📅 31st August /1st September 2025 📍Guazhou, China

Night Moves in Turpan: Extreme Heat, Extreme Testing

Turpan at night is a world of its own. We kept seeing camouflaged vehicles prowling the streets—wrapped in patterns to hide the latest car designs. There’s a reason for that: Turpan is both the hottest and the lowest point in China, so manufacturers bring their test models here to see how they perform under extreme conditions.

That night we hit a snag with our charger. Some of the Chinese charging stations we tried weren’t grounded properly, and that led to a short circuit on our device—something we’ll only be able to fix once we get to Beijing. Not ideal, but that’s the reality of driving electric across new terrain.

We also had our first run-in with the famous Huangsha sandstorm. In Germany we’re used to snowstorms that bury roads, leaving you stranded until the plows come through. Here, it’s sand instead of snow—the wind whips across the highway, making you feel utterly alone as visibility vanishes and the world goes quiet.

As morning broke, we rolled further east along the edge of the Gobi Desert. Wind farms stretched for miles, planning for the future with rows of modern, elegant turbines along the roadside.

By nightfall, we reached Guazhou. For now, our mission is clear: get our charger repaired and ready for whatever the next leg throws at us.

Next stop: Datong!