Cargo reaches Tashkent from China by one of four routes: road through Kazakhstan (Yiwu → Urumqi → Khorgos → Almaty → Shymkent → Yallama → Tashkent, roughly 5,000 km and 15–25 days), road through Kyrgyzstan (Kashgar → Irkeshtam or Torugart → Osh → Andijan → Tashkent, shorter into the Fergana Valley), rail (Dostyk or Altynkol → Saryagash → Tashkent, 20–35 days) and air (Guangzhou or Urumqi → Tashkent, 3–10 days). GSR Logistics moves consolidated freight through Khorgos by default. Transit times are indicative and count from departure from the China warehouse.

How does the main route through Khorgos work?

The Khorgos route is the road corridor through the Khorgos border crossing in China’s Ili prefecture (Nur Zholy on the Kazakh side). Most consolidated freight from China to Uzbekistan travels this way today: the crossing is open all year, the terrain is flat, and Kazakhstan offers two independent entry points.

From Yiwu to Tashkent a truck passes these points:

  1. Yiwu (义乌) → Xiʼan — about 1,300 km. The Yiwu warehouse receives the cargo, weighs and measures it, sends a photo report and loads it onto the truck. Cargo from Guangzhou and Shenzhen joins the main truck here.
  2. Xiʼan → Lanzhou → Urumqi — about 2,500 km on China’s G30 expressway, 3–4 days. Urumqi is the last major logistics hub in Xinjiang; many cargo companies regroup consignments there.
  3. Urumqi → Khorgos — 650 km. Export clearance on the Chinese side, a transit declaration on the Kazakh side (Nur Zholy). The backup crossing is Alashankou → Dostyk: it sits next to the railway, and the truck queue there is often shorter.
  4. Khorgos → Almaty → Shymkent — about 1,000 km across Kazakhstan, 2–3 days.
  5. Shymkent → Yallama (Gishtkuprik) → Tashkent — 120 km. Yallama is Uzbekistan’s busiest road border post; an electronic queue for trucks has operated there since June 2025. The cargo enters a temporary storage warehouse, the customs declaration (GTD) is filed, and the goods arrive at the GSR warehouse.

The total distance from Yiwu is roughly 5,000 km with 8–10 days of pure driving; the remaining days go to queues at two borders, consolidation and customs clearance. That is why we quote 15–25 days; record consignments have arrived in 12–13 days.

When does the route through Kyrgyzstan pay off?

The Kyrgyz route runs from Kashgar over the Irkeshtam or Torugart pass to Osh, then on to Andijan. The Tashkent — Andijan — Osh — Irkeshtam — Kashgar corridor has been officially open since February 2018 and is the shortest overland path from China into the Fergana Valley.

  • Distance. To Andijan it is 300–1,000 km shorter than via Khorgos, depending on the city of origin. Kashgar to Andijan is about 600 km.
  • Transit time. The market quotes 9–15 days for Kashgar → Andijan; in September 2025 a train-plus-truck consignment from Shanxi province reached Andijan in 9 days — 6 days faster than the Khorgos — Almaty — Tashkent route.
  • Constraints. Irkeshtam sits at 2,950 m and Torugart at 3,750 m: snow closures happen from November to March, and the posts shut for 2–3 days on public holidays. Torugart has run an electronic queue since March 2026; the post handles over 300 trucks a day, with a target of 1,000 once the six-lane road is finished. Irkeshtam was upgraded for $2.6 million by October 2025.
  • Who it suits. Clients in Andijan, Fergana and Namangan; cargo originating in Kashgar, Urumqi or western China; periods of long queues at Khorgos.

For Tashkent this route usually brings no gain: from Andijan there are another 350 km over the Kamchik pass, and the Kyrgyz border adds a second set of transit formalities.

Which stations does rail cargo pass through?

Rail cargo leaves a Chinese station (Xiʼan, Chengdu, Lianyungang, Yiwu) and reaches the border station at Alashankou → Dostyk or Khorgos → Altynkol. The Chinese gauge is 1,435 mm and the CIS gauge 1,520 mm, so the container is transferred to another platform. It then travels on the Kazakh railway through Saryagash to Tashkent — to the container terminal or to the Chirchik and Sergeli stations. Transit is roughly 20–35 days; the price is per container: 20 ft $2,800–5,500, 40 ft $5,200–6,800 (estimate as of September 8, 2026).

What slows it down:

  • Congestion at Dostyk and Altynkol. In the first half of 2025 Kazakhstan Railways banned empty platforms heading to Dostyk and Altynkol, with 49 trains held. The second Dostyk — Moyynty track opened in September 2025 and raised throughput by 42%.
  • The Altynkol — Khorgos hub upgrade finishes in 2026: from 18 to 33 train pairs a day.
  • The China — Kyrgyzstan — Uzbekistan railway (Kashgar → Torugart → Makmal → Jalal-Abad → Andijan) is still under construction. It is the future, not today’s service: in 2026 every rail shipment comes through Kazakhstan.

Details — Rail and container.

How does the air route work?

Air cargo flies from Guangzhou (Baiyun) or Urumqi to Tashkent. The cargo is received at the China warehouse, consolidated into an air batch (2–4 days), flown in 1 day and cleared at Tashkent airport in 1–2 working days. In total roughly 3–10 days, usually 5–10. Rates start at $9/kg with volumetric weight ÷ 5 000. Lithium batteries, liquids, magnets and perfume are not accepted by air — they travel only by truck or rail. Details — Air cargo.

