Classical Silk Road

Upon landing at the airport in Beijing, you will find your private guide waiting for you outside the Arrival Hall. Your guide and driver will then transfer you to the hotel and help you check in. The rest of the day remains free for you. You can get advice about things to do from your guide or relax at the hotel.

After a buffet breakfast in the hotel, you will leave for Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. Explore the largest central city square in the world, around which you can see many historical sites such as the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People and the Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao. Afterwards, you will be accompanied to take a short walk to the Forbidden City, an unparalleled masterpiece of Chinese classic architecture. It was the residence of 24 emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Your professional guide will give you full explanations about its history and culture.

Around noon, an a la carte lunch will be arranged for you at a good local restaurant. After lunch, you will proceed to the Temple of Heaven, which is an ancient royal temple where the emperors used to pray for blessings for people. Then, the guide will take you to visit the Hutongs by rickshaw, where you will experience the Beijing's traditional residential area and the people's lives. Finally, we will transfer you back to your hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte lunch

Today's private sightseeing starts with a world wonder, the Great Wall. Mutianyu is one of the best-preserved sections of the Great Wall and is noted for its majestic vigor and stunning scenery. You will go up the wall by a cable car or a chairlift and take a relaxing walk towards the top. Enough time will be left for you to admire the majestic wall and its surrounding mountain scenery. After the visit, you will take a cable car or a toboggan down from the wall.

On the way back to downtown, we will pass by the Bird Nest National Stadium and make a photo stop for you. After we arrive at a local market, we will set aside some time for you to stroll around and explore for some interesting gifts for your families or friends.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

After breakfast, we will head to the Summer Palace, a well-preserved imperial garden, which used to be the summer resort for the royal families. It is a man-made stunner based on the shapes of the Kunming Lake and the Wanshou Mountain. Every gallery, corridor and pavilion is worth savoring. You will enjoy a leisurely time here before saying goodbye to Beijing.

Lunch is by your own arrangement. Then, we see you off to take an onward flight to Urumqi. Your local guide will pick you up at the airport and escort you to the hotel in Urumqi.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

After breakfast, take the morning flight to Kashgar, a city located in the eastern part of Xinjiang province. Your guide will be waiting for you at the airport, and then help you check in at a nice hotel. After a short rest, we will start exploring this city. The fascinating Sunday Market is an important destination. It is a large market for international traders. People from different areas and countries come to this place for business. It is open every day, but Sunday is the busiest. In the market, you can also buy some local crafts or dried fruits to take home.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

In the morning, you will pay a visit to the greatest mosque of Xinjiang Province, the Id Kah Mosque. Located at the city center, this grand mosque has a history tracing back over half a century. Then take a stroll for a few minutes, and you will reach the old street quarter. Touring the narrow alleys, you will see the local people's dwellings. Next, we will visit the Abakh Khoja Tomb, a typical Islamic tomb complex for a family of many generations.

In the afternoon, you will board a flight back to Urumqi. Your guide and driver will meet you in the airport and drive you to Turpan. After arrival, you will check in at the hotel and have a good rest.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

Today's private tour starts from the Jiaohe Ruins, one of the largest and oldest earth architecture in the world. It used to be a prosperous city along the ancient Silk Road, and now you can still see traces of the architecture through the ruins. Then we will visit the Islam Sugong Pagoda built in 1778 and the Bizaklik Thousand Buddha Cave. It is a 57-cave complex, inside which you can view many Buddhist statues and murals. Near the cave, we will drop by Flaming Mountain. The temperature at the mountain is pretty high. It can reach 47.8 ℃ (118°F) in the summer heat. You can see the changing temperature from the giant thermometer there. Viewed from a distance, the mountain seems on fire.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, you will visit the Karez Well. In this barren land, water is an important resource, but it can easily dry up. Taking advantage of the mountain slope, the ancient Xinjiang people created a huge underground irrigation system. There are thousands of water channels with a total length of 5,000km. You will be amazed by such a great project and be impressed by the wisdom of the ancient people. After sightseeing, you will take a high-speed train for about 3 hours to Dunhuang. Upon arrival, you will be met at the station and transferred to check in at the hotel in Dunhuang.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Today, your journey begins from the famous Mogao Caves, which are known as one of the four most renowned caves in China. Thousands of Buddhist murals and statues in the cave await your exploration. To protect those priceless murals, photography is forbidden inside the Caves. Then we will pay a visit to the Duhuang Museum, where you will learn more about the ancient Silk Road through the abundant relics.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

In the morning, you will visit the well-known Echoing-sand Mountain. When wind blows over the sand dunes, it rustles loudly. Walking in the sand will also make such a sound. Then you will take an interesting activity, a camel ride, which is a great way to experience the Silk Road culture. After that, you will come to the Crescent Lake. The lake is really a natural wonder, as it never dries up in the vast desert. There are two best angles from which to enjoy or photograph the Crescent Lake. One is from the top of the Echoing-sand Mountain and overlooking the lake; the other is the close-up view from the shore of the Lake.

Finally, you will board the flight to Xi'an, where your guide will meet you at the airport and escort you to your hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

Today you will visit the highlight of Xi'an, the Terracotta Army Museum. It is the largest underground military museum anywhere. Thousands of life-size pottery figures were buried with the emperor Qinshihuang. If you observe them carefully, you will find every figure has individual features.

Then we will go to the Shaanxi Provincial History Museum. The museum houses about 370,000 exhibits and most of them dated from the Han and Tang dynasties. You can follow a timeline to visit different exhibition halls for bronzes, murals, ancient weapons, pottery figures and bronze mirrors. Afterwards, continue your travel to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, the landmark of Xi'an. With a history of over 1,300 years, it used to be the pagoda where the Xuanzang Master translated the sutras.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Our first stop today is the City Wall Park, where you could see the local people doing morning exercises, running, dancing, playing table tennis or playing Tai Chi. Take a leisurely walk to enjoy a refresh morning time. Then we will ascend the ancient City Wall of the Ming Dynasty. It's a fantastic experience to cycle on the Wall. Finishing the sightseeing, we will arrange a local family visit for you. The hostess will treat you to an authentic a la carte lunch, and you will also get a chance to learn to cook Chinese dishes.

After the lunch break, we will see you off to board a flight to Shanghai. Your local guide and driver will pick you up in the airport and drive you to the hotel for a rest.

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

After breakfast, you will start a visit to the Shanghai Museum, located at the south side of the People's Square. The museum displays a large number of bronzeware, ceramics, jade, sculptures, currency and ancient furniture. Next, we will travel to the classic Yu Garden, which was a private palace owned by a celebrity in the Ming dynasty. With smart design, it is characterized by its delicacy and elegance, and that can be traced through every tile, brick and carving.

Afterwards, continue your tour with a one-hour cruise on the Huangpu River, which enables you to view the modern and futuristic building complex from a different perspective. Landing at the Bund area, where you can take a relaxing stroll, enjoy the soft breeze and refresh yourself. Finally, we will visit an old-fashioned street named Tianzifang before driving you back to the hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte lunch

Your private Silk Road tour comes to an end today. Your guide and driver will see you off at the airport according to your homebound flight schedule. If you prefer to experience the maglev train ride heading for Shanghai Pudong Airport, we can adjust the arrangement for you. If you plan to travel on to other cities, please feel free to contact your travel consultant. Thank you!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast