16 Days Adventurous Silk Road with Splendid Tibet Odyssey

The prelude of your exciting China tour starts when you meet our professional local guide at Beijing Airport after reclaiming your luggage and clearing the customs. The guide will accompany you in a comfortable vehicle to the hotel and help you with the check-in procedure. The rest of the day is left for you to have a good rest or to become familiar with our capital city by yourself. 

Today your tour officially starts. First you will meet your group members at the hotel lobby and have a short meeting with the guide. Then head to the first stop today, the impressive Tian'anmen Square, which is the biggest urban city square in the world. Nowadays, many constructions of great historical importance have been built on and around it.  From there you will enter the "Imperial Palace" known as the Forbidden City to explore its many fascinating halls and pavilions.

Here, you will not only get to know how the emperor handled political affairs and lived their lives, but also appreciate numerous ancient art treasures. In the afternoon, you will go to the Temple of Heaven, the place where the emperors worshipped the heaven for good harvests. As the dwelling of the God of Heaven, it covers an area even larger than the dwelling of the emperor, Forbidden City. To round off a memorable start to your travel, we will arrange a lively and dramatic Chinese Kung Fu Show at the Red Theater.

This morning you will be taken to Badaling where you will experience at first hand the wonder of the Great Wall. Standing on the wall and looking at it stretching up and down into boundless distance is an exciting experience and will leave you a life-long memory. To celebrate and commemorate this moment, we specially provide red wine for a group-toasting on the Great Wall. Later the journey will take you to the Sacred Way and the Ming Tomb in the peaceful shadow of Longevity Mountain. The Sacred Way is a road in the front of the body part of the imperial necropolises, which means the road leading to the heaven.

Among all the existing Sacred Ways, the one of the Ming Tomb is the best preserved and complete. Although it has a history of more than 600 years, the Ming Tomb has been perfectly preserved. The encircled mountains, meandering river and grand mausoleum architecture have formed a majestic and large-scaled mausoleum group of integrate structure. To conclude the full day visit you will have a glance at the Bird‘s Nest (Olympic National Stadium) en route to downtown. 

Your first stop today is the Summer Palace - the existing largest imperial garden with graceful landscape and magnificent constructions. The site is divided into three areas: the area for political activities centering about Hall of Benevolence and Longevity; the residential area of royal family whose main architecture are Hall of Jade Ripples and Hall of Joyful Longevity; the sightseeing area mainly consisting of Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill.

Then, have a Hutong tour to experience the original Beijing culture by taking a special rickshaw riding through the various Hutongs and to know about Old Beijing's manners and customs.  Later afternoon you will board a flight to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Our guide will be waiting for you outside the Arrival Hall of the airport and escort you to the hotel in downtown.

You will board a morning flight to Kashgar - the pearl on the ancient Silk Road, described as “fruitful soil, cotton aplenty, and inhabitants who live by trade” by Marco Polo. Upon your arrival, our local guide will escort you to the local hotel in Kashgar. After a short rest, you will visit the famous Sunday Market, namely Sunday Bazaar, a famous local market which is considered the largest international trade market in northwest China. Traders at home and abroad come to purchase or sell all kinds of goods. The bazaar opens everyday in Kashgar, but the one on Sunday is the liveliest, as the whole community gets together.

Today's tour starts from the Id Kah Mosque, a 500-year-old important mosque for the locals. There you will see the typical Islamic architecture like domes, minarets and arches, as well as pious prayers. Just a few minutes' walk, you will come to the Old Street of Kashgar. The maze of narrow alleys and traditional houses built with earth or bricks may give you the illusion of walking into the ancient Kashgar.

The last stop in Kashgar will be the Abakh Khoja Tomb, which is an ancient Islamic building complex and a cemetery where five generations of a famous Islamic master were buried. You will see the largest dome architecture of Xinjiang in the east of the cemetery. Then you will board a return flight to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Our guide will be waiting for you outside the Arrival Hall of the airport and escort you to the hotel in downtown. Evening and dinner are free to explore the city on your own.

Drive to Turpan in the morning, upon arrival you will visit Jiaohe Ruins, which is one of the most important towns along the ancient Silk Road. It is also the largest, oldest and best-preserved earth construction in the world. Although 2,000 years have passed, the former glory of Jiaohe can still be found from the ruins.

Then you will visit the famous Karez Well, the gigantic underground irrigation system created by ancient Xinjiang people. Over 1,100 Karez Wells in Turpan have provided precious water source to this dry and hot area during the past 400 years. The next stop will be the existing largest ancient pagoda in Xinjiang, Sugong Pagoda. The pagoda is a 44-meter-high (144 feet) Islamic pagoda, which bears a history of over 200 years. 

Today you will visit another famous ruin in Turpan, Gaochang Ruins, which used to be the capital of ancient Gaochang Kingdom. From the outline of the ruins, you can still find the trace of many former buildings, like temples, markets and palace. Then you will go to the Bizaklik Thousand Buddha Cave, a cluster of caves with thousands of Buddhism murals.

The vivid murals show many Buddhism figures, stories, and the social life about 1,000 years ago in Ancient Gaochang Kingdom. The last stop will be the hottest place in China, the Flaming Hill, which is located at the north of ancient Silk Road. Nothing grows on the hill and the highest temperature of summer could reach 47.8 C (118 F). Seen from afar, the Flaming Hill resembles a red fire dragon flying upward. Afterwards, you will board an overnight soft sleeper train to Dunhuang.

