Pearl Cities along Silk Road

Upon your arrival, our guide will welcome you outside the arrival hall of the airport and transfer you to downtown Xian to check in the hotel. If time is available, we will take you to the ancient City Wall. Standing on it, you may see a modern developing Xian blossoming outside the wall while an ancient city inside. 

Meals: No meals, advice freely available

Today begins with the visit to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. In the museum, you will appreciate a picture of the vivid and lifelike warriors and horses arranged in the battle formation, seems ready to set out anytime, just like how the Qin soldiers united China over 2,000 years ago. 

In the afternoon, explore the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and Shaanxi History Museum. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a seven-story-high brick building in square pyramid. Standing there for more than 1,300 years, it has been considered as the landmark and symbol of Xian. Shaanxi History Museum is the most comprehensive national museum displaying numerous historical and cultural relics. 

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

This morning, you will visit the Great Mosque, a large traditional palatial architecture. It is a crystallization of Muslim culture and Chinese culture, appearing in a combination style of traditional Chinese and Muslim. Afterwards, pay a visit to a local Chinese family to learn about how the common Chinese people lead their daily lives. After enjoying a home cooked a la carte lunch (valued at CNY120.00 per person and included in our price) in this family, you will take a 3 hours' high-speed train to Lanzhou, where our guide will greet you at the railway station and transfer you to the hotel.

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

Morning excursion will be devoted to the Yellow River Mother's statue, Waterwheel Garden and Zhongshan Bridge. Then the tour will continue to the Binglingsi Grottoes by boat. Due to the relatively good natural conditions and little man-made damage, the grottoes have been preserved comparatively complete. Now there are still 776 Buddha statues, over 1,076 square yards murals and 6 stones sculptures being kept here after a long history of 1,600 years.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

Today, you will first visit the Gansu Provincial Museum, the largest comprehensive museum in Gansu Province which houses about 350,000 pieces of ancient cultural relics, contemporary and modern cultural relics, ethnic cultural relics and fossil specimens. Then continue the private journey to Xiahe and check in the hotel upon arrival. After a short break in the hotel, you will travel to Sangke Grassland, typical plateau grassland. Covering a vast area of 27 square miles and being encircled by mountains, Sangke Prairie is a great place to appreciate the magnificent pastoral scenery while the river is slipping slowly northwards and sheep and cattle are freely wandering about on it. After that, you will have a visit to a local Tibetan family to experience the nomadic life.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

The travel destination today is the Labrang Monastery, one of the six most noted monasteries as well as the largest Buddhist Institute of Tibetan Buddhism. This monastery boasts tens of thousands of statues of Buddha made of various materials. You will also watch the morning devotion there. Then, you will travel back to Lanzhou and check in the hotel again.

Meals: Chinese breakfast, Lunch

Your visit in Lanzhou ends here and you will reach Dunhuang by flight. Upon your arrival, our guide will meet you at Dunhuang Airport and transfer you to the hotel. Then you will experience a short camel-ride along the Echoing-Sand Dune to reach the Crescent Lake. The Echoing-Sand Dune is named so because one can hear clarion and thunder from the inner of the dunes, intermittent, rising or falling. The Crescent Lake is a crescent-shaped lake encircled by sand dunes. Lying there for thousands of years and survived from countless sandstorms, the lake has been reputed as the 'No. 1 Lake on Desert'.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Today's private tour starts with a visit to the Mogao Grottoes, one of China's four most renowned grottoes. The grottoes here are scattered in a cliff of the Mingsha Mountain at five different levels. The frescoes in the grottoes are the gems of classical Chinese culture, reflecting the particular styles of different ages. After visiting the Dunhuang Museum, you will take a high speed train to Turpan. Our local guide will meet you and take you to the hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

Your trip today includes the Ancient City of Jiaohe, the Karez System and the Sugong Pagoda.The Ancient City of Jiaohe is the world's largest, oldest and best-preserved earth-constructed city and reputed as the 'Most Perfect Ruins in the World'.  The Karez (well in Uyghur language) System is the crystallization of ancient people's diligence and intelligence. By making full use of the local special landform as well as taking the weather conditions into consideration, local people created this distinctive canal to bring in water for irrigation and living. Sugong Pagoda appears to be a pale yellow brick pagoda in a shape of cylinder, which gradually decreases upwards.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

Today we will take you to explore the Ancient City of Gaochang, the Baizikeli Thousand Buddha Caves and the Flaming Mountain. Initially built in the first century BC and used for over 1,300 years, the outline of the city can still be seen clearly nowadays. The Baizikeli Thousand Buddha Caves has been seriously damaged in the religious conflicts. But you can still see a magnificent, delicate, colorful and large cultural and art treasure house on the site. The Flaming Mountain is reputed as the hottest place in China. All over the bold and rough hill, there is no sign of life and it is mainly covered by weathered sand. The luminous red sand stones look like the burning flame, hence the name Flaming Mountain. After the full day sightseeing, you will head to Urumqi by car and check in the hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

Bid farewell to Urumqi. Our guide will transfer you to the airport for your homebound flight. We wish you a pleasant journey! 

Meals: Western buffet breakfast