9 Days Northwestern China Adventure Tour from Kashgar to Dunhuang (Kashgar, Urumqi, Turpan, Dunhuang)

Summary

D1 Kashgar Arrival: Take train or flight ro Kashgar, private transfer to hotel
D2 Kashgar: Id Kah Mosque, Kashgar Old City, Apak Hoja Tomb, Kashgar Sunday Market
D3 Kashgar to Urumqi by flight: Fly to Urumqi, Xinjiang Regional Museum, International Grand Bazaar
D4 Urumqi: Heavenly Lake
D5 Urumqi to Turpan by train: take train to Turpan, Karez Well, Emin Minaret, Ruins of Jiaohe Old City
D6 Turpan: Grape Valley, Flaming Mountain, Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
D7 Turpan to Dunhuang by train: take train to Liuyuan station, visit the Echoing Sand Mountains & Crescent Lake
D8 Dunhuang: Mogao Grottoes, Yadan National Geopark
D9 Dunhuang Departure: Dunhuang Museum, transfer to Dunhuang train station or Dunhuang airport

Day 1 Arrive in Kashgar

Make your own arrival arrangement to Kashgar. Greet your guide at Kashgar train station or Kashgar airport with a welcome signage "China Silk Road Tour" once you arrive. Drive you to Kashgar downtown to check in your hotel. The rest day is free on your own to explore the city.

Day 2 Kashgar

After breakfast, you will visit Id Kah Mosuqe, it is the largest and active mosuqe in China with an area of 16,800 squre meters.It is one of famous tourist sites in Kashgar. On each Friday, lots of prayers come here, many of whom are praying in the square outside the mosque. While during the holidays the Id Kah Mosque being a kind of pilgrimage for Chinese Muslims is visited by 100,000 believers. The Id Kah Mosque is striking not only for its beauty but also for its grandeur.

Next, walk into the Kashgar Old City to get a feeling of Kashgar local life. It consists of the fancy natural landscape, full-bodied folk habits and custom, brilliant historical streets and featured Uygur houses. You can walk through th narrow streets to experience the local lifestyle. To see and learn the local handcrafits from craftswomen. Crop-haired girls in bright frocks and mismatching plastic sandals giggle and shove as they see strangers; And you can enjoy the local sing and dance. It is a good pleasure to visit and share your time with locals.

In the afternoon, head to visit the Apak Hoja Tomb, it was buily 1640 by the Apak Hoja family. As the largest Islamic mausoleum in China, Apak Hoja Tomb covers an area of 20,000 square meters, composed of gate tower, great mosque, small mosque, scripture hall and main tomb chamber. The Tomb is the best example of Islamic architecture in xinjiang from the 17th century and it is a group of beautiful and magnificent buildings.

Continue your tour to visit the Kashgar Sunday Market which is the international trade market of central and Western Asia. It is located on the East Bank of the Tuman River in the northeast corner of Kashgar City. Bazaar here has a history of more than 2000 years and it is known as "the largest market in Asia". You can buy some souvenirs and local specialties in Xinjiang here. Here you can either shop or enjoy delicious food. Even if you don't want to do it, it's a beautiful thing to walk here and feel the strong western region customs.

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

Day 3 Kashgar to Urumqi by flight

After breakfast, transfer to Kashgar airport to take flight to Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang. Once you arrive, our guide will meet you at the exit of Kashgar airport with the same sign "China Silk Road Tour", transfer 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 4 Urumqi

After breakfast, drive you to visit the Heavenly Lake in Xinjiang. It takes around 2 hours from the downtown of Urumqi. The lake in the shape of crescent, with an altitude of 1,928 meters, Heavenly Lake is located at the base of Bogda Peak, the highest peak of the east side of Tianshan Mountain. Covering a total area of 380.69 square kilometers, the scenic spot includes the lake and surrounding mountains.

Once you arrive there, you will have around 40 minutes internal bus journey in this reserve park to reach the Heavenly Lake, you will be rewarded with picturesque view along the winding road. After the bus ride, our guide will lead you to visit the well-known Heavenly Lake. (Note: There is an option for you to either walk or catch the electric car to go Heavenly Lake, it will be your own expense). You will take a cruise to enjoy the charming view of Heavenly Lake. If you are lucky, there will be a short Kazakh’s dance performance during the cruise. If you want to hike up, the cruise made a stop for those who like to do some hiking up the temples and small pavilion. Heavenly Lake in Tianshan is where Kazakh nomads live, you can also rent a traditional Kazakh costume to shoot some picture with heavenly lake.

After the tour, drive you back to your hotel in Urumqi.

Day 5 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 6 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 7 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 with the same sign "China Sil 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 8 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 9 Dunhuang Departure

After breakfast, you will visit the Dunhuang Museum. The museum reflects the flourishing social development and cultural exchange between China and the West during the time when Dunhuang was a major center along the Silk Road. A trip to the Dunhuang Museum will provide visitors with a greater understanding of the history and culture of the Chinese people and their ancient civilization.

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