12 Days Beijing – Xian – Dunhuahng – Turpan – Urumuqi – Beijing/Shanghai

Day 1: Arrive in Beijing

Arrive in Beijing, be met and transferred to your hotel by private transfer.

 

Day 2: Beijing (B, L)

Visit Tian An Men Square, the largest square in the world; Forbidden City, the imperial palace of Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty from 1420 to 1911; Temple of Heaven, where emperors made sacrifices to ensure a good harvest.

 

Day 3: Beijing (B, L)

Visit Great Wall, a 1500-miles-long fortification across North China constructed over 2000 years ago; Ming Tombs, the cemetery for emperors of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644); on the way, have a stop for taking pictures of the 2008 Beijing Olympic sites (Bird’s Nest & Water Cube) from the outside.

 

Day 4: Beijing – Xian (B, L)

Visit Summer Palace, the summer retreat for emperors and their family; have a close touch to Beijing local life by Hutong tour by rickshaw. Be transferred to the airport for your evening flight to Xian. 

 

Day 5: Xian (B, L)

Visit Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses, which were buried over 2000 years ago with the purpose of guarding the mausoleum of Qinshihuang (the first emperor in Chinese history) and is widely known as one of the Eight Wonders of the World today; Ancient City Wall, the largest-scaled and best-preserved ancient city wall in China.

 

Day 6: Xian – Dunhuang (B)

Be transferred to the airport for your evening flight to Dunhuang.

Dunhuang visits Whispering Sand Dunes and Crescent Lake, a crescent-shaped water that has been existing as a scenic spot for over 2000 years according to record.

 

Day 7: Dunhuang –Turpan  (B)

Visit Mogao Grottoes, one of the Four Great Grottoes of China, as well as a treasure house of Buddhism with the largest scale and richest content in the world; 

Be transferred to the railway station for afternoon high-speed train to Turpan.

 

Day 8: Turpan  (B, L)

Visit Karez Well, a special water system used to intercept underground water for water for life and irrigation; Jiaohe Ruins, a bustling town constructed during the 4th-5th century and hailed as a giant sculpture due to its buildings being dug from immature oil.

 

Day 9: Turpan (B, L)

Visit Suleiman Minaret (or called Sugong Tower), an Islamic tower completed in 1778 and is now the biggest ancient pagoda in Xinjiang. Astana Tombs, a public cemetery for both the riches and the poors during the middle of the 3rd century and the end of the 8th century; Flaming Mountains, which are made up of red sand, conglomerate and mudstone and thought to be the hottest place in China with a surface temperature as high as 83.3 Celsius degree (181.94 Fahrenheit degree), hence the name; ride a donkey to Gaochang Ruins, a kingdom founded in the middle of the 5th century known as a crucial transportation junction of the Western Regions and became a county of Tang Dynasty in the middle of the 7th century.

 

Day 10: Turpan – Urumuqi (B, L)

Drive through the desert to Urumuqi, visit International Grand Bazaar, a large-scale market featuring its Islamic structure and representing the prosperity of the ancient Silk Road. 

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Day 11: Urumuqi (B, L)

Full-day trip to Heavenly Lake, a moraine lake formed over 2 million years ago accompanied by four vertical landscape belts, which create a natural garden with green trees and snow-covered mountains. 

 

Day 12: Urumuqi – Beijing/Shanghai (B)

Be transferred to the airport for your flight to Beijing or Shanghai. Service ends.