Silk Road Tour 15 Days

Tour Code£ºCTS 07

Day 01:         West Coast Q Beijing    

Fly to China on deluxe wide-bodied jet plane, cross the International Date Line.

Day 02:         Arrival in Beijing

Arrival in Beijing, Tour guide meet you at airport, then transfer to hotel.

Day 03:         Beijing Q Urumqi

Leave Beijing for Urumiqi in the morning, sightseeing the City Museum to view the incredible mummies from over 2,000 years ago. Visit the Redhill Park and the Bazaar, which is believed to be the largest outdoor market. A roast lamb dinner banquet will be served in the evening.

Day 04:         Urumqi

In the morning, take a cruise on Lake of Heaven, which is at an elevation of 6,435 feet above sea level. It is a beautiful highland lake, flanked by rugged pines and cypresses, and with clear waters that reflect the surrounding mountains. In winter, it provides an ideal alpine skating rink. Afterwards visit the Hill of Heaven Grassland and Nanshan Grassland.

Day 05:         Urumqi v Turpan

After breakfast, take motor coach to Turpan, a Uighur town set in a large oasis surrounded by desert and dry mountains. Upon arrival visit the mysterious Gaochang Ruins, which reveals traces of a prosperous ancient trading center and military stronghold. You will have an opportunity to sightsee the Flaming Mountains and Karez Underground Irrigation Channels. Enjoy Minority Singing and Dancing Show.

Day 06:         Turpan t Liuyuan (Dunhuang)

Turpan is famous throughout China for its big and sweet grapes. The visit to the Grape Valley and the homes of Uighur farmers is an extraordinary experience.  Visit the Jiaohe Ruins, Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves. Travel to Dunhuang via Liuyuan by overnight soft-sleeper train.

Day 07:         Dunhuang

During the Han and Tang dynasties, Dunhuang was a major point of interchange between China and the outside world ¨C a stopping-off post for both incoming and outgoing trading caravans. Upon arrival sightseeing the Singing Sand Mountains, Crescent Moon Lake, visit the Yang Pass.

Day 08:         Dunhuang

Sightsee the White Horse Pagoda, and then visit the Mogao Caves ¨C the World Art Treasure House. It is the world¡¯s most important sites of ancient Buddhist culture. The grottoes, also known as Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, preserve nearly a thousand years of Buddhist cave-temple architecture, clay sculpture, mural paintings, and manuscripts, dating from the 5th to the 14th centuries. The Mogao Grottoes are carved into desert cliffs overlooking a river valley about 25 km southwest of Dunhuang. The caves vary enormously in size, from tiny single-room cells that served as living quarters for individual monks to huge, cavernous worship halls housing monumental sculptures and mural cycles. The caves honeycomb a 1,600-meter-long cliff face running north and south, and contain some 2,000 clay sculptures and more than 45,000 square meters (484,000 sq. ft) of mural paintings.

Day 09:         Dunhuang v Jiayuguan t Lanzhou

Take a coach to Jiayuguan in the morning, which was considered both the western tip of the Great Wall and the western boundary of the empire. Sightseeing the Jiayuguan Fort and the Overhanging Great Wall. Take soft-sleeper overnight train to Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province.

Day 10:         Lanzhou

Arrive Lanzhou in the morning, tour to the Baitashan (White Pagoda Mountain) and  Zhongshan Iron Bridge ¨C the first bridge on the Yellow River, and the Wuquan Shan Mountain. Enjoy the well-known local hand made beef noodle. 

Day 11:         Lanzhou

Visit the museum, tour to the Liujia Gorge, and then take boat to Yongjing County to visit the Bingling Grottoes. Bingling is a Tibetan term meaning ¡°ten thousand Buddha¡±. Now about 183 caves with 694 stone sculptures, 82 clay figures and 900 square meters of murals have been preserved. The statues are all with different postures and facial expressions.

Day 12:         Lanzhou Q Xi¡¯an v Mt. Huashan

Fly to Xi¡¯an, the city where eleven dynasties in the history once took as the capital. Transfer to Mt. Huashan after arrival.

Day 13:         Mt. Huashan v Xi¡¯an

Mt Hua is well known as high and precipitous amount all the mountains in China. It¡¯s been famous for thousand of years for it¡¯s unique trees, stones of strange shapes, the sea of clouds, springs and waterfalls. Enjoy the Dumpling Banquet and Tang Dynasty show after heading back to Xi¡¯an.

Day 14:         Xi¡¯an Q Beijing

Sightseeing the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, this is recognized by UNESCO as the eighth wonder of the world, then fly to Beijing in the evening.

Day 15:         Beijing Q West Coast

Transfer to the airport, home your sweet home.