Breakfast is on your own. Upon your arrival, our guide will meet you at Liuyuan railway station and escort you to the hotel in Dunhuang. It will take about two hours' drive from Liuyuan Station to Dunhuang. After a short rest in the hotel, visit the famous Mogao Caves, which is one of the four most famous caves in China. Known as the “Oriental Louvre”, the Mogao Caves not only boasts a large number of vivid Buddhism murals, statues and architecture, but also is renowned as the treasure house of Buddhism culture. Then continue your trip to Dunhuang Museum, where you will get a better understanding of the Silk Road from the exhibited historical relics.

Today you will visit one of the most famous attractions along the Silk Road, the Echoing-Sand Mountain. It is so named because when you slide down the slope, you can hear the roaring echo of sands. You will experience a short camel ride along the mountain to reach the Crescent Lake. It is really a natural wonder that the crescent-shaped spring surrounded by the endless Gobi desert has not dried up over the past one thousand years and still gushes with fresh current. Then you will board a flight to Xian. Our guide will meet you and escort you to the hotel in downtown.

The visit to the majestic Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum will start your day's trip. In the museum, there are altogether three excavated pits exhibiting amazing warrior figures and Chinese ancient weapons. No wonder a great site to learn about Chinese ancient military affairs. At noon, a special homely cooked a la carte lunch will be served to you at a local people's home.

It is a good chance for you to experience close contact with the local people and will be one of the most memorable parts of your trip.  In the afternoon, visit one of the landmarks of Xian, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Originally built to collect Buddhist scriptures, now the pagoda has been a symbol of this ancient capital city. Later, our guide will take you to the Provincial History Museum, China's most comprehensive museum exhibiting ancient China in all aspects. 

Pay a visit to the City Wall in the morning. Originally built as military defensive systems in the Ming Dynasty, at present, a garden has been built along the wall. Standing on it, you may see the local people doing morning exercises, singing, playing games. Or you could cycle on the ancient wall which is a special experience that many people like to try. In the afternoon, continue to visit the Great Mosque, a place where the local Muslims attend worship ceremony. You may have a glimpse of Xian Muslims' life here. This evening, you will enjoy a marvelous Tang Dynasty Dinner Show at the Tang Dynasty Palace. The show will take you back to 1400 years ago - the dreamy and glorious Tang Dynasty.

Take morning flight to Lhasa, and your Tibet journey starts with a warm Tibetan style greeting from your local tour guide who will present you with Hada (traditional Tibetan scarves). Then be escorted to your hotel in Lhasa city at the comfort of your own private vehicle. For most of the way, you follow the Kyichu River, you could see Tibetan homes with their trapezoid shaped windows and fluttering prayer flags, and Tibetans walking beside the roads wearing their distinctive national costumes.

Do have a comfort stop near Nietang Buddha where a giant statue of Buddha has been carved out of a stone cliff-face centuries ago. One of the first buildings you could see as you enter the city is the Potala Palace, sitting majestically on a hill dominating Lhasa. Stay at the hotel after arrival for adapting to the high attitude. It is helpful to take things easy for the first few days, and try to drink some water just and now.

After breakfast, we go to the Potala Palace, a golden feather upon the roof of the world, which Tibetans proudly claim to be the prime miracle since the creation of this world. It is visible from any distance, with the golden roof shinning in the sun, spend one hour wondering around the inside of this magnificent building exploring the rooms previously used by the Dalai Lama and the many Buddhist icons within.

In the afternoon we go inside of the Jokhang. The Jokhang, like most of the larger temple structures have numerous individual temples within it dedicated to specific enlightened beings, protectors, high lamas, or saints. Images, both sculpted and painted, are everywhere. Every inch of wall and ceiling is brightly painted with images of clouds, beings, mandalas, or decorative patterns. Colorful silk banners, three stories high, hang in various places. Color, pattern, and images crowd in around you. The central image inside the building is a 30-foot high gilded image of Maitreya Buddha. Then stroll around the back alleys of the Barkhor area of Old Lhasa. The streets smelled of yak butter and incense while hordes of pilgrims shuffled along the main Kora (circumambulations) around Jokhang Temple. If someone just walked at a normal pace, one kora would take about 15-20 minutes.

In the morning have a tour for Drepung, the ever largest monastery with more than 10 thousand monks, Buddhist debates often occur there. Seen from afar, its grand, white construction gives the monastery the appearance of a heap of rice. As such, it was given its name which, in the Tibetan language, means Monastery of Collecting-Rice. Learn about the lives of Tibetan monks there.

The afternoon is spent touring Sera Monastery, have a little hike for the beautiful valley scenery nearby and picnic there, in the afternoon, visit Sera monastery, which was created in 1419 and has always been an important Buddhist seminary. As rose are planted everywhere in the monastery, it is also called “the court of wild rose”. Today still 200 lamas live in there. Catch the famous debate session of the monks before returning back to Lhasa.

Free time at your disposal this morning, explore the bustling markets of the Barkhor to buy some souvenirs for your families and friends. After lunch, our guide will pick you up from the hotel and send you to the airport so that you can board the flight out after this pleasant tour. Alternatively, should you wish to stay on rather than return home right away, you could contact us and choose our other City Packages as an extension to your memorable adventure!