14 Days Silk Road Culture Exploration from Beijing to Urumqi

Temple of Heaven

Forbidden City

Today you will first visit the noted Temple of Heaven, which is a royal sacred site where prayers for good harvests, prosperity and harmonious life are offered. Then we will head to the historic Tiananmen Square which is the largest city square in the world and the spiritual heart of China, and then the magnificent Forbidden City which located in the center of Beijing and used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties with a history of around 600 years.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Great Wall

Ming Tombs

Today you will visit the majestic Great Wall (Badaling section) and the Chang Tomb of Ming Tombs. You will be taken on a group tour to the Great Wall, the most famous symbol of China and one of the world’s most remarkable architectural wonders. This section was first built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The Ming Tombs is also known as the “13 Tombs”, and it is a collection of mausoleums of the 13 out of 17 of the Ming Dynasty emperors.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Bird's Nest

Summer Palace

In the morning, you will first go to the 2008 Olympic Site to see the Bird's Nest National Stadium and Water Cube Aquatic Centre. The National Stadium, also known as Bird's Nest due to its nest-like appearance, is situated in the Olympic Green Village, in the northern Chaoyang District of Beijing. The Water Cube Aquatic Centre is in the west of Olympic Green and to the west of the Bird’s Nest. Then, you will visit the fine Summer Palace. Summer Palace was an imperial summer resort of the Qing Dynasty. It is the most splendid classical garden in China.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Ming City Wall

Temple of the City God

After breakfast, we will set off to the ancient town of Pingyao, which is one of the four wholly-protected ancient cities in China. As we enter the town, you will see the Ming City Wall, which symbolizes the history and treasure of ancient Chinese architecture. Then you will enjoy a stroll on the streets to the Temple of the City God, which is one of the best-preserved temples in China. Then you will also visit the Qiao Family Courtyard House, where the movie "Raise the Red Lantern" was filmed.

After that, you will take an overnight soft sleeper train from Pingyao to Xi'an.

Stay overnight on the train.

Grand Mosque

City Wall of Xi'an

Upon your arrival in Xi’an, you will be transferred to the reserved hotel and have a good rest. In the afternoon, you will be able to enjoy the Ancient City Wall of Xi'an by bicycle tour. The wall around the inner part of the city was built in the 14th century and is 14km long. It is an amazing example of ancient defensive structures. Then you will head to the Grand Mosque, a Chinese traditional Alhambresque architecture, with a great combination of Islamic and Chinese culture.

Stay overnight in Xi'an.

Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

The next morning will see you visiting the Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, a must-see when in Xi'an. Around 8,000 ancient, life-sized figures were created to accompany the first Emperor of China to the afterlife, and were part of his mausoleum. Each figure has a unique facial structure and expression, as if they had been made from living people. The warriors were buried with the Emperor in 208BC and were not discovered until 1974.

After the warriors, you will head to another of the most visited sites in Xi'an, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Built in 652, the pagoda is a repository of Buddhist figures and scriptures brought to Xi'an from India by, Xuanzang, the first abbot of Daci'en Temple.

Stay overnight in Xi’an.

Jiayuguan Pass

The Camels outside of Jiayuguan Pass

Today, we will transfer to Jiayuguan city from Xi’an by flight. After your arrival, we will first head to the noted Jiayuguan Pass, the first big pass on the western end of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty. It is also the traffic fortress of the ancient Silk Road. Built in the Ming Dynasty, Jiayuguan Pass is the most spectacular one along the Great Wall.

Then we will continue to visit the Great Wall on the Cliff. It is a section of suspended wall belonging to the Great Wall. The wall was built on the ridge with a gradient of 45 degrees. It looks as if it will fall from the top of the hill. So people refer to this section of the Great Wass as the “Suspended Wall”. After that, we will visit the Great Wall Museum. The Great Wall Museum was completed at the end of 1988 and is the first museum in China to fully and systematically display the Great Wall Culture.

Stay overnight in Jiayuguan.

Yulin Grottoes

Wall painting of Yulin Grottoes

Today, we will leave Jiayuguan for our next stop - Dunhuang. While on the way, we will visit the famous Yulin Grottoes. Yulin Grottoes is located about 100km east of Dunhuang City, next to the Yulin River (also known as the Taishi River). The Yulin Cave, also known as the Ten Thousand Buddha Caves, was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and all of them were cut on the upright cliffs on the banks of the Yulin River Canyon.