The four routes in one table

Route Distance Transit Cost Risks
Road via Khorgos or Dostyk (Kazakhstan) ≈ 5,000 km from Yiwu 15–25 days (express 13–18) $$ — from $110/m³ (by density, up to $320/m³) Queues at Khorgos and Yallama (3–7 days before holidays), winter snow
Road via Irkeshtam or Torugart (Kyrgyzstan) 300–1,000 km shorter to Andijan 9–15 days (Andijan) $$ — same tier as Khorgos; Tashkent +350 km Pass closures in winter, posts closed on holidays, extra transit paperwork
Rail via Dostyk or Altynkol → Saryagash ≈ 4,500–6,000 km depending on the station 20–35 days $ — 20 ft $2,800–5,500 Gauge change at the border, platform shortages, terminal queues
Air Guangzhou or Urumqi → Tashkent ≈ 5,000 km / ≈ 1,300 km 3–10 days $$$ — $9–12/kg Restricted goods, flight schedules, capacity shortages around holidays

Truck cargo is priced not per kilogram but by density: divide the total weight (kg) by the total volume (m³), and the resulting density sets the price per m³ — $110/m³ for cargo up to 100 kg/m³, rising to $320/m³ for 701–1,000 kg/m³; cargo at 1,000 kg/m³ and above is charged at $0.55/kg. For example, 300 kg in 1.2 m³ is 250 kg/m³ — the 201–250 band, $180/m³ — so 1.2 × 180 = $216; 180 kg in 2 m³ is 90 kg/m³, that is $110/m³, so 2 × 110 = $220. That is why lighter but bulkier cargo can cost more. The minimum billable volume is 0.1 m³; prices are indicative, and duty and VAT are calculated separately.

Distances, transit times and prices are estimates · Updated September 8, 2026. Transit counts from departure from the China warehouse. A detailed price comparison of the three modes is in the guide Air, truck or rail.

Which route does GSR Logistics choose?

For consolidated freight our default route is Yiwu → Urumqi → Khorgos → Almaty → Shymkent → Yallama → Tashkent. Three reasons: the crossing is open all year, Kazakhstan has two backup entry points (Khorgos and Dostyk), and one truck runs all the way to the Tashkent warehouse without reloading en route.

An alternative makes sense if:

  • the cargo is going to Andijan, Fergana or Namangan — Irkeshtam or Torugart saves 3–6 days;
  • the lot is one client’s shipment above 25 m³ — a rail container comes out cheaper;
  • the goods are light, valuable and urgent — air;
  • a holiday queue has formed at Khorgos — your manager proposes Dostyk or the Kyrgyz route.

We pick the route together with you: tell us what the goods are, their weight, volume and destination, and your manager compares two options with numbers. Details — Truck cargo (consolidated freight).

Seasonal calendar: when do routes slow down?

Period What happens Impact What to do
Late January — February (Chinese New Year; February 6 in 2027) Factories and warehouses close for 2–3 weeks; queues at Khorgos and Yallama before the shutdown +7–14 days Last truck batch January 20–23, air January 30–31; stock up for 2 months
Around March 21 (Navruz) Uzbek customs and warehouses rest for 3–5 days, queue at Yallama +2–4 days Get cargo to the border by mid-March or ship after the holiday
May 1–5 (Labour Day in China) Domestic delivery in China slows; mountain passes reopen after snow +2–3 days Ask the supplier to ship to the warehouse before the end of April
October 1–7 (Golden Week) Chinese logistics stops for a week, then 1–2 weeks of queues +7–10 days Ship by mid-September
November 11 — December (11.11, year end) Chinese couriers and border terminals at their busiest; transit near the upper bound +5–7 days Hand over cargo in October; plan for 25 days in December
December — February (winter) Snow on the Khorgos and Irkeshtam roads, temporary closures +1–3 days Send the urgent part of important cargo by air

How do you know where your cargo is?

Every consignment of yours travels under your GS code: the GS code (shipping mark) is what your supplier writes on every carton before dispatch. Your manager reports the cargo’s status on Telegram; if you enter the GS code on the Tracking page, the request goes straight to the manager. On the main route the statuses change in this order:

  1. At the Yiwu warehouse — cargo received, weighed, photo report sent.
  2. Loaded — the slot number and truck date are known.
  3. In transit within China — Xiʼan, Lanzhou, Urumqi; usually 3–5 days.
  4. At Khorgos — Chinese export clearance and Kazakh transit; 1–3 days, longer on holidays.
  5. Across Kazakhstan — Almaty, Shymkent; 2–3 days.
  6. At Yallama, Tashkent customs — declaration, duty and VAT calculation, GTD; 1–2 working days.
  7. At the Tashkent warehouse — collect it yourself or we forward it to your region.
  8. Delivered.

Manager’s tip. When the truck reaches Khorgos, ask your manager to double-check the customs documents (invoice, packing list, HS code): if everything is ready by the time the truck reaches Yallama, clearance in Tashkent takes one day and the cargo enters the warehouse without waiting in line.

Not sure which route fits — write to us with the goods, an approximate weight and volume, and your city: your manager compares the Khorgos, Kyrgyz and rail options by transit time and price.