Last updated:
Tour Code: L-606
- 27 Days Luxury of Beijing - Xian - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Korla - Kuqa - Aksu - Kashgar - Tashkurgan - Khunjerab Pass - Hunza - Gilgit - Chilas - Swat - Peshawar - Knyber - Islamabad - Lahore
- Luxury | Standard| Budget
More Silk Road Tours
Font Size: - 
Tour FeaturesA comparatively complete Silkroad itinerary, starting from the Capital of China to Lahor via a lot of posthouses then and now.
Day by Day Itinerary
Departure: Daily
Day 01: Arrival in Beijing
Murals of the Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang
Our guide will pick you up at Beijing airport and transfer to the hotel. The rest of the day is on your own to explore the city.
Accommodation: Crowne Plaza 
Day 02: Beijing
Visit the Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. The Beijing Duck Dinner is served at a famous restaurant followed by a lively Peking Opera performance at the Liyuan Theatre. (B+L+D)
Accommodation: Crowne Plaza
Day 03: Beijing
Visit the Badaling Great Wall. To avoid having lunch at shopping site restaurants, you will be driven to have Sichuan food at a local popular restaurant. Visit the Sacred Way and the Ming Tomb in the afternoon. The a la carte dinner is served at a famous Cantonese cuisine restaurant in the Wangfujing area. (B+L+D)
Accommodation: Crowne Plaza
Day 04: Beijing - Xian
Visit the Summer Palace and the Lama Temple. Take a flight to Xian and transfer to the hotel. A sumptuous buffet dinner will be served for you at the hotel this evening. (B+L+D)
Accommodation: Hyatt Regency Hotel - downtown
Day 05: Xian
Visit the Terracotta Warriors Museum. To avoid having the poor food at the site, you will take highway back to downtown to have lunch at a well-known Cantonese cuisine restaurant. In the afternoon, visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the City Wall. This evening you will be entertained with the marvelous Tang Dynasty Dinner Show in Tang Dynasty Palace. (Add: No.75, Chang'an Road, Xian) (B+L+D)
Accommodation: Hyatt Regency Hotel - downtown
Day 06: Xian
Visit the Provincial History Museum. After enjoying the a la carte lunch at a local famous restaurant, visit the Great Mosque and a local family. (B+L)
Accommodation: Hyatt Regency Hotel - downtown
Day 07: Xian - Dunhuang
Fruit venders in the bazaar, Kashgar
Visit the Hanyangling Museum, the Mausoleum of Western Han Emperor Liu Qi on the way to the airport. After lunch, take a flight to Dunhuang and transfer to the hotel. (B+L)
Accommodation: Building No. 8 of Dunhuang Hotel
Day 08: Dunhuang - Turpan
You will experience a short camel-riding along the Echoing-Sand Dune to reach the Crescent Lake and visit the Mogao Grottoes. Take an overnight soft sleeper train to Turpan. (B+L+D)
Accommodation: an overnight soft sleeper train
Day 09: Turpan
Arrive in Turpan in the morning and transfer to the hotel. After having breakfast at the hotel, visit the Jiaohe Ruins, the Karez Well and the Sugong Pagoda. (B+L)
Accommodation: Oasis Hotel
Day 10: Turpan - Urumqi
Visit the Bizaklik Thousand Buddha Caves, the Gaochang Ruins and the Flaming Hill. Drive to Urumqi and transfer to the hotel. (B+L)
Accommodation: Sheraton Urumqi Hotel
Day 11: Urumqi
Visit the Southern Pastures (West White Poplar Gully) and the Shaanxi Mosque. (B+L)
Accommodation: Sheraton Urumqi Hotel
Day 12: Urumqi - Korla
Kizil Thousand-Buddha Caves, Kuqa
Drive to Korla and transfer to the hotel. Visit the Tiemen Pass. (B+L)
Accommodation: Loulan Hotel
Day 13: Korla - Kuqa
Drive to Kuqa and transfer to the hotel. Visit the Subashi Ruins. (B+L)
Accommodation: Kuqa Hotel
Day 14: Kuqa - Aksu
Visit the Kizil Thousand-Buddha Caves. Drive to Aksu and transfer to the hotel. (B+L)
Accommodation: Hongfu Jinlan Hotel
Day 15: Aksu - Kashgar
Drive to Kashgar and transfer to the locla best hotel. (B+L)
Accommodation: the local best hotel
Day 16: Kashgar
Visit the Id Kah Mosque, the Abakh Khoja Tomb the famous bazaar. (B+L)
Accommodation: the local best hotel
Day 17: Kashgar - Karakuri Lake - Tashkurgan
Drive to the Karakuri Lake and have a visit there and visit the ruins of Stone City. Drive to Tashkurgan and transfer to the hotel. (B+L)
Accommodation: Tashkorgan Hotel
Day 18: Tashkurgan - Khunjerab Pass - Pakistan
Ruins of the Stone City, Kashgar
Drive to the Khunjerab Pass and our Pakistan guide will pick you up at Sost (Pakistan border). Drive to Gulmit upper valley of Hunza and transfer to the hotel. Visit the views of the Karakorums, the Borit Lake and the village walk if time permits. (B+L)
Accommodation: Marcopolo Hotel
Day 19: Hunza
Drive to Hunza (Center) and transfer to the hotel. Later proceed to Hopper Glacier. After ciasta, visit Altit, Baltit Forts and the Bazaar. (B+L)
Accommodation: Hunza Darbar Hotel
Day 20: Gilgit - Chilas
Drive to Chilas and transfer to the hotel. (B+L)
Accommodation: Shangri-La Hotel
Day 21: Swat
Early drive to Swat via the Shangla pass 2350 m, enjoy the superb view of Himalayan and monkial ranges. Transfer to the hotel. (B+L)
Accommodation: Serena Hotel
Day 22: Peshawar
Visit Butkara Stupa, the Swat Museum and also have a walk in Mingora bazaar and shop some of the best shawls and handicrafts of the region. Transfer to Peshawar via Malakand Pass. Visit Takht-Bhai Bhuddhist Monastery and then transfer to the hotel. (B+L)
Accommodation: Pearl Continental Hotel
Day 23: Khyber
Local people having their special meals
In the morning visit historical Khyber pass tribal areas and Pak/ Afghan border. Afternoon have a sightseeing tour of old bazaar of Peshawar. (B+L)
Accommodation: Pearl Continental Hotel
Day 24: Islamabad
