once you arrive at the train station, plenty of taxis available (20RMB per ride) to get you to the International Bus Station of Khorgos.
Be careful not to go to the old border crossing which you cannot cross anymore. Instead the new border name is Horgos Port Xinguomen on Apple maps.

At the bus station, it is possible to exchange yuans for tenge at a pretty good fare.
Bus to Almaty is 180RMB. Take the first bus leaving and don’t mind the schedule on your ticket.

The bus left around 11am and we arrived at Almaty at 4pm (local time). On arrival there are mobile shops on the other side of the street from which you can get a tourist SIM card.

Good luck with the crossing!

[enjoy.the.detour]

Dear all,

I was wondering if anyone (recently) successfully crossed from Kazakhstan to China at Nur Zholy, using the "15 day visa exemption" policy that China recently started for citizens of a number of countries (see link below). My wife and I are wishing to cross KAZ --> CHN at Nur Zholy later this year, and are wondering if we should apply for a visa, or would be able to cross using the visa exemption.

https://www.visaforchina.cn/ZRH2_EN/gen ... 3525.shtml

Actual "boots on the ground" information on this policy is very scarce, and we can't find anywhere if this policy only applies to flying into China, or is also accepted for crossings done overland, like at Nur Zholy as we are planning on doing.

Thank you!

[LeTapir]

Dear all,

I was wondering if anyone (recently) successfully crossed from Kazakhstan to China at Nur Zholy, using the "15 day visa exemption" policy that China recently started for citizens of a number of countries (see link below). My wife and I are wishing to cross KAZ --> CHN at Nur Zholy later this year, and are wondering if we should apply for a visa, or would be able to cross using the visa exemption.

https://www.visaforchina.cn/ZRH2_EN/gen ... 3525.shtml

Actual "boots on the ground" information on this policy is very scarce, and we can't find anywhere if this policy only applies to flying into China, or is also accepted for crossings done overland, like at Nur Zholy as we are planning on doing.

Thank you!

Hi
You can cross Khorgos/nur zholy on visa exemption policy
Some reports of travellers can be found here viewtopic.php?f=7&t=882&hilit=khorgos&start=70

[iviaggidiclach]

does anybody did it recently from Almaty?

To avoid 24+ hrs travelling and to optimize my 15days in China I plan to break the journey sleeping 1 night in Zharkent
Some questions:

1) What time the bus leave from Almaty or can you tell me the cyrillic spelling or Khorgos as I couldn't find the info on bus station website

2) The 2 hotels recommended in Caravanistan website are not on booking anymore, anybody has a decent economic place ?

3) Then crossing the border first thing in the morning (what time open?), and maybe spend the first night in Sayram Lake,or Yining.
Someone has update info on how to reach and sleep on the lake? Is it worth it? Or should I head straight to Urumqui? ActuallyI was thinking to go all the way to Turpan, with just a couple of hours in Urumqui.

[jujuu44]

A report on travelling from Almaty to Yinining/Ili/Inni/Gulja and further into China

On July 27nd we, two german nationals and one durch national, started our journey to Chin a from Almaty:

1) Bus from Almaty Sairan Bus station to Yinining/Ili/Inni/Gulja. All four names describe the same place.

Busses on the 27nd left on 0700, 0800, 0900 and 1000. We bought tickets online which confused the people at the station a bit but borded our bus after all, be prepared to use the name Gulja in Almaty if you want to go to Yinining/Ili/Inni/Gulja. We left at 0700 Almaty time and stayed at STOP Youth Hostel in Yinining/Ili/Gulja, very nice hostel.

All accommodation in China we booked via trip.com.

Border procedures took 2h with 1:15h at the Kazakh side. You leave the bus with your luggage and get picked up after crossing. Then dropped off at the Chinese border post. Same procedure. Bus picks you up on the other side. Fairly easy. We reached Yinining/Ili/Inni/Gulja 1800 BEIJING time, so overall the trip from Almaty to Yinining/Ili/Inni/Gulja took us 8 hours. We could have caught the sleeper train to Urumqi but decided to stay in Yinining/Ili/Inni/Gulja.

On the next morning we continued with the fast train 5:30h to Urumqi, stayed there a night and then went with the fast train (1h) to Turpan where we stay at New Dap Hostel, very nice.

Train tickets booked with trip.com or China Train Booking App. We then further continued via train ti Xi´an.

Our way back: Sleeper train from Urumqi to Yinining/Ili/Inni/Gulja: We arrived at 0730. Bus station in the city (called Passenger Termina) opens at 0830. Busses to Almaty left on day of our travel (friday) at 0930 and 1000. Travel time roughly 10h as the bus stops in Khorgos and for lunch. Border crossing again super easy and quick.