7 Days China Silk Road Adventure Tour (Urumqi,Turpan,Dunhuang,Jiayuguan)

Summary

D1 Urumqi Arrival: Take train or flight to Urumqi, Xinjiang Regional Museum, International Grand Bazaar
D2 Urumqi to Turpan by bullet train: take train to Tuprn, Karez Well, Emin Minaret, Ruins of Jiaohe Old city
D3 Turpan: Grape Valley, Flaming Mountains, Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
D4 Turpan to Dunhuang by bullet train: Take train from Turpan to Liuyuan Station, visit the Echoing Sand Mountains & Crescent Lake
D5 Dunhuang: Mogao Grottoes, Yadan National Geopark
D6 Dunhuang to Jiayuguan by private vehicle: drive to Jiayuguan city, visit the Jiayuguan Pass & The First Beacon Tower of the Great Wall
D7 Jiayuguan Departure: Wei-jin Art Gallery, transfer to Jiayuguan train station or Jiayuguan airport

Day 1 Arrive in Urumqi

Make your own arrival arrangement to Urumqi. Pick up service can be arranged at Urumqi airport or Urumqi train station by our local guide, you will find a welcome board " China Silk Road Tour" once you arrive. Drive you to Urumqi downtown to check in your hotel.

After a short break, you will visit the Xinjiang Regional Museum. It is a comprehensive historical museum in China. Xinjiang Regional Museum was originally established in 1953, but was rebuilt and greatly enlarged at its current location in 1962. The current museum, which is built in a semi-modern style that compounds traditional architecture borrowed from the region's ethnic minorities, especially the ethnic Uyghurs. It is a very solid structure with a dome that stands 30 meters high and which offers one of the best views of the city of Urumqi.

Next, you will visit the International Grand Bazaar. It is a huge market where local people and tourists would go for shopping. In the grand bazaar you could easily find good quality of local specialty. Your tour guide will give you a introduction about local productions such as nuts, dried fruit, silk and carpets. You could also have some authentic local food and snack in the food street.

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

Day 2 Urumqi to Turpan by train

After breakfast, transfer to Urumqi train station to take bullet train to Turpan city. Once you arrive in Turpan train station, our guide will meet you at the exit of train station with the same sign "China Silk Road Tour".

Firstly, our guide will show you the famous Karez Well, it is one of the UNSECO World Heritage Sites in China. Karez well system is the underground transmission and water harvesting system in the Turpan Depression of Xinjiang. For over 2000 years, it has provided the water supplies to the communities of Xinjiang Uygur region. Karez well system works as an impressive hydraulic engineering project. The commuters here consider it as the “Mother River” and “spring of life” because of its safe and reliable water process. This project was initiated by ancient people and it benefits both later generations and contemporaries.

After lunch, you will visit the Emin Minaret, it is the tallest minaret in China, it was built in 1777 during the Qing Dynasty. In order to commemorate the general Emin Khoja and patriot who defended unifying China throughout his life,hence its name "Emin." It is the largest ancient tower in Xinjiang as well as the only Islamic old tower among China's one hundred famous towers.

The last stop for today is the Ruins of Jiaohe Old City. It is considered one of the oldest, largest and best preserved earthen cities of its time in China. It was built 2,300 years ago and its ruins are located along the Silk Road. As wood was rarely used in those times, all its buildings were constructed out of earth. People dug houses and rooms downward from the earth and built with dried bricks.The Ruins of Jiaohe Ancient City is very unique and rare.

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

Day 3 Turpan

After breakfast, our guide will take you to visit the Grape Valley, it is one of most popular places in Turpan. As Turpan known as the "Land of Fruits", especially grapes. Turpan grape valley has become a unique tourist spot where visitors come to get refreshed and enjoy the different varieties of grapes.

Then, drive you to visit the Flaming Mounatin, it is combination of red sand and rocks that makes the mountain looks like a red dragon sleeping on the area basin. If you look the mountain from a distance, under the sunlight, the heat wave and the floating clouds will make you have the illusion that the mountain is on fire as tongues of fire. Every summer when the sun shines, the mountain could reach 80°C in temperature. There is a huge thermometer at the centre of the Flaming Mountain Museum will show you how hot it is.

In the afternoon, drive you to visit the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves. It is a complex of Buddhist cave grottos along the silk road. The history can be dated from the 5th to 14th century between the cities of Turpan and Shanshan. It's very close to the Flaming Mountains,and most of the surviving caves date from the West Uyghur kingdom around the 10th to 13th centuries.

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

Day 4 Turpan to Dunhuang by train

After breakfast, transfer to Turpan train station to take train to Dunhuang, about 4 hours. You will arrive at Liuyuan train station, our local guide will meet you at the exit of Liuyuan station holding the same sign "China Silk Road Tour".

Once you arrive at Liuyuan train station, drive another 1.5 hour to 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.

Then, 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.

After the tour, check in your hotel in Dunhuang.

Day 5 Dunhuang

After breakfast, you will visit the Mogao Grottoes, known also as the Mogao Caves are a network of Buddhist cave temples in China. It is one of the 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.

In the afternoon, our guide will take you to visit the Yadan Geopark, also known as Yadan Devil City. 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, you will be taken back to your hotel in Dunhuang.

Day 6 Dunhuang to Jiayuguan

After breakfast, continue your journey to Jiayuguan city. It takes around 4 hours from Dunhuang. Once you arrive, you will visit the Jiayuguan Pass. It is one of the most famous tourist attractions here. 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.

Next, you will visit The First Beacon Tower of the Great Wall. This fire tower is the first one of the Great Wall, hence the name. It is also called Taolaihe Dun and Tou Dun in Chinese. It was built in Ming Dynasty, all 14 meters in length, width and height. After hundreds of years, it still stands there firmly, although not so completely. There are 39 fire towers inside and outside of Jiayuguan Pass, big or small. All the towers undertake the important task of military at ancient time.

After the tour, check in your hotel in Jiayuguan.

Day 7 Jiayuguan Departure

After breakfast, you will visit the Wei-jin Art Gallery. Renowned as the largest subterranean art gallery in the world and housing many colorful murals, the gallery has attracted tourists from both home and abroad since 1972 when it was originally excavated. Most tombs are of past families, housing bodies of three or four generations, and currently Grave 6 and Grave 7 are open for tourism with more to be developed responsibly.

After lunch, transfer to Jiayuguan train station or Jiayuguan airport for your next place.

Price Per Person in US Dollars

Price Includes 1. All transfer and city transportation 2. Air-conditioned car or van 3. Hotels specified in the itinerary, all based     on two persons sharingone standard room; 4. Meals specified in the itinerary: Western     breakfast in hotels Chinese lunch and     dinner in local restaurants 5. Sightseeing: All arrangements mentioned     in the itinerary will be covered All first     admission/entrance fees in the itinerary 6. Tour guide: Conducted by a professional     English & Chinese speaking tour guide

Price Excludes 1. International air-tickets 2. Airport departure tax. 3. International or domestic air tickets which     are not listed in the itinerary. 4. Insurance coverage of personal loss, illness     or damages incurred during your trip 5. Tips to the tour guide and driver 6. Meals not specified in the itinerary. 7. Personal expenses: phone bills, laundry,     optional tours, postage, excess baggage     charge, entertainment fees out of the     itinerary. 8. Single Room Supplement.