China Ancient Silk Road Adventure 17-Day Tour

Day By Day Itinerary

Arrival in Xian, met and transferred to your hotel in Xian. Free for rest of the day.

Meals: No

Full day tour includes the excursion to Terra-cotta Army, the 6,000 life-size terra-cotta warriors and horses unearthed from the tomb of the first emperor of the Oin Dynasty were acclaimed as the "eighth wonder" of the world. Then move on to Big Goose Pagoda. After that visit Xian City Wall - a symbol of great significance of the famous historic cultural city of Xian. Go on visiting the Great Mosque.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch

Morning tour of Xian covers Shaanxi Provincial Historical Museum, a large modern museum of the national level. After lunch, take flight from Xian to Lanzhou, met and transferred to your hotel in Lanzhou. Later visit visit, Yellow River Bank Park.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

Morning excursion to Liujia Gorge. Take the fast speed boat across the Gorge Resevoir, the first reservoir built on Yellow River. There you visit the Bingling Temple, an old temple with buddha grottoes. After lunch, drive from Bingling temple to Xiahe which takes about five hours. Xiahe is well noted for its old Laprung Temple. Xiahe is densely populated by Tibetan people. ( B L D )

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

Morning tour of the Laprung Temple. Labrang Monastery is one of the six great monasteries of the Geluk (Yellow Hat) school of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery was founded in 1709 by the first Jamyang Zhaypa, Ngawang Tsondru. It is Tibetan Buddhism's most important monastery town outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

After lunch, drive back to Lanzhou which takes about hours. Stay at your hotel in Lanzhou

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

After breakfast take 4 hours' drive Lanzhou to Wuwei. Afternoon tour in Wuwei includes:

1. Han Tomb of Leitai - Han Tomb Of Leitai is located in the old Leitai Park of Wuwei. The tomb consists of 19.34 m long passage, 3 coffin chambers and 3 side chambers. There were 231 gold, silver, bronze, iron, jade. The renewed Bronze Flying Horse of Ganxu was excavated and it has become the logo of national tourism of China.
2. Confucius Temple - Confucious Temple was built in 1439, in the Ming Dynasty. It is located in the southeast of Wuwei city. It's a large-scale magnificent complex of grand architecture. The temple was once an institute for studying, the largest and best preserved one in Gansu.
3. Haizang Temple - Haizang Temple is the largest complex of ancient buildings in Wuwei. It is now open to te public as a park. The well preserved gateways, archways, pavilions and temples built in Ming and Qing Dynasties are surrounded by river, lake and age-old trees, an impressive spot in Wuwei.

Stay at the hotel in Wewei.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

After breakfast, take three and half hours' drive from Wuwei to Zhangye. The afternoon tour includes:

1. The Giant Buddha Temple - The mysterious Giant Buddha Temple which houses the largest well-preserved reclining Buddha in China, the largest architectural heritage from the Western Xia Dynasty (1038-1227). The gold-plated and painted Giant Buddha lies in the Nirvana position in the middle of the hall. The whole Buddha is 34.5 meters long and 7.5 meters wide between its two shoulders.
2. The Bell Tower and the Drum Tower - The bell and drum tower in Zhangye is the biggest drum tower in the Hexi Corridor of the silk road district. it was built during the Ming Dynasty.

Stay at the hotel in Zhangye.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

After breakfast, take three hours' drive from Zhangye to Jiayuguan area . After lunch, visit Jiayuguan:

1.Jiayuguan Pass - It is the first pass at the west end of the Great Wall of China,6 kilometers southwest of the city of Jiayuguan. Along with Juyongguan and Shanhaiguan, it is one of the main three passes along the Great Wall. The pass is trapezoid-shaped with a perimeter of 733 meters and an area of more than 33,500 square meters.
2.Wei-jin Mural Tombs - Located about 15 kilometers northeast of Jiayuguan, Wei-Jin Mural Tomb is a big tomb group with over 1,400 tombs built between the 3rd Century and 5th Century during the Wei and Jin dynasties. It is the largest subterranean art gallery in the world, containing a large number of colorful murals, attracting tourists from both home and abroad.
3.Suspension Great Wall - 11 kilometers to the downtown Jiayuguan City, the Suspension Great Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644). It gets its name because there is a 231 meter long section, with an obliquity of 45 degrees, built onto a 150m high ridge. From a distance, it looks like a dragon about to extend its body towards the ground.

Stay at the hotel in Jiayuguan.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

After breakfast, take three hours' drive from Jiayuguan to An Xi. Stay at An Xi Hotel. After lunch, visit Yu Lin Grottoes famous like Dunhuang Mogao grottoes, made almostin the same time as Mogao in 4th century.

