Day 1 Home City/Beijing
The journey of discovery begins after boarding a flight to Beijing, China.
Day 2 Beijing
Arrive in Beijing where your day is at leisure. The lovely city has undergone a face-lift to its historic monuments, adding stunning buildings, theaters and stadiums by world-renowned architects to its impressive skyline.
Day 3 Beijing
Spend a day in Beijing with a visit to the Beijing Capital Museum, which highlights ancient China’s achievements against other contemporary cultures around the world. Continue with a pedicab ride through one of the city’s hutongs (an old neighborhood of narrow, twisting lanes and courtyard buildings), followed by a visit to the rarely viewed Tibetan Temple (Yong He Gong), a UNESCO World Heritage Site and among the most beautiful temples in Beijing.
Day 4 Beijing/Dunhuang
Fly to the Dunhuang, the "City of the Sands" is home to some of the finest Buddhist art, in caves cut into cliffs just outside the city. China’s Silk Road outpost and a significant way station on the main trade route between China and Central Asia since the first century BC. After settling in, enjoy visits to the Dunhuang Museum, in front of which are amazing carved figures depicting traders leading their camels as they travel along the Silk Road, and the Central Market, where you can buy everything from spices to jewelry to local silks.Later, enjoy a sunset camel ride among the dunes at Mingshashan.
Dunhuang Hotel (B.L.D)
Day 5 Dunhuang
The focus of today’s activities are the Mogao Caves - which honeycomb the cliff-face of the Mingsha Hills, to view some of the thousand of murals and pigmented stucco figures, preserved for over 15 centuries, best described as the world’s largest repository of Buddhist art spanning more than 1,000 years of history. Explore select caves under the care of an expert guide.
Dunhuang Hotel (B.L.D)
Day 6 Dunhuang/Turfan
Your morning’s excursion takes you into the desert to visit the Han Dynasty section of the Great Wall and the Yumen Pass Garrison Ruins. Later today, fly to Urumqi and drive across the wide prairie that skirts the Tian Shan Mountains and descend down to Turfan. View the red sandstone hills of the Flaming Mountains on the northern edge of the Turpan Basin. Later visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ancient City Jiaohe, a once powerful city during the few hundred years preceding the Common Era. Jiaohe’s ruins reveal its original structure, including its protective city walls (over 5,000 feet long), temples and headless statues of the Buddha throughout. Afterward, explore the Karez Irrigation Complex and the busy Turfan Bazaar.
Tuha Petroleum Hotel (B.L.D)
Day 7 Turfan/Urumqi/Kashgar
Visit the ancient city of Gaochang, built in the second century BC, which features the Astana Tombs, only three of which are open to the public. Marvel at the beauty of the 18th-century Suleiman’s Minaret before your flight to Kashgar, China’s fabled city that sits on the edge of the Roof of the World, beneath the towering Pamirs, Karakorum and Hindu Kush Mountains.
Kashgar International Hotel (B.L.D)
Day 8 Kashgar
Sunday is market day in Kashgar and this is possibly the largest and most colorful market in Asia. Enjoy a full morning taking in the sights and sounds of this unforgettable experience. After lunch walk through a typical Uyghur neighborhood and visit a local family.
Kashgar International Hotel (B.L.D)
Day 9 Kashgar
This morning view the tomb of Abjak Hoja and the Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, dating back to the 15th century. In the afternoon, walk through Old Town, whose architectural stylings have remained unchanged for centuries.
Kashgar International Hotel (B.L.D)
Day 10 Kashgar/Urumqi
The morning, fly to Urumqi. Visit the Xinjiang Museum, a large center for the collection and study of cultural artifacts of Xinjiang. This afternoon, visit the Erdaoqiao Bazaar, a traditional covered market, and Redhill Park (locally called Hong Shan) for a panoramic view of the city.
Sheraton Hotel (B.L.D)
Day 11 Urumqi/Shanghai
Today, fly to Shanghai. Visit the Yu Garden, a 16th-century Ming period private garden/ residence in the heart of Shanghai’s old Chinese Quarter, a neighborhood of twisting lanes, home to wonderful boutiques. The phenomenal garden architecture, built in traditional Chinese style, includes many ponds, dragon-lined walls and bridges separating the unique garden areas and pavilions. Tonight, enjoy a farewell dinner.
Day 12 Shanghai/Home City
Board your homebound flight or travel on to another destination in the Orient. China Holidays can help you plan your own extension, "tailor-made" as you require. (B)
Silk Road retraces the steps of the merchants and explorers who journeyed across the span of a continent in search of the secrets of Old Cathy. Your journey begins in Beijing, a city that embodies the very essence of Imperial China in the palaces of the Ming and Qing courts, ride by pedicab though Beijing’s hutongs with an expert for a glimpse of traditional local life. Visit Mogao Caves, the world’s largest repository of Buddhist art and enjoy a sunset camel ride among the sand dunes at Ming Sha Mountain. Your next stop is Xinjiang, visiting the three Xinjiang cities of Turfan, Kashgar, Urümqi. This is Chinese Turkestan, the crossroads of Asia… This is a trip you will never forget.
