some challenges in visiting cherchen
Though easy to reach, with modern facilities, and with much to see, Cherchen is still not an easy destination for foreigners:
Sand storms, especially frequent in spring, continuing into summer but rare in the fall, can delay travel. Allow a few days of flexibility in your schedule and expect wind and skies hazy with desert dust, the breath of the yellow dragon. On the other hand, though fiercely cold at night in winter, the days are brisk but clear, and all transit and tourist sites are operating.
Few people in town speak English. One of the managers of the Muztag Hotel speaks English well, but no one at the Cherchen / Qiemo County Travel Bureau does. Both a Mandarin Chinese phrasebook and one with Uyghur, such as Lonely Planet's Central Asia Phrasebook, will be helpful to visitors. Uyghurs make up the vast majority of the population but most do not speak Chinese well and, in any case, would be honored if you try to communicate in their native language.
The town has an airport, though it offers only two weekly flights to and from Urumqi via Korla, and these may be cancelled if there are too few passengers. There is talk of increasing these to daily flights in summer.
No English-speaking tour guides have set up shop here. You can easily travel independently to and around the town and to the main sights, so you don't really need a guide. If you prefer to have an English-speaking guide, however, you would have to arrange it in Kashgar, Hotan, Korla, or even Urumqi -- and few guides from elsewhere are familiar with Cherchen / Qiemo, so s/he would be serving mainly as a translator.
Though there are several quality restaurants, none have English menus. Phrase books have a restaurant section that should get you through, as they will in the rest of Xinjiang, or you can actually go into the kitchen and point to what you would like. Street signs are in English, however, and the two museums have English signage.
In the several good hotels the bathrooms are quite modern, but in this oasis in the desert, water supply and energy seem to be rationed. So you may have some hours without running water, and hot running water may be scheduled for only certain hours each day. This is the case in most towns in the south outside of Kashgar and Hotan. Ask at check-in about the water supply schedule.
The one bank in town does not have an ATM and does not provide currency exchange nor cash advances on foreign cards, nor do any hotels in town accept foreign currency nor exchange currency. You'll need to bring all the RMB you'll need from Hotan or Korla.
The local PSB police station does not have an Aliens Entry and Exit Administration office, so you cannot get your visa extended here. You can do this in Hotan and Korla.
Even with these limitations, however, Cherchen is a rewarding destination, with history and mystery to spare, along with surprisingly modern comforts.
