Security situation in Xinjiang - leave your thoughts

[BakuBound]

Unless the place is officially registered for lodging with the PSB, then you have to head to the PSB as I mentioned above.

And while I can't address Kashgar, in just the past couple of months it seems the lodging situation for foreigners has become extremely restricted in Urumqi. That is, the situation is becoming worse and changing quickly.

[JnKln]

on Xinjiang reeducation camps:

(1) Kazakhstan Denies Asylum To Chinese 'Reeducation Camps' Whistle-Blower
https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-chin ... 28175.html

(2) Under Threat Of Chinese 'Reeducation,' Ethnic Kazakh Forced To Abort Baby:
https://www.rferl.org/a/under-threat-of ... 32546.html

[Shepi]

Hi as per accommodating foreigners in Xinjiang. We have been in Xinjiang in September and the options are extremely limited. There are cheap guesthouses and options which will not accept you unless you are Chinese and they are frightened to do otherwise even if police asks them to help you. It happened to us once that all the approved hotels for foreigners were fully booked by chinese and we were not allowed to leave the city and to look for other places to stay, nor to sleep in the cheaper hotels, so at the end of the day (rather night) a policemen made us stay in his car until sunrise. He was genuinely worried believing all the state propaganda about region, but still… The south of the region is much worse then Urumqi, this actually happened in the north (cant recall the name of the city). I doubt Airbnb or couch-surfing is available to foreigners.

[Jurassic]

It seems the situation for tourists in Xinjiang has got a lot more restrictive:

We are in Kashgar, we arrived here from Kyrgyzstan travelling by public transport. We have been told we are not able to leave the city to visit any sites in the area without travelling in a car organised by a tourist agency who have to obtain a permit from the tourist office the day before the trip. We can travel by bus, train or plane without a permit but no taxi driver will take us outside the city.

Other travellers we have met have told us the rules are the same in all Xinjiang and the tourist information told us they are very recent regulations.

Any further information would be welcome on how strictly the rules are followed and whether they are the same in all Xinjiang cities!

[billets]

I cycled from gansu into xj. at the border there was no search but I was driven all the way to hami. dropped at another checkpoint I was questioned again, offered help in finding a hotel, which I declined, and was followed around by a scooter while I looked. another patrol saw us (me and escort cop) and questioned me again. this Time I accepted their help and was installed in a hotel. I turned down a few first and haggled the price down of the one I stayed in though, mainly just to waste the cop time. the next day I was followed everywhere I went by plainclothes police. I took a taxi to the tombs and the taxi argues was immediately stopped and questioned. the whole 4 km trip I was watched by police at every corner, talking into their radios. even in the hami kings tombs there was a guy with an earpiece wandering around who never let me out of sight. and 2 more guys outside. back in my hotel lobby one of these guys was waiting for me later on, he followed me when I went for dinner. in the morning I left hami with no police hassle, until my first checkpoint after 60km. from then on I was tailed by the police until I checked into a hotel after registering. by the way checking in to a hotel in xj seems to take at least an hour. I finally sat down on my bed and there was a knock. another policeman, another passport scrutiny. my 3rd in 2 hours. hope this is me some help to others planning coming here. pack patience and a good sense of humour.

[BakuBound]

Perhaps there's a business opportunity here, arranging adventure tours to Xinjiang for those who want a real-life police state experience and missed the chance to visit East Germany.

[AreWeThereYet?]

The BBC has been allowed in one of the 're-education' camps in Xinjiang, here is what they've seen.



Chilling.

[steven]

Terrible.

[steven]

An excellent travel blog from a recent trip: https://awtytravels.com/2019/08/17/nobo ... g-journal/

[globetraveler]

Traveled there this June on the way to Tajikistan. Planned 6-7 days, but made it in 4. Why? Because of all those things mentioned above. After 33 hours on the train Beijing-Turpan, arrived there 4am. Waited for the sunrise and started my hitching. The plan was to go to Bostan lake to swim, so hitchhiked all the way there, but cops started following me after the highway exit. They didn't allow me to go to the lake so i continued toward Korla direction. Cops called each other all the time to coordinate my moves!!! So 20km before Korla is the archeological park called Qigexing temple (Buddhist remnants, 4th century). The cops bothered me again for 20min, one even was sent to keep an eye on me all the time! He was with me inside even. After that, he actually helped me to find a ride to Korla pay toll (he forced the Uyghur taxi driver to take me there for free. After that I hitched additional 300km to Kuqa and the nice chinese family took me to the 5 star hotel with them that night. Next day we went to the Tianshan Grand Canyon and after that I visited other historical places alone. The old town was packed with cops and checkpoints, you must enter and exit via Xray scanner! Got a train that night to the place called Maralbashi (Bachu). From there, hitched again to Yarkand and Zepu, where visited Poplar tree Jinhuyang scenic area. A Chinese guy who gave me a ride was repeating that the president is the best person on Earth. I responded with: You are good person, you are helping me. No, he said, Xi is good, not me. Said. Then, I entered the nightmare while trying to visit Jinhuyang. Cops were literally everywhere! They were following me all the time, asking me billions of questions. Finally I managed to get their help (after 3 hours of investigation and "sightseeing") and they took me to the next checkpoint, Yarkand city checkpoint. Two new comrades took me there and guess what? They didn't allow me at all to visit the city! "Some safe activities" and other b...ts were mentioned. I said I just want to go to the city center to take a photo of the mosque and square. No way! It's impossible as the city is "closed that day for foreigners". After tough negotiation they offered me a ride to the mosque, but no photos. So you lie that no foreigners can go to the city? No answer. I didn't want to talk to them anymore after that. Just got a ride to the train station ans their eyes where on me until I didn't leave the city.