Tiananmen Square, Beijing

Day 01Arrival in Beijing

Our guide will meet you after you pass the baggage claim area at Beijing Airport and will transfer you to the well-located hotel. The rest of the day will be free time.

Tips: As the capital city of China, Beijing is a very safe place for traveling. However, the pick pockets are inevitable in any country all over the world. So take good care of your belongings like the wallet and camera when wandering around the city, especially on the street at night or at the big shopping mall with bustling crowds. You'd better keep your important documents like visa and passport in the hotel and take less money with you. Each room in the hotel is equipped with a safe box. It will be safe to keep your valuable properties there.

Day 02Beijing

Visit Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. A Beijing Duck dinner will be served at a famous restaurant followed by a lively Peking Opera performance at the Liyuan Theatre.(B+L+D)

Descriptions:
Tiananmen Square - Between the Tiananmen Square and the imperial palace, there are five Golden Water Bridges well sculptured of white marble. The midmost Imperial Bridge, which is 8.55 meters wide and engraved with dragon, was for the exclusive use of the ancient emperors. The two 5.78-meter-wide bridges on both sides were constructed for the royal family and so called the Royals' Bridges. The outmost two bridges were called the Ministerial Bridges, both of which are 4.55 meters in wide and were used by the civil military officials above the third rank.
 
Forbidden City - Entering the Forbidden City from the Meridian Gate (Wumen), you will see the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Dian). It is the grandest palace in this city, where emperors exercised their autocracy over the whole country. The hall is flanked by the Hall of Literary Glory (Wenhua Dian) and the Hall of Martial Velour (Wuying Dian). On the north of Wenhua Dian is Wenyuan Ge (Pavilion of Literary Source), the imperial library where the world's largest encyclopedia, Complete Library of the Four Treasures of Knowledge, was housed.

Southern Pasture, Urumqi

Day 03Beijing

Visit the Badaling Great Wall. To avoid having lunch at shopping site restaurants, you will be driven to a local popular restaurant for a Sichuan meal. Visit the Sacred Way and the Ming Tomb in the afternoon. On the way back to downtown, drive by the Bird's Nest (Olympic National Stadium). You will see its appearance at a distance. (B+L, D is included for luxury series.)

Differences: 
Luxury series: An a la carte dinner of Cantonese cuisine will be served for you at a nice restaurant at Wangfujing Street. Afterwards, some free time will be left for you to explore the prosperous Wangfujing pedestrian.
Standard series: We intend to leave the dinner today on your own. You can explore the city to find the food you like or ask your guide for some advice.
 
Descriptions:
Great Wall - The Great Wall stretches for 6,700 kilometers, spanning seven provinces and cities in north China. It was originally built sporadically by the coexisting states from the 7th century BC. Later, in 221 BC, the first emperor of China -Ying Zheng ordered to pull down the scattered walls and connected the old Yan, Zhao and Qin's walls in northern part to resist nomad. After that, he and his son forced hundred thousands of soldiers and peasants to repair and expand the wall during their reigns. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, the current Great Wall of China has already taken shape.

Day 04Beijing - Urumqi

Visit the Summer Palace. Take a flight to Urumqi and transfer to the hotel. (B+L)

Tips: Xinjiang is the largest region in China, and it often takes several hours to drive from one place to another. Your Silk Road adventure could be a bit tougher than the usual city travel in China, so please be well prepared. You will spend about 5 hours in a vehicle driving on the highway from Urumqi to Korla. But take it easy, and you will not feel bored at all during the journey. Xinjiang is surrounded by continuous mountains, some of which are covered by snow all year round. Along the way to Korla, you can enjoy the spectacular panoramic scenery and snowy mountainscapes outside the window, especially when passing by the great Tianshan Mountain. If you feel tired, you can also have a nap in the bus.

Fruit venders in the bazaar, Kashgar

Day 05Urumqi - Korla

Drive about 6 hours (500 kilometers) to Korla and transfer to the hotel. Visit the Tiemen Pass.(B+L)

Descriptions: 
Tiemen Pass - As one of 26 famous passes in China, Tiemen Pass was a natural barrier between South and North of Xinjiang. It was also an important strategic passage of Silk Road and got its name for it as solid and firm as an iron gate. On the both sides are the steep and bold cliffs while the torrential Kongque River (Peacock River) runs roughly downwards. Due to its advantaged position, it is hard to aggress and capture it. It exercised great military function in ancient time, and all the masters tried to conquer it. Nowadays, it may look like a bit desolated.

