S-XA08: 7 Days Silk Road Tour to Xian, Lanzhou & Xiahe

Our guide will hold a welcome sign to meet you outside the baggage claim area at Xian Airport and then transfer you to register in the hotel. You will start your private tour with a visit to Xian City Wall. Standing on it, you could see a harmonious scene of the inner ancient city and outer modern developing city co-existing.

Meals: No meals, advice freely available
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Xian Big Goose Pagoda

Highlight morning excursion will transfer you to the amazing Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum, which is a military underground museum. Here, you could appreciate the terra cotta generals, warriors with saddled horses and kneeling archers forming an impregnable fortress to protect Emperor Qin Shi Huang. In addition, you could also have a direct impression of the excavation work on the site. Afterwards, you will be guided to the well-preserved Great Mosque, which was built in combination architectural styles of traditional Chinese and Islam. Your next stop is the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a square pyramid built 1300 years ago to house the Buddhist materials taken from India. It has been one of the ancient landmarks of Xian City.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

This morning, you will explore Shaanxi History Museum, a complex construction in traditional Chinese style. This is a comprehensive museum with more than 370,000 historical collections of different times and kinds to display the long history and advanced civilization of ancient China. Then you will have a local family visit and enjoy an a la carte home cooked lunch (valued at CNY120.00 per person and included in our price) there. Moreover, if you are interested in cooking Chinese food, you can choose one or two dishes you preferred from Chinese food cooking class and our hostess will be glad to teach you. After that, you will take a high speed train to Lanzhou. Our Lanzhou guide will be waiting for you at Lanzhou Railway Station and transfer you to the hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Home-cooked a la carte lunch
Accommodation: Legend Hotel

Today you will journey to Xiahe to explore Sangke Prairie, where Tibetan herders inhabit for generations. Sangke means land for riding horses in Tibetan, and the prairie is large in area and slight in slope. Encircled by mountains and cut through by a river in the middle, this grassland looks like a thick green carpet with a white pure Hada on. Then you will taste the mysterious and simple Tibetan flavor and learn the local folk custom by visiting a Tibetan family. When the trip ends, you will stay overnight at the hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Accommodation: Labrang Civil Aviation Hotel

Today, you will return to Lanzhou by car. On the way, there is a visit to the Labrang Monastery. It is a vital shrine of Geluk (Yellow Hat) School of Tibetan Buddhism with 300 years history and the most important Tibetan Buddhist center out of Tibet. The monastery is also an essential place for Buddhism activities and ceremonies, which reserves the best teaching system of Tibetan Buddhism. You will also have the chance to watch the morning pray in the monastery. Upon arrival in Lanzhou, check in the hotel again for a two-night stay.

Meals: Chinese breakfast
Accommodation: Legend Hotel

The day will be devoted to one of the three most famous Buddha caves in Gansu Province, Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves, which were engraved in the west cliff along the Yellow River. You will visit it by boat. Bingling is transliterated from a Tibetan word meaning 'ten thousand Buddhas', for the site boasts various kinds of Buddha statues. Since 420AD of the Western Jin Dynasty, the entire engraving project of the grottoes has lasted for more than 1,000 years. By now, the Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves preserves 196 caves, 694 stone statues, 82 clay sculptures and a large area of murals, which make it a site of great artistic value.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

You will have a short visit to the Waterwheel Garden, a theme garden to display the waterwheel culture and farming civilization of ancient China. The waterwheel is a common irrigation tool in Lanzhou area along the Yellow River, the history of which can be dated back to the Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644). Here, your private tour will come to the end. Our guide will transfer you to Lanzhou Airport for your departure flight. Wish you a pleasant trip!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast