18 Days Travel Silk Road in China with Escorted Guide

Today your travel begins with a welcome meeting at airport. After checking in the hotel, rest of your time is free to explore the Charming Xi'an, an ancient city with a long history and colorful culture. There are many historical sites worth visiting.

Tour starts at 08:00 and then drive 1 hour to get close to the incredible Terracotta Warriors in China’s first Emperor's Tomb built 2300 years ago,the most significant archaeological excavations of the 20th century.

After lunch in the local restaurant, head to ancient architecture and a holy place for Buddhists.- Big Goose Pagoda,The restored Buddha and building are beautiful with spectacular timber work and gilded features are recently built by donors, they make a fine job of explaining the role of Buddhism in China’s history.

Today is an another day to explore the history and culture in Xi' an.

We will visit Shaanxi Museum, one of the major museums in China. It is home to numerous unearthed cultural artifacts and represents the imposing image of a 13-dynasties capital. 

Continue tour to the Ancient City Wall, the most well-preserved city wall and the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. You will have a bird's-eye view of panorama of Xi' an city when wandering along the city wall

Afterwards, you will tour the Great Mosque and Muslim Quarter, Relax with free wandering along the street when tasting the local delicacies and experiencing the local lifestyle.

Say goodbye to Xi'an and bring you to the train station to take the train to Lanzhou

With a early start today, we will arrive Binlings Temple at 09:30 after 1.5hrs’ driving. Taking the 40mins fast boat to the inside of the park, enjoy the variety of artworks in different styles and observe the social situations and customs in ancient times when seeing the stone sculptures and appreciate the miracle of Buddha caves.

After lunch by the side of Reservoir, we will drive 3 or 4 hours to Xiahe which is an ethnically-Tibetan county in Gansu. Upon arrival, head to visit the natural picturesque pasture-Songke Grassland. Throw yourself into a sea of green, bath in the warm sunshine and see the Tibetan nomads graze their drove. Then visit Tibetan family and wear tibetan cloth, drink milk tea and sample hand-grabbed mutton.

Today we will arrange the English Speaking Lama guide you through the Labrang Monastery, the most populous monks outside of Tibet. You will stay at Thangka Sunning Terrace that is one of a good place to view the monastery and surrounding scenery. Inside the monastery, apart from magnificent Buddha stupas and wall paintings, prayer wheels are also the must-see spot. The whole monastery is surrounded by wheels, walk along the corridor, rotate the wheels and pray for chasing away the troubles.

We will then head back to downtown and take train to Lanzhou, upon arrival, visit the the first bridge of the Yellow River's Mother Statue consisting of "a mother" and "a baby boy" which symbolizes the mother of the Yellow River nurturing the Chinese nation.

After breakfast, take you to the train station, you will be transferred to Zhangye, upon arrival, head to visit the Binggou Danxia, which is an important component of Danxia National Geopark in Zhangye. It is the one of the most complete and unique shapes in China.

After lunch, we will drive 3hrs to the masterpiece of nature Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park, which is situated in the north of Qilian mountains with a distance of 40 km from east Zhangye city. You will be marveled by the colorful layers of mountain ridges in the 4hr’s adventure to the different platforms.

Today we begin our journey to the Jiayuguan Fortress. Standing among vast desert and surrounded by rolling mountains,it looks like a dignified general guarding the grand land. It was constructed with the most integrated defensive system: an inner city, an outer city, and a moat. Besides functioning as a frontier military fortress, it was also an important traffic hub along the Silk Road, the oldest worldwide trading route.

After that, you will explore the Great Wall Museum, which was opened to the public in October 1989 and it is the first one to exhibit the Great Wall culture in a comprehensive and systematic way. Thereafter, we are going to visit the Great Wall on the Cliff, The wall here was built on the ridge with a gradient of 45 degrees. It is high in the air and it looks as if it fell down from the top of the hill. So people refer to this section of the Great Wall as the "Suspended Wall". 

Continue the sightseeing to renowned underground gallery Weijin Tombs. There we can enjoy lifelike and succinct wall paintings covering a wide range of subjects including politics, economics, culture, military affairs, folk customs, and science and technology during the Wei and Jin periods (4AD)

Continue tour to the Dunhuang. we will visit the non-touristy Yulin Grottoes built from 7-14AD after 2hrs driving, relax walking by the side of the Yulin River and enjoy 6-7 caves which paintings are generally in good shape,especially the green blue colour of paintings are original and very rare.  