Day 06Korla - Kuqa

Drive about 3 hours (280 kilometers)  to Kuqa and transfer to the hotel. Visit the Subashi Ruins.(B+L)

Tips: Xinjiang is a region where multiple religions coexist; therefore, you should be aware in advance of some radical religious taboos. Since Kuqa was an important center of Buddhism along the Silk Road, it is quite common to meet monks on the way. Please remember to react in the following manner: Put your palms together and lower your head when meeting with monks. Any attempt to handshake, embrace or touch the head of the monk is regarded as extremely disrespectful. Or you can just walk by only with eye contact or without any greeting flatly. Please do not touch any religious artifacts, make no comment and keep silent during the religious ceremonies.

Our clients at the Karakuri Lake, Kashgar

Day 07Kuqa - Aksu

Visit the Kizil Thousand-Buddha Caves. Drive about 4 hours (298 kilometers) to Aksu and transfer to the hotel.(B+L)

Day 08Aksu - Kashgar

Drive about 6 hours (500 kilometers) to Kashgar and transfer to the local best hotel.(B+L)

Tips: After a short rest at the hotel, we suggest a distinctive site for your free exploration. The Kashgar old street centers around the Id Kad Mosque with radiating lines of lanes and streets. Each lane and street is a bazaar for special merchandise, such as shoe bazaar, hat bazaar, food bazaar, fabric bazaar, vegetable bazaar and so on. Of them, the most popular one is the street with various handcraft workshops. Along the street, you will see how the delicate items are made, including knives, musical instruments, ironware, carpet weaving, cloth making, pottery making and painting, ornaments and others. The street is not far from your hotel, and it is very convenient to get there by taxi. On the street, you can also find a variety of local foods which can serve as your dinner.

Day 09Kashgar - Karakuri Lake - Kashgar

Drive about 3.5 hours (200 kilometers) to Karakuri Lake and have a visit there. Drive back to Kashgar and transfer to the local best hotel.(B+L)

Descriptions: 
Karakuri Lake - The lake sits at an elevation of 3,600 meters above the sea level and is surrounded by a series of mountains. The Mount Muztagata, “the Father of Iceberg”, on the east side of the lake reflecting its white capped peaks on the blue lakefront, compose a splendid landscape painting. While the sun rising, the color of the lake changes from time to time, from light blue to golden yellow to light pink to different colors accordingly. It feels like a fairyland.

Tips: Karakuri Lake, 3,600 meters above the sea level, lies at the foot of mountain Muztagata. Due to the sharp elevation of altitude, you may feel sickness on the way. En route, you may come across some vendors selling fruits or Nang (Chinese bread) and we suggest you buy some to take with. To keep chewing something or eating some fruits can make you easy and feel better to some extent.

Karakuri Lake

Day 10Kashgar

Visit the famous Sunday Market, the Id Kah Mosque and the Abakh Khoja Tomb.(B+L)

Descriptions: 
Sunday Market - Kashgar Sunday Market, also called Bazaar, is actually open every day, but only the market on Sundays is on an unparalleled scale. The bazaar is a sea of people and a hubbub of voices for bargaining. There are many stalls where merchandises of every conceivable variety are sold at low prices. Kashgar is a historical famous city along the Silk Road and a distributing center of goods, so the articles of neighboring countries are easily seen in the bazaar, such as Pakistani craftwork, scarves of Turkey and telescope of Kyrgyzstan.

Day 11Kashgar - Hetian

Drive about 7 hours (520 kilometers) to Hetian. Visit the Yarkant King Mausoleum and the Yingisar Uigur Knife Making. Stay overnight at the local hotel.(B+L)

Tips: Hetain earns its fame in the world by virtue of its rich jade products and breeds of tasty fruits. People claim that you can find jade in every corner in Hetian, which reflects the great production of jade in Hetian. Generally, the jade is excavated from the Yurungkax River banks. Due to the area's distinctive climate temperature difference, the fruits in Hetian are much sweeter and more fragrant than those in other regions. The cantaloupes are one of the most famous fruits. Visit Hetian in the harvest season and you can see and learn more about their excellent fruits.

Day 12Hetian - Minfeng

Visit the Silk Village, see a hundred years' old walnut tree and learn about paper making. Drive about 3.5 hours (300 kilometers) to Minfeng. On the way to Minfeng, you can visit a local bazaar and see the unique minority people's costume in Yutian city. Stay at a local hotel for overnight. (B+L)   

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B-- Breakfast     L-- Lunch     D-- Dinner