At 09:50 on 4 July, the first "China–Central Asia Cultural Tourism Express" of 2026—carrying 280 passengers from Xi’an to Almaty—completed exit formalities at Horgos railway port in Xinjiang. The journey retraces sections of the ancient Silk Road, stopping in Gansu and passing the Tianshan range before entering Kazakhstan. Border agencies coordinated pre-arrival data sharing so that passport control, customs and currency-declaration checks were wrapped up in under 60 minutes, a record for the route. For regional tourism authorities, the train embodies China’s strategy of using culture-led mobility to deepen ties with the five Central-Asian republics after the 2025 Xi’an Summit. Railway officials confirmed that at least ten more themed trains—focusing on archaeology, cuisine and winter sports—are scheduled through Q4 2026. Corporate mobility managers should note that the Horgos port has upgraded its foreign-currency payment kiosks and introduced multi-lingual e-visa kiosks that can issue 15-day group tourist visas on arrival for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan—useful for incentive trips or inspection tours of Belt-and-Road projects.
![First China–Central Asia Cultural Tourism Train Clears Horgos Border]()
Travel organisers who need to navigate the varying visa regimes of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian stops can streamline the paperwork through VisaHQ. Our online platform (https://www.visahq.com/china/) allows China-based travellers to submit applications, monitor status updates and obtain electronic authorisations well before boarding the train, saving time at Horgos and minimizing group delays.
The wider implication is capacity building along the Eurasian land bridge. As China-Europe block trains hit capacity constraints, passenger-rail corridors are being modernised in parallel, ensuring dual-use infrastructure that can be switched to cargo during peak freight seasons. Kazakhstan’s tourism board expects arrivals from China to exceed 1 million this year—double the 2025 figure—while Chinese tour operators are already bundling Almaty site visits with company delegation trips to Astana’s International Financial Centre, positioning rail as a viable alternative to limited air slots.
Travel organisers who need to navigate the varying visa regimes of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian stops can streamline the paperwork through VisaHQ. Our online platform (https://www.visahq.com/china/) allows China-based travellers to submit applications, monitor status updates and obtain electronic authorisations well before boarding the train, saving time at Horgos and minimizing group delays.
The wider implication is capacity building along the Eurasian land bridge. As China-Europe block trains hit capacity constraints, passenger-rail corridors are being modernised in parallel, ensuring dual-use infrastructure that can be switched to cargo during peak freight seasons. Kazakhstan’s tourism board expects arrivals from China to exceed 1 million this year—double the 2025 figure—while Chinese tour operators are already bundling Almaty site visits with company delegation trips to Astana’s International Financial Centre, positioning rail as a viable alternative to limited air slots.
