Yining, China to Zharkent, Kazakhstan

From Yining, China, we began a somewhat difficult two-day journey to Karakol, Kyrgyzstan via Zharkent, Kazakhstan. The easy route would have been Yining->Almaty->Bishkek->Karakol, but since we ultimately need to end up in Almaty for our flight back home; i.e. backtracking, we opted for adventure over inelegance.

Yining to the border was relatively easy. I even managed to buy the Yining-Horgos (border town) bus ticket online the night before. During the Chinese exit formalities at the border, there was quite a bit of questioning about our sojourn in Xinjiang, but all rather friendly. John adds: "At one point I handed my phone over to them so they could browse through my photos to verify that we were engaged only in touristic activities while in Xinjiang."

Thirty miles into Kazakhstan lies the town of Zharkent. This region had been alternatively under the influence of China and Russia. The well-restored Chinese styled mosque is an amazing work of art.

Note to fellow travelers: It took a bit of work to locate the shared taxi stand to Shonzhy, the first leg of the route to the Kyrgyz border. It's one block east of the market, one block south of the main road at this Plus Code location: "5273+WX9 Zharkent, Kazakhstan". The price per person was 2000 Tenga (about $4.500 US) in May 2024. You can also try to find a car near the bus station but these cars/drivers are NOT the normal shared taxi to Shonzy, and they charge much more. First below is us sitting in the shared taxi at Zharkent waiting for one more person. Second below is the same car at the petrol station.





On the bus to the border. The road signs are in both Chinese characters and the Uyghur Arabic alphabet. Snow-capped mountains are always in the distance.








The Kazakh bus that will take us from just inside the Chinese border to Zharkent. The bus dropped us off, and we walked under a very impressive "gate" to get to the "exit formalities" building. And the same bus, with a mix of Kazakhs, and Chinese tourists, picked us up on the Kazakh side and took us to Zharkent.








Welcome to Kazakhstan.


At a control point on the Kazakh side we spot some windmill sections.


Some shots from the bus window on the way to Zharkent. First below: View from the bus back towards China, from just inside Kazakhstan. Second: Trucks lined up on the Kazakh side, waiting to enter China,




Walking from the Bus Station (Auto Vauxhall), and passing the Central Mosque, on our way to our hotel in Zharkent.


The Zharkent Mosque was built in 1886 in Chinese Style. In addition to the prayer hall, there is a minaret, museum, and an impressive front gate. We spent about an hour roaming around.






















And some final shots of Zharkent in the evening.