Drive to Islamabad and transfer to the hotel. On the way, stop at Kund park, which is the junction of two famous rivers: Kabul River and Indus River. From Attock Bridge you can get the best view of Attock fort built by the Mughals. (B+L)
Accommodation: Pearl Continental Hotel
Day 25: Islamabad - Lahore
Sightseeing tours of twin city Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Drive to Lahore and transfer to the hotel. (B+L)
Accommodation: Pearl Continental Hotel
Day 26: Lahore
Full day excursion in Lahore including Badshahi mosque Lahore for and monuments of Mughal shrines. (B+L)
Accommodation: Pearl Continental Hotel
Day 27: Departur from Lahore
See off. (B)
More Silk Road ToursB-- BreakfastL-- LunchD-- Dinner
Differences
can be only made by comparison. Our Making a Difference
page for all private tours will let you know extra benefits we offer over and above those on tours available from other operators.
We welcome suggestions and comparison as to ways in which we can further improve our tours. Thank you for considering Travel China
Guide and we warmly invite you to join us for a truly unforgettable experience!
Currency Converter
The above private guided tour is tailored for you, your family or your friends exclusively. No other participants will be in your group. In other words, others will not join in your tour and you will not take part into any tours of others on our land services.
Copyright© 1998-2008 TravelChinaGuide.com, All rights reserved. Users of this site agree to be bound by the
We flew to Shanghai and continued from the airport bus station to Hangzhou (with the first bus at 9.30). Hangzhou is a nice city although a little overrated, the air pollution here was the worst in China(I believe). The bicycle route described in LP is undoable without mountain bikes. With regular bikes we only managed to get to the Tea museum but were then forced to turn around because the hill was to steep. From Hangzhou we continued to Shanghai and spent a few days there (we also visited Tongli and Suzhou, we found Tongli a little bit nicer) before flying to Kunming. In Kunming we went on a day trip to Shilin(Stone Forest), which was very nice, and continued the same day on a sleeper bus to Lijiang. At Kunming bus station on the sleeper bus we were approached by a man who called himself the boss (he spoke English) and wanted us to change beds we reserved with two beds in the back of the bus. We started asking questions how that is possible, when he got very mad. He then let us to the front of the bus, when he started demanding documents, student cards and of course money for our luggage (he wanted 60 Yuan per five kilo of our backpacks!). We realized that this guy isn't for real and we opposed him on everything. There was some yelling involved, he even mentioned he (!) would call the police, and then finally left the bus swearing. The bottom line is, he didn't get any money from us and future travelers on this bus shouldn't give him any either!
We liked Lijiang very much, we wanted to go to the highest point on the Jade Snow Mountain, but did not get on the right chairlift (the chairlift to Spruce meadow only takes you about 3200 m high). We think that the first lift probably goes higher, because it is also the most expensive. The Spruce meadow was fine too; we got to see some (not too much spoiled) nature, while 4600 m high there was only snow and rocks (which we see plenty in our Alps – just not at such altitudes). After a few days in Lijiang we returned to Kunming (again with the sleeper bus, this time with no problems) and the next day took the 18h train to Guilin. Guilin was one of the most unpleasant cities we saw in China, touts were everywhere, admission fees were to high, but we did enjoy very much the trip to Longji terraces. For this trip we joined a small tour with an English speaking guide, the tour was organized through the hostel. On the way there we also saw the Yao minority show (for 50 Yuan) which was very nice. From Guilin we took a bus to Yangshuo, the best trip here was the hike from Yangdi to Xinping. It is around 18 km, with the best part from Yangdi to the south. It was especially nice because we were there quite early (around 9 am). From Yangshuo we continued with a sleeper bus to Shenzhen. First we wanted to buy tickets from a tourist agency; they are all selling tickets for a Volvo bus (around 200 to 250 Yuan) or an older bus (from 100 to 150 Yuan). We then decided to go to the bus station and bought the tickets there (222 Yuan) which proved to be a very good decision because this was the nicest sleeper bus we've ever seen (although waiting for the bus at the Yangshuo bus station is anything but pleasant). The bus was new and had an English speaking attendant, who made sure everyone got their shoes off right at the entrance, she told us when the next stop is and how long it will be, and we also got a free bottle of water. From Shenzhen we crossed the border to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong we stayed at the Chungking Mansion. The room was cheap (180 Yuan), but at the end of our stay we both agreed that maybe we should spend some more money on the room in Hong Kong because the building itself was absolutely disgusting (taking the elevator was an experience I would rather forget). Here in Hong Kong our 25-day long trip came to an end and we flew back home.
Altogether, we really enjoyed traveling through China; we found traveling easy and generally did not have trouble getting around and communicating (in English and with hands). We would love to return someday to see other parts of China as well.