Stay at the hotel in Anxi.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

After breafast, take two hours' drive from An Xi to Dunhuang. After lunch, visit the following attractions in Dunhuang:

1.Echoing-Sand Dune - Located 6 kilometers south of Dunhuang city, Singing Sand Hill which is also known as the sand dunes of Mingsha, offers fantastic desert scenery. The dune, surrounded by rolling ridges and precipitous cliffs, reaches a relative height of 250 meters.
2.Crescent Lake - Or called Yueyaquan in Chinese, is a crescent-shaped lake in the oasis, 5 km southwest of the city Dunhuang. It was named Yueyaquan since Qing Dynasty. The lake and the surrounding deserts are very popular with tourists, who are offered camel and 4x4 rides.
3.Mogao Grottoes - Mogao Grottoes oe he Mogao Caves are a group of 492 temples 25 km southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road. The caves house some of the finest examples of Buddhist art with a span of 1,000 years.

Stay at the hotel in Dunhuang.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

After breafast, visit Yangguan Pass and Yumen Pass, both famous ancient passess.

1.Yumen Pass - Yumenguan Pass, together with Yangguan Pass, was one of the two important passes on the western frontier of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220) lands. It is located 75 northwest to Dunhuang City. In ancient times, it was the crucial gateway from central China to the western regions.
2.Yangguan Pass - Located 70 southwest to Dunhuang City along the Hexi Corridor, Yangguan Pass was one of the two important western passes (the other one is Yumenguan Pass) in Han Dynasty (206BC -220AD). The Emperor Wu ordered the pass built in the purpose of defending the west frontier as well as developing the remote western region.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

Half day tour still in Dunhuang covers Dunhuang City Museum and city tour. After lunch, transferred to the Liu Yuan Train Station for the overnight train from Dunhuang to Turpan by soft sleeper.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

Early morning arrival in Turpan, met and transferred to your hotel in Turpan. After lunch, the city tour in Turpan:

1.Jiaohe Ruins - The Jiaohe Ruins is the place of ancient Chinese ruins found in the Yarnaz Valley, 10 km west of the city of Turpan. The city of Jiaohe was the capital of the Anterior Jushi Kingdom, concurrent with the Han Dynasty, Jin Dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasties in China. It was finally abandoned after its destruction during an invasion by the Mongols led by Genghis Khan in the 13th century.
2.Karez Well - It is a loacal Turfan water system, called karez well in Turfan. It is a qanat system that has been regarded as one of the three greatest water projects of ancient China together with the Du Jiang Yan Irrigation System, and the Grand Canal.
3.Flaming Mountains - The Flaming Mountains are barren, eroded, red sandstone hills in the east of the city of Turfan. The mountain climate is harsh and the temperature is extremely hot in the summer, the hottest site in China.
4.Grape Valley - Situated in the Flaming Mountain 13 km east of Turpan, the Grape Valley is 8km long from north to south and 0.5km wide. This green paradise of 400 hektares is covered with layer upon layer of grapes.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

Full day tour in Turpan:

1.Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves - Situated at the foot of Flaming Mountains lying 13km east of Turpan city, they are a group of Buddhist cave grottos dating from the 5th to the 9th centuries. There are 77 rock-cut caves at the site. Most have rectangular spaces with rounded arch ceilings often divided into four sections, each with a mural of Buddha.
2.Sugong Pagoda - The Sugong Pagoda lies in the southeast suburb, six kilometers away from Turpan City. The cylindrical Sugong Pagoda is 37 meters high and 10 meters in diameter from the bottom. The pagoda was built in 1181 by the ruler of the Turpan Prefecture, to honor his father.
3.Astana Grave - The Astana Graves are a group of underground tombs about 40 km to the southeast of Turpan. The tombs were the burial sites by the inhabitants of the ancient city of Gaochang, both officials and commoners.
4.Gaochang Ruins - The ruins are situated 30 km southeast of present Turpan. Gaochang was built in the 1st century BC. It was an important site along the Silk Road. It was abandoned in wars in the 14th century. The Old palace ruins of the ancient city can still be seen today.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner

After breakfast, take three hours' from Turpan to Urumchi. After lunch, drive from Urumqi to Heavenly Lake that a lake boasts both splendid natural scenery and legendary talessituated on Tianshan Mountain. There you will take boat cruising on the lake. Transferred back to the city of Urumqi. Staying at your hotel.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch

Full day Excursion to Nanshan mountain which takes about one and half hour. Visit the pastureland, the yurt family and have the pasture activity there. Transferred back to Urumchi.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch

Transferred to the airport for the flight to your destination.

Meals: Hotel breakfast

Price inclusion: 1.All transfers and city transportation for your own use 2.Entrance fees and meals as mentioned 3.Private car or van with English speaking guide 4.Hotels with breakfast both at Xian, Xiahe, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiayuguan, Anxi, Dunhuang, Turpan and Urumqi 5.Dunhuang-Turpan train-ticket 6.The above private escorted tour is customized for you, your family or your friends exclusively. No other travelers will join in your group.

Price exclusion: Tips to your tour guide and driver

Reservation Notes

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