Then visit Echoing Sand Mountain, where you can ride the camels for 40mins to experience the beautiful desert scenery in the sunset. It is also fun to climb up to the top of the sand dune by the ladders to have the bird-view of the park and slide down to the bottom.

Evening we continue to appreciate the bustling Shazhou Night Markets dotted with special commodities and souvenirs.

Today we are going to appreciate the Holy Center of Buddhism Culture and Art-UNESCO of Mogao Grottoes, enjoying the 40mins 4D movie to learn the development of the grottoes and then we will be escorted by the professional guides from Mogao to enjoy the the 8 caves mainly.

Afterwards, say farewell to Dunhuang and we will take high-speed train to Turpan.

Our first stop is Tuyoq Valley, an ancient oasis-village. We will have lunch in the local Uighur family before exploring this traditional village surrounded by the impressive grape trellis and the stories of the adventurers all of the world. Following is the visiting to Sugong Minaret, a conduit for cultural exchange between different ethnic and religious groups.

About 3pm, head up to the Karez Well irrigation system that produce the best melons and grapes in China. Following is the visiting to Sugong Minaret, a conduit for cultural exchange between different ethnic and religious groups.

Today's tour end up with the 2hrs's exploration of Jiaohe Ruins, resembles Pompei, but 300 years older. a Chinese archaeological site found in the Yarnaz Valley, 10 km west of the city of Turpan and a natural fortress located atop a steep cliff on a leaf-shaped plateau between two deep river valleys where you can experience the way of life of the Uygur ancestors

Today we will take an exploration to the Turpan Museum, there are more than 5 thousands of cultural relics are stores in the museum, which is the second largest museum in Xinjiang. On its basic display "Turpan Historical Relics Exhibition" are numerous valuable cultural relics of various periods found in Turpan, which show people the course of history and civilization of Turpan.
Following a lunch in local restaurant, you will take the soft sleeper train to Kuqa

Today there is an option to visit Kizil Grottoes, which is a typical representative of Qiuci Grottoes. And then visit the Tianshan Great Canyon, which is the excellent geological park all over the world. It recorded the whole process of crustal movement in Xinjiang during the past 400 million years.

Ending the visit to Tianshan Great Canyon, we will head to Aksu with about 3 hours driving

We are going to Makit County along the Taklamakan Desert this morning, pay a visit to popular among farmers and artists for their bold and bright colors---Dolan Farmer Painting. The creative medium is quite diverse and you will be dazzled by the paintings created by local farmers, who have received no professional training and been enriched by the local traditional culture.

Leaving Makit this morning and transfer to our next stop Kashgar, the first city on our Silk Road trip, it is also the westernmost city in China. Upon arrival, you will stroll around the Old Town, to explore the local lifestyle and unique architecture, most of the folk houses here all have a hundred years of history. further exploration to the special culture and experience the lifestyle with the arrangements of the visiting to the local Uighur Family.

Today you will enjoy a full day excursion of Kashgar. Pay a visit to Id Kah Mosque, the largest Mosque in China and the most sacred mosque for the locals to practise their Islamic activities at 09:00. Our next stop is the largest Sunday Bazaar that is combined two section. The covered bazaar sells the clothing, nuts, household goods and many thingsout of your imagination.The outdoor Animal Bazar is the first bazaar we visit, where the farmers and buyers arriving by donkey cart, truck, bicycle, horseback, motorbike or on foot, with their animals. It's loud, lively and cheerful as they arrive. It is quite interesting to witness their typical methods of bargin. 

Continue to visit Handicraft street, gathered hundreds of handicraft workshops, which has become a boutique exhibition for handicraft in Kashgar and Central Asia.

Today we will adventure to Taxkorgan, a town in the far west of Xinjiang Province in China, bordering Pakistani, Tajik, and Afghani.This region is commonly known as the main road of the "old Silk Road" the main route leading from China to West Asia.

On the way, you can experience beautiful Karakul Lake where the herds of livestock around the lakeside are reflected in lake Kirghiz herdsmen usually settle down and graze their herds before shuttling you onward to Kashgar.

Stay one night and explore its peculiar folk customs of Tajik nationality. Taste snack and milk tea provided by local herdsman and spend your rest of day at leisure.

Driving back to Kashgar. On the way, you will visit the Stone Fortress. The city is oval in shape and the city walls were built with sun-dried bricks on stone foundation. It is 1285 meters in circumference outside. Walking around the pastureland to see Local Tajiks customs. 

Today our journey comes to an end after a good breakfast. based on your schedule, you will be transferred to the airport for your onward flight. Bon voyage!