Atlas of China

Ürümqi to Turpan 乌鲁木齐 – 吐鲁番

Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 1 hour against about 3 hours by road, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. A standard-class seat is ¥49. The stations are in or near the city centres, which is what tips it.

WayTimeDoor to doorFareA day
High-speed trainÜrümqi South 乌鲁木齐南 → Turpan North 吐鲁番北51 minD8814, fastest1 hour¥49standard class2907:00–23:00
By road193 km2 h 50 min3 hours

By train

29 direct high-speed trains a day run from Ürümqi South to Turpan North, between 07:00 and 23:00. The fastest, D8814, takes 51 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥49. Coming back, 33 trains a day, the fastest 53 min (D8803, 05:00 to 22:17).

Turpan: About an hour from Ürümqi by high-speed train.

By air

No nonstop flights.

By road

193 km by road, about 2 h 50 min of driving: routed on OpenStreetMap, with speeds calibrated on measured trips.

At the other end

Featured places around Turpan.

Around Ürümqi: Heavenly Lake of Tianshan.

On the map

Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.

Book

About Ürümqi · About Turpan · Where Ürümqi reaches in a day · All routes

Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.