China Desert Tours - Private Guided China Desert Adventures

1) Avoiding getting lost in the desert, which means you shouldn’t go the unknown areas, leave your team to go somewhere alone, or travel desert without navigation equipment. Hiring a guide is always recommended; 2) Avoiding lacking of water which may cause dehydration under high temperature. You should wear proper clothes to slow down sweat evaporation, also always bring suitable amount of water with you all the time; 3) Avoid heat stroke and hypothermia. You shouldn’t walk at a high temperature for a long time. The temperature of the day and night in the desert varies a lot, especially in winter. Always bring a extra layers and blankets. 4) The probability of a sandstorm is very low, and it is mainly dust, which basically will not affect normal walking. What we need to do is to wear windproof glasses, masks, headscarves, and other sand prevention measures. Never go to the leeward slope of the sand dune to avoid it and the leeward of the dune is very dangerous during the sandstorm.

The best season to visit the desert is usually from mid-April to late October, and the best season for desert hiking is from September to October.

Clothing: Bring outdoor windproof, sandproof, and quick-drying clothes; bring sunblock items like sunglasses (goggles), sunhat, sunscreen, headscarves, masks, to reduce skin exposure, and remember to cover your neck. In the morning and evening, wear a light warm coat, or down jacket and take off at noon.

Shoes: Wear high-top climbing shoes or desert boots when crossing the desert on foot and bring a sandproof shoe cover.

Food and drinks supplies vary in different deserts. Never expect very well food and drinks as in cities. You usually need to cook basic food on your own, or eat some snacks. If you travel desert with us, our chef or tour guide will cook breakfast and dinner for you. Breakfasts are usually bread, instant noodles, with hot water. Dinners are provided with vegetable, rice, meats, and fruits. You can tell us your food requirement beforehand so that our support team can prepare accordingly. You should pack some snacks with you for everyday trek, such as trail mix, nuts, seeds, nut-based bars, dried or freeze-dried fruits and veggies, energy bars, chews or gels, shelf-stable, dried jerky, such as poultry, salmon or meat jerky, etc. All these snacks should be easy-to-carry and ready-to-eat. It’s essential to stay hydrated. The camp site will provide boiled water. You can bring 1 big or two small water bottles to collect them. Before hiking, you are suggested to drink 3~4 cups of water so you have less to carry.

If you are taking a normal desert sightseeing tour without many trekking and camping, bring only necessary things to the desert, such as water, sunglasses, sunblocking cream, camera, dramamine (for possible carsickness during desert driving), etc.

If you want to trek and camp in the desert, here is the Recommended packing list: Large backpack 60L, small backpack 20-30L, rain cover, jacket, 3 quick-drying clothes, 2 quick-drying pants, 2 T-shirts, fleece pants, 2 sets of sweat-wicking underwear, high-top mountaineering Shoes or desert boots, slippers or beach shoes, snow cover, 3 pairs of coolmax socks, headband, gloves, hat, sunglasses, goggles, camera, camera battery 2-4, memory card, knife, toilet paper, trekking pole, towel, soap, toothbrush, razor, water container, lifeguard whistle, notebook, pen, headlight, flashlight, mobile phone, watch, money, bank card, food bag, chopsticks, spoon, water cup, charger (mobile phone, camera battery), transparent glue, rubber rope, lipstick, personal medicine.

Desert trekking demands strong physical energy and willpower. One usually needs to trek about 15~20km, approximately 5~8 hours each day. If you are interested in desert hiking, you should be fitted enough, keep exercising before your trek, or attend some training if you haven’t had any desert camping experience. Desert camping is not recommended for travelers who have hypertension, heart disease, cerebral hemorrhage, coronary heart disease, etc., and who are aged over 60 years old.