CTS 07  Silk Road Tour  15 days

Los Angeles/San Francisco- Beijing>-Urumqi-Turpan-Liuyuan-Dunhuang-Jiayuguan -Xian-Shanghai Los Angeles/San Francisco  

Order the Package CTS07

Silk Road Tour   15 days

Day 01 West coast - Xian
Fly to Xian on deluxe wide-bodied jet plane, cross the international date line.

Day 02 West coast - Xian Continue on the flight to Xian with meals on board and new movies provided.

Day 03 Xian - Urumqi
Arrive Xian at noon, met by the CTS tour guide. After lunch fly to Urumqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Stay over night in Urumqi.

Day 04 Urumqi
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 05 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 06 Urumqi - 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.

Day 07 Turpan - 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 08 Dunhuang
During the Han and Tang dynasties, Dunhuang was a major point of interchange between China and the outside world - 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 09 Dunhuang
Sightsee the White Horse Pagoda, and then visit the Mogao Caves - 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 10 Dunhuang - Jiayuguan - 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 11 Lanzhou
Arrive Lanzhou in the morning, tour to the Baitashan (White Pagoda Mountain) and Zhongshan Iron Bridge - the first bridge on the Yellow River, and the Wuquan Shan Mountain. Enjoy the well-known local hand made beef noodle.

Day 12 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 13 Lanzhou - Xian
Fly to Xian, the city where eleven dynasties in the history once took as the capital. Visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Bell Tower, Ancient City Walls and Gates, enjoy the Dumpling Banquet dinner and Tang Dynasty show in the evening.

Day 14 Xian - Beijing
Sightsee the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, which is recognized by UNESCO as the eighth wonder of the world, then visit the 8000-year-old Neolithic Site at Banpo. Fly to Beijing in the evening.

Day 15 Beijing - West coast
Transfer to the airport, home your sweet home.

Departure Date	Adult Fare	Child Fare	Single Supplement
3/ 23	$2499	$1899	$320
04/13	$2499	$1899	$320
5/ 11	$2499	$1899	$320
6/08,  22	$2699	$1999	$320
7/06,  20	$2699	$1999	$320
8/03,  17	$2499	$1899	$320
9/14	$2499	$1899	$320
10/12	$2499	$1899	$320
For passengers departing  from cities other than  Los Angeles or  San Francisco,  please add the appropriate domestic add-on fare: .Eastern Standard Time Zone:               $250 .Central Standard Time Zone:                $200 .Mountain Standard Time Zone:             $150 .Pacific Standard Time Zone:                 $100