10 Days China Ancient Silk Road Tour

Taking the flight and fly to Xian from your hometown city or any city of China,  our guide  and driver will meet you at  Xi'an Xianyang Airport. Then, transfer to your hotel located in the downtown area of Xi'an city, free wandering in the ancient heart city of China on your own in the rest time of this day.

Today, we will first visit the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, which is one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in the twentieth centuries. The warriors are just like real persons with different actions and expressions. There are three excavated pits exhibiting amazing Qin Dynasty warriors and horses figures. It seems that each of the warriors are created with a prototype in real life. Then go to the Bell Tower, the emblem of Xi'an city and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda afterwards. The pagoda is widely renowned that Master Xuanzang (Monk Tripitaka) stored his classics brought from India. Enjoy the Tang Dynasty show in the evening. The show presents the palace dances and sings in the Tang Dynasty when Xi'an was the capital.

Visit Shaanxi History Museum in the morning, where you can learn more history about Xian through the cultural relics: bronze wares, jade, potteries, and murals from the Prehistory Period to the Qing Dynasty. 

Afterwards, go to see the Ancient City Wall. It was built in Tang Dynasty and survived through the long history of China, which is the most complete existing urban fortification in China. You can walk or cycle on the ancient wall (bike rental fee is not included). Finally, take flight to the next destination-Dunhuang Our local tour guide will meet you at the airport in Dunhuang and transfer you to your hotel.

Driving to Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center before go to Mogao Grottoes, where we will watch 2 educational documentary films that introduce the history, arts, and other facts about Mogao Grottoes. Afterwards, take local sightseeing bus to Mogao Grottoes.  Known as the 'Oriental Louvre', Dunhuang Grottoes is outstanding for its exquisite mural paintings and statues. There are now 492 grottoes preserved till now,  in which about 45,000 square meters mural paintings and 2,100 colorfully painted statues can help us trace the development of Chinese art over 1,600 years in different dynasties. Visitors can visit 40 common caves. At the tourist reception center, all the visitors will be reorganized in different groups led by the local guides who will accompany you to visit 7-8 caves and introduce the caves with detailed information. After the guided tour, you can visit some other caves by yourselves. Furthermore, there are 10 special caves which are usually opened for the professional researchers (with extra fees), if you would like to pay an extra visit of these caves you should let us know in advance for reservation.

(Notes: During peak travel season from May to October, it is recommended to make reservation at least 1 week ahead. It is not allowed to take photos inside grottoes.)

Next, we will visit the Echoing Sand Mountains. It is said, in the sunny days, the sand mountains echo like Orchestra music even if there is no wind. If you slide from the sand mountains, you can hear the echoing sound clearly. 

Our last leg is to visit the Crescent Lake. Surrounded by the Echoing Sand Mountains, Crescent Lake is a beautiful oasis with some well decorated traditional Chinese architecture, some trees and flowers. The lake shapes like a crescent moon and never dries.

(Notes: In summer, travelers can stay up to midnight to enjoy the cool time and beautiful stars in the sky. Get fully prepared for the strong sunlight and high temperatures in the daytime.)

Free wandering at Dunhuang in the morning, then your driver and guide will meet you in the hotel and transfer you to the train station for the train to Turpan. Take a high speed bullet train to Turpan from Liuyuan Railway Station of Dunhuang.As it is a ride about 3.5~4 hours to Turpan, you are suggested to buy some food and fruits to eat on the train. 

When you arrive at Turpan North Railway Station, the local tour guide and driver will welcome you there  and transfer to the hotel in the city.

A full day visit in Turpan, nicknamed the“fire land”for its hot Summer , and Turpan is also famous for its melons and vineyards.

First, we will visit  Karez System, which is a special kind of irrigation system consisting of vertical wells, underground canals, ground canals and waterlogging pond. The  vertically dug wells are linked together to channel the water which comes from the rain in summer rainy season, or the  melted snow  of Tianshan Mountain range to desired farmlands on the ground. 

Afterwards, tranfer to the cultural relics - the Jiaohe Ancient City which used to be the capital city of the former Cheshi State. It is highly praised as  the "perfect ruin of earth building" for its intact preservation for almost two thousand years. 

