Charklik (Ruoqiang)



Charklik (Ruoqiang County) (若羌县) is in Tarim, in southeastern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Understand
Ruoqiang or Charklik is probably the first town of significance in terms of size and population when entering this desert region from Qinghai province. You can’t avoid going through this town if you follow the traditional Silk Road.

By car
The 315 National highway (Guodao 315) leads east towards Qinghai and its capital Xining, which is the eastern terminus of the namesake highway, although it’s 1500 km. Westward, the road goes through the old Silk Road towns of Qiemo (Cherchen), Hetian (Khotan) and Kashgar (Kashi).

No roads go south, but the intrepid traveller might find jade rocks in the Kunlun mountains that form Xinjiang's border with Tibet!

Highway 218 (Guodao 218) has its southern terminal at this town. Heading north, you pass through Kuerle (Korla) and Wulumuqi (Ürümqi).

There are several police checkpoints on these highways. And the tricky one might be going through the first checkpoint near Korla, as it is forbidden for foreigners to enter this desert area. Unless you are taking a bus directly to Ruoqiang from Korla, you have to be really lucky if you are hitchhiking and your car doesn’t get stopped. There is a chance that the police will let you go if you explain to them you only want to go to Ruoqiang.

Highway 315 is prone to sandstorms and the highway sometimes just disappears.

By rail
The Golmud–Korla railway was completed in 2020. Passenger trains are now available from Korla and Urumqi. As of February 2023, however, there are still no passenger trains from Golmud.

The Khotan-Ruoqiang railway was opened in 2022. Trains from Khotan take about 10 hours to reach Charklik.



By bus
There are buses from Cherchen, Korla and Golmud. From Korla costs around ¥130 (8 hours), and from Golmud costs around ¥230 (14 hours).



Get around
A public bus service began operating in Ruoqiang Town in January 2021.

Sleep
Only the following three hotels are permitted to accept foreigners:

Loulan Hotel (from ¥300 for doubles) Longdu Hotel (doubles at ¥120) Zhewen Hotel (from ¥200 for doubles)

Go next
Highway 315 is great for hitching long-distance trucks returning to eastern China. Just check out their plates and ask for a ride. The majority of trucks in China are subjected to a maximum of 2 passengers including the driver. This means a group of 2 or more hitchhikers will probably be passed by. Trucks go to virtually every province within China, including Shandong, Gansu, Qinghai, Henan, and Jilin.