From Urumqi to Shanghai, there is only one train T54/T51 available, which costs around CNY700 for one hard sleeper and CNY1079 for one lower soft sleeper. The tickets are usually issued around 10 days before departure. Thus, you could buy the tickets online or at the train stations about 10 days in advance. The preferable travel period is usually between the April and Oct. Besides, it takes about 44hrs by train.