Silk
Road from Beijing to Kashgar |
DETAILED
ITINERARY |
| Day
1. Arrive at Beijing |
| Our
guide will meet you at the airport and arrange transportation
to your hotel. |
| Day
2. Beijing |
| We
explore the Forbidden City of Beijing today as well as the
capital's massive Tiananmen Square. Later this afternoon,
we'll hear tales of Empress Dowager Cixi as we stroll through
her Summer Palace, China's best-preserved royal garden. Tonight
Peking Duck is on the menu, followed by a show of daring and
agile acrobatics.¡¡ |
| Day
3. Beijing |
| Walking
the Great Wall of China is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,
and this morning we head to the small town of Huanghua to
begin this incredible adventure. After a picnic lunch on the
Wall we return to Beijing via the equally impressive Ming
Tombs, and cruise canals in boats lit with traditional red
lanterns. We'll disembark in time to enjoy dinner with a local
family. |
| Day
4. Beijing/Xi'an |
| We
fly today to Xi'an, a former Chinese capital and important
stop on the Silk Road as early as the third century BC. Our
afternoon tour visits the Old City Wall and Shaanxi Provincial
Museum, whose Forest of Steles boasts over 1000 carved stone
tablets. Later, we'll take a gander at the Little Wild Goose
Pagoda, a place of magic healing. |
| Day
5. Xi'an |
| The
Terra Cotta Soldiers of Xi'an are one of the most important
archaeological finds in the world, and we devote an entire
day to exploring the site and surrounding area. After lunch
with a noodle maker, we'll take a cable car ride over Huaqing
Hot Springs Park and visit Banpo, a 6000-year-old Neolithic
(and possibly matriarchal) village. |
| Day
6. Xian /Dunhuang |
| After
breakfast fly to Dunhuang,on Arrival you will bel met in the
airport of Dunhuang - The City of the Sands, a former terminal
of the ancient Silk Road perched on the edge of the Taklamakan
Desert. Dunhuang is home to some of the finest Buddhist art.
Artifacts discovered at Dunhuang span from the Northern and
Western Wei to Northern Zhou and Tang dynasties, and include
what is believed to be the oldest printed script in the world,
dating back to 868 AD. After lunch, we head out to the Mogao
Caves, which consist of 492 grottoes honeycombing a giant
cliff face, each of them housing murals, Buddhist paintings
and statues. |
| Day
7. Dunhuang/Turpan |
| This
morning we will continue to explore the Mogao grottoes. In
the afternoon we will visit Crescent Moon Lake, where the
oasis meets the desert. The spring-fed lake is set amidst
towering sand dunes from where you can take in a spectacular
view of the green oasis surrounded by an endless desert landscape.
In the evening we will board an overnight soft-sleeper train
for Dunhuang. |
| Day
8. Turpan |
| Lying
154 meters (505 ft) below sea level, the Turpan Basin not
only sits in the second largest depression in the world, but
it is one of the hottest places China. Despite its desert
location, Turpan boasts fertile land producing cotton and
grapes, thanks to the karez, an ancient irrigation system.
In Turpan, we will visit the Bezelik Caves, a set of Buddhist
cave temples that was an important Buddhist center in the
6th to 13th centuries which today house rare examples of Buddhist
mural art. We will also tour the ancient city of Gaocheng
and its necropolis, Astana, and wander the city bazaar before
heading to Urumqi in the evening. |
| Day
10. Turpan/Kashgar |
Today
we will drive to Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region. Urumqi is a growing metropolis inhabited mainly by
Han Chinese and serves as a transport hub for those crossing
to Tibet, Pakistan and Central Asia. Here you can visit the
lively market at Erdaoqiao, where anything from Uygur handicrafts,
silk carpets to fruits and kebabs are sold. We will also visit
the Old Town area, where we will see how Uygurs live in today's
modern capital (the New Town is the Han Chinese area of town).
Time permitting we will tour the university and have the chance
to pay a visit to a local family's home. We will have dinner
in the lively Russian area of town, which has been built up
by the many Russians who do business in Urumqi.
We will take an eveningflight to Kashgar. |
| Day
11. Kashgar |
| Situated
at the foot of the impressive Pamir mountains, Kashgar was
once the key trading post bridging the East and the West.
Largely inhabited by the Uygurs, this ancient city is dotted
with Muslin architecture and still retains the exotic feel
of the Silk Road era. We will visit Kashgar's lively markets,
which attract thousands of people from the far corners of
the region. They come here to sell, bargain, and trade everything
ranging from camels to raisins. Our sightseeing tour will
also include the Id Kha Mosque and the tomb of Abjak Hoja. |
| Day
12. Kashgar/Urumqi |
| Today
we will have a free day, allowing you to explore Kashgar's
old quarter, home to a fascinating mix of ethnicities - Uygurs,
Tajiks, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks - or visit one of Kashgar's many
other sights. In the evening we will take a flight back to
Urumqi. |
| Day
13. Urumqi/Beijing |
| Fly
back to Beijing. Rest of the day free at leisure. |
| Day
14. Departure from Beijing. |
| Return
Flight to the U.S. from Beijing |
TOUR
COST |
| |
TOUR
COST INCLUDES |
- Hotel
Accomodation
- Breakfast
and Dinners
- Local
Guide
- Trainfares
and Domestic Airfares
- Entrance
Fees
- All
Land Transfers
- Insurance
|
TOUR
COST EXCLUDES |
- All
Personal Expences such as telephone calls, Laundry, Softdringks
- Tips
- Internatinal
Airfares.
- Items
not mentioned above.
|
Back
to Top
|