Next, we will go to visit the Emin Minaret, an elegant and innovative Islamic pagoda built by the duke Emin Hezhuo. It shows his devotion and piety to the lord Allah. Emin Minaret shapes like an awl, and it is about 44 meter high. 

Finally, we will transfer to the Grape Valley where we can  taste some delicious grapes and other fruits, compared to the hot weather in other places of Turpan, the Grape Valley is much cooler.

In the morning, we will visit the Bezeklik Caves, a complex of Buddhist  grottos which were built from the 5th to 14th century in Turpan and Shanshan (Ancient Loulan). The grottoes we are going to visit is situated on a cliff at the foot of Flaming Mountains, 45km away from Turpan city. The most colorful and valuable part of the grottoes  is composed of 40 large wall-paintings covering an area of more than 1,200 square meters in different themes. Grottoes No. 17 and 18 are the oldest ones built in the later yeas of  the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589). Grotto No.20 was painted the portraits of King and Queen of Gaochang Kingdom. The No.33 grotto was painted  with the Budha and  his disciples. The No.38 Grotto shows the life of the ancient Manichee.

Afterwards, we will visit the Flaming Mountain(Huo Yan Shan in Chinese). Stretching as long as 100kms, the Flaming Mountain is composed of  red sandstones. The surface of the mountain cliffs and slopes look  like flaming fire.

After the visit in Turpan, we will continue our driving about 3 hours to Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and stay overnight in Urumqi.

After having breakfast in the hotel, we will drive to visit the Heaven Lake(Tian Chi).The lake is located on the Heaven Mountain, a fairyland in ancient fairytales where the Heavenly Queen lived. The Heaven Mountain and Heaven Lake are the best summer resorts in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. We can have a  baot cruise on the lake, while enjoying the beautiful breathtaking views the snow mountain, flourishing plants and blooming flowers around the lake. 

Drive back to Urumqi to see the Mummy Exhibition in the Xinjiang Regional Museum, then we will go to the airport to catch our flight to Kashgar. After 2 hours flying we will arrive at Kashgar,  the guide and driver will welcome you there and transfer to the hotel.

Today, we will first visit the Abakh Khoja Tomb first. The tomb is a typical Islamic architectural complex, where five generationsa of a large Islamic family were buried. Its The tomb was named after one of the the masters of the family whose name was  Abakh Khoja and he was buried here too.  Abakh Khoja once  promoted the spread of Islam religion in the region of Kashgar by which  earned him a great reputation and people called the tomb the  Abakh Khoja Tomb.

Then, we will visit the Id Kah Mosque, a holy shrine for the Muslims. Thousands of Muslims worship here everyday.  Id Kah Mosque was a Muslim school in the history, where Islam culture and history was taught. Many honored Muslim scholars graduated from here. Close to the Id Kah Mosque is the famous Handicrafts Street, we can wander on the street freely and buy some Muslime style souvenirs.

Afterwards, go to visit the Old Town of Kashgar City where the authentic Uyghur living style is still kept. You can have a rest at a hundread years old tea house and enjoy a cup of tea like locals, experience how the locals to spend their leisure time in the tea house with friends and families such as  drinking, chatting and playing Muslim instruments as well.

Today, we will visit the famous Kashgar Bazaar(in Uygur language, Bazaar means large market). Kashagar has long been known as the one of the most importance cities along the Silk Road,  and Kashgar Bazaar has always been a prosperous trading center where people can buy whatever they want, from herbal medicines to carpets, from a cradle to a camel.

Kashgar Bazaar has a big event of the Livestock Market on every Sunday. If you happen visit it on sunday, DON'T miss it. By lunchtime around noon, numerous sheep, camels, horses, cows and donkeys will be driven to the market by the Uyghur farmers and herders, the livestocks squeeze through the gates of the bazaars for trade. At the moment, the whole market is dusty, smelly, noisy and crowded. To visitors, the market is  really exotic.  

Finally, the guide and driver will transfer you to the airport for your flight departing Kashgar, or transfer you to the border of China to contiue your trip to other Mid-Asian countries, end this impressive ancient silk road tour.