4 Days Silk Route Tour to Dunhuang & Jiayuguan

Summary

D1 Jiayuguan: Pick up from Jiayuguan Airport or train station, visit Jiayuguan Pass
D2 Jiayuguan-Dunhuang: Jiayuguan to Dunhuang by private vehicle, Yulin Grottoes, Transfer to Dunhuang city
D3 Dunhuang: Echoing Sand Mountains, Crescent Lake, Mogao Grottoes
D4 Dunhuang Departure: Yadan Geopark, transfer to Dunhuang train station or Airport

Day 1 Jiayuguan

Make your own arrangement to Jiayuguan. Pick up service can be arranged at Jiayuguan airport or Jiayuguan train station, you will find a welcome sign "Jiayuguan Private Tour". Transfer to your hotel in Jiayuguan for check in.

After a short break, our tour guide will take you to visit the Jiayuguan Pass. Known as the 'mouth of China' because of its position at the end of the Great Wall of China where it guarded the western boundary of Ming Dynasty China. It is not only the western end of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty, but also the vital passage of the famous Silk Road, which was first built in the 5th year (1372) of the Hongwu reign in the Ming Dynasty. It is so called because it is built at the foot of Jiayu Mountain. There is a museum for those who are interested in the history of Jiayuguan Pass and China Great Wall.

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Jiayuguan.

Day 2 Jiayuguan-Dunhuang

After breakfast, our guide will take you to visit the Yulin Grottoes. It is located in the Guazhou, which a important station along the ancient Silk Road. It also called Ten-Thousand Buddhas Cave, one of the treasure houses of Buddhist grottoes art in China. There are 42 caves with complete frescoes, comprising of huge scripture drawings, portraits of Buddha, rare animals and plants, harvests, weddings, banquets, chess, brewing, music and dancing. It is famous for once housing a precious ivory Buddha that was transferred to the Palace Museum at the Forbidden City in Beijing.

After the tour, transfer to your hotel in Dunhuang.

Day 3 Dunhuang

After breakfast, you will visit the famous Echoing Sand Mountains & Crescent Lake in Dunhuang. The city of Dunhuang is located at the borders of the Gobi desert and from here there are views of the Echoing Sand Mountain, a name that derives from the sweet sound that is made by the sand being caressed by the wind or rapidly sliding down from the dunes. The legend says that in this area in the foothills of the mountain there once lived a lively village surrounded by sacred temples. One year, during a celebration at one of the temples, the songs of the opera and the noise of the celebration was so deafening that it bothered the Yellow Dragon Prince that slept in a nearby desert.

And you will visit the Crescent Lake which is considered a natural wonder of the Gobi Desert, the lake is something of an enigma as it has existed for thousands of years and was considered a special place during the Han Dynasty (202BC to 220AD). Because the lake is dwarfed by the surrounding sand dunes, it’s a wonder it hasn’t filled up and been covered over many times, but due to a natural depression, the winds blow the sand across the nearby singing sand dunes and away from the spring.

In the afternoon, drive you to visit the Mogao Grottoes, known also as the Mogao Caves are a network of Buddhist cave temples in China. It is one of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China. This ancient city was once located in an oasis on a strategic point of the ancient Silk Road. Thus, Dunhuang was a center where not only trade, but also cultural, religious, and intellectual exchanges took place. The Mogao Grottoes serve as a testimony to the high level of sophistication that was achieved by Dunhuang during its heyday.

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Dunhuang.

Day 4 Dunhuang Departure

After breakfast, drive you to visit Yadan National Geopark. It is one of the interesting and unique natural landmarks in China. The name of the park appeared due to the landscape: The Yadan is a unique rock formation created by the action of wind. The word itself is of Turkic origin, meaning ‘steep bank'. This term was introduced to the scientific world by the Swedish scientist Sven Anders Hedin in 1903. The area of 398 sq km is covered by rectilinear furrows in the direction of the dominant wind with asymmetrical steep slopes. They are divided by sharp ridges consisting of clay and loam: they are formed by the wind that for around 700,000 years has been blowing away loose grounds and leaving here only hard formations.

After the tour, transfer to Dunhuang airport or Dunhuang train station.

Price Per Person in US Dollars