Stay overnight in Dunhuang.

Mogao Grottoes

The Crescent Lake of Dunhuang

Today, we will first visit the world-famous Mogao Grottoes, Echoing-Sand Mountain and Crescent Lake. The Mogao Grottoes is commonly known as the Thousand-Buddha Grottoes, and is praised as the most valuable cultural discovery of the 20th century. It was built in the pre-Qin Period of the Sixteen Kingdom. Now it has formed a large scale, including 735 caves, 45,000 square meters of frescoes, and 2415 clay figurines, being the largest and most abundant Buddhist art sacred sites in the world.

After Mogao Grottoes, we will head to the site of Echoing-Sand Mountain and Crescent Lake. The Echoing-Sand Mountain is about 5 km to the south of Dunhuang and is famous for the constant sound of the moving sand. It is said that many years ago a horrific battle was fought here, and the sounds we hear today were the haunting cries of soldiers buried under the sand. Surrounded by Echoing-Sand Mountain, the Crescent Lake is about 150m long and 50m wide. It is named by the reason that the water surface resembles a crescent moon. The lake is full of color and vitality, being the most famous place in Mingsha scenic area.

After that, you will be transferred to the railway station to take the train to Turpan.

Stay overnight on the train.

Jiaohe Ruins

The Hottest Flaming Mountain

In the morning, after the check-in in your reserved hotel, we will first go to visit the Jiaohe Ancient City Ruins. The ancient city of Jiaohe is located in the western suburbs of Turpan city, on a leaf-shaped plateau between two deep river valleys. The architecture was built earlier than the Qin and Han dynasties but was unfortunately destroyed by the continuous war of the Yuan Dynasty in the first half of the 14th century. Now it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Silk Road Sites.

Then we will visit Bezeklik Grottoes or Thousand Buddha Caves. It is a complex of Buddhist cave grottos dating from the 5th to 14th century at the north-east of the Taklamakan Desert. After that, we will head to Tuyoq Valley, a 12-km long primitive Uighur agricultural valley. There are vineyards and fields in the northern and southern valleys, with a narrow ravine connecting them. The valley is famous for its seedless grapes and numerous ancient Buddhist meditation caves nearby.

In the end, we will visit the famous Flaming Mountain. Meaning Red Mountain”in Uygur language, it is once called “volcano” because of its hot weather. Since it is famously described in the classic Chinese mythological novel “Journey to the West”, the Flame Mountain becomes a household name in China. When in midsummer, the sky is red, the atmosphere evaporates, and the whole landscape of the mountain is quite spectacular.

Stay overnight in Turpan.

Karez Irrigation System

Sugong Pagoda

After breakfast, we will first visit the Karez Irrigation System and Sugong Minaret. The Karez Irrigation System is a unique irrigation system in Turpan, dating back to the ancient times. It takes advantage of the slopes and draws the underground water to flow by itself to irrigate the farmland. The Sugong Minaret was built in the Qing Dynasty and located 2km to the east of the city of Turpan. The surface of the tower is composed of 15 kinds of geometric patterns such as triangular lines, four-petal patterns, water ripples, and rhombuses, which are endlessly varied and have a strong Islamic architectural style.

Then, we will head to Astana Tombs, the public graveyards of ancient Gaochang urban and rural officials. Formed around the 3rd to 8th century AD, the ancient tombs were buried by divisions of family names, with natural gravel as the boundary and distinct regions. The bodies in the tombs were naturally air-dried and did not rot. What is shocking is that these corpses are so complete that even some eyelashes are clearly visible.

After we return to Urumqi by bus, we will also visit the International Bazaar in Urumqi. The Bazaar is the largest one in Urumqi and is quite popular among tourists. Here you can find kinds of goods, like fruits, clothing, knives, carpets etc.

Stay overnight in Urumqi.

In the morning, we will first go to visit the Xinjiang Museum before the end of the tour. The museum is an integrated museum full of collections and cultural relics. Covering an area of about 7,800 square meters, the museum features Uighur ethnic internal decor style.

Then, you will be transferred to the airport for the flight home or your next destination.