| Silk
Road From Beijing To Kashgar |
| Tour
Irinerary |
|
| DAY
.1 |
Arrive
at Beijing |
|
|
Arrive
at Beijing.
You will be received by our guide at the Beijing international
airport, this person will assit with your baggage and
tranfer you to the hotel.
If time allows there will be short city sightseeing tour
of Beijing. |
| 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.กก |
| 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 Grand
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,
an 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 Turpan. |
| 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 Gaochang and its necropolis, Astana,
and wander the city bazaar in the evening. |
| DAY
.9 |
Turpan/Urumqi |
| |
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 .
In the evening we will take an eveningflight to Kashgar. |
| DAY
.10 |
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 Muslim 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 the famous Eidgah
Mosque and the tomb of Abbak
Hoja. Our tour also includes visit to the most unique
old town with typical Uyghur styled homes. We visit the
various shopping alleys full of noodle shops, bakeries,
teashops, blacksmiths and carpenters. Time has stood still
- try a local taxi, which is a donkey cart. |
| DAY
.11 |
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
.12 |
Urumqi/Beijing |
| |
Fly
back to Beijing. Rest of the day free at leisure. |
| DAY
.13 |
Departure
from Beijing. |
| |
Transfer
to Airport for homebound flight to departure from Beijing. |
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