8-Day Private Silk Road Tour: Xi'an,Zhangye,Jiayuguan,Dunhuang,Turpan,Urumqi

Day 1: Xi'an-Zhangye

1. The Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses
   3h · Admission ticket included
   Meet your private guide at your hotel and set out for the drive to the Terracotta Warriors Museum. Descend into 3 excavated pits to see the massive earthenware army buried with Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the late third century BCE. Marvel at the collection of thousands of sculpted warriors, chariots, and horses, which is regarded as one of the Eighth Wonders of the World.
   After your morning tour, your guide will take you to a nice local restaurant where you can enjoy some well-known local food, such as Biang Biang noodles and Rou Jia Mo.it is a characteristic of Xi'an cuisine, with over hundred years of history.
2. Zhangye
   3h
   After lunch, be driven to the airport for the morning flight to Zhangye. Upon your arrival, you’ll be met and transferred to your hotel in Zhangye.

Day 2: Zhangye-Jiayuguan

1. Zhangye Danxia Geopark
   3h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast, you will visit the 'Color Palette Overturned by God’ — the Zhangye Danxia Geopark, which is home to the Rainbow Mountains. It is praised as God's palette with its interlaced lines, colorful tones and magnificent paintings.
2. Dafo Temple of Zhangye
   2h · Admission ticket included
   After enjoy a local lunch and continue to visit the Dafo Temple of Zhangye, which is the biggest Nivana Buddha in Asia. Admire the largest reclining Buddha in China at the Giant Buddha Temple.
3. Jiayuguan
   3h
   Then driven to the Jiayuguan, Upon your arrival, you’ll be met and transferred to your hotel in Jiayuguan.

Day 3: Jiayuguan-Dunhuang

1. Jiayuguan Fortress
   2h · Admission ticket included
   Meet up your friendly private guide and driver at your hotel in the early morning, you will visit Jiayuguan Fortress. Standing among vast desert and surrounded by rolling mountains, Jiayuguan Fortress looks like a dignified general guarding the grand land. It was constructed with the most integrated defensive system: an inner city, an outer city, and a moat. Besides functioning as a frontier military fortress, it was also an important traffic hub along the Silk Road, the oldest worldwide trading route.
2. Great Wall at Jiayuguan Pass
   2h · Admission ticket included
   Then drive to the Great Wall at Jiayuguan Pass, is which the most western pass of the Ming Great Wall, is known as one of the Chinese traffic fortress, the three wonders of the Great Wall (East Shanhaiguan, Zhenbeitai, Jiayuguan).
3. 1h
   This is the biggest night market in the area. You will see a lot of local small commodities and it is a great place to experience the local food culture.
   After to your comfortable hotel.

Day 4: Dunhuang

1. Yadan National Geological Park
   2h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast, you will visit the the geological phenomena of Yadan Park have been created over time by erosion of the soft earth by rain and wind, leaving unusual rock formations.In the park, you can get a view of uniquely-shaped rocks like Mongolian tent, Stone Bird, Peacock and others. Make full use of your imagination, you may find some rocks with some miniatures similar to famed architectures, like the Potala Palace in Tibet, Heaven Temple in Beijing or something else.
2. Yumen Pass
   1h · Admission ticket included
   Then, you will visit the Yumen Pass and Great Wall of Han Dynasty, In history, the Han Dynasty built many walls to consolidate the safety of the frontier region as well as exploring ways to do business with western region. During the Han dynasty, this was a pass-through which the Silk Road passed and was the one road connecting Central Asia and China.You will feel the history of the Yumen Pass as a trading post.
3. Mingsha Shan - Echoing-Sand Mountain
   1h · Admission ticket included
   After Lunch, be driven to the Mingsha Shan - Echoing-Sand Mountain. Ride on the backs of camels and climb to get to the top of the dune. Along the way, there are splendid sights: golden sand, the rolling desert, a tranquil lake and the beautiful sunset.
4. Crescent Moon Pool
   1h · Admission ticket included
   Also, you’ll never miss out on the Crescent Moon Pool, Just like its name indicates, the Crescent Pool is in a natural shape of half-moon.According to historical record, the lake has been in existence for hundreds of years without ever being buried by the sand.
   
   Your wonderful tour will ends here, your tour guide and driver will take you back to your hotel in Dunhuang.

Day 5: Dunhuang-Turpan

1. Mogao Caves
   2h · Admission ticket included
   Meet your guide and driver in your hotel lobby and transfer you to Visitors' Center of Mogao Grottoes, an UNESCO listed World Heritage Site, start your exciting sightseeing tour from to Mogao Caves and Digital Film Center, Located in the Gobi desert, the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas feature beautiful wall fresco paintings and more than 3,000 sculptures dating from the forth to the fourteenth century.Then, a professional cave guide will lead you to explore about 7 to 9 caves closely.
2. Turpan
   3h
   After lunch, you will to Liuyuan train station take the bullet train to Turpan.
   Then you will be drop-off at Turpan hotel.

Day 6: Turpan

1. Flaming Mountains (Huoyan Shan)
   2h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast , your first stop of Turpan day tour is to Flaming Mountain is now a famous tourist attraction, with its harsh yet unique natural conditions. Afterwards, go to see the Astana Tombs, which is the site where the ancient people of the Gaochang city are buried. It is famous for its terracotta figurines and tomb paintings.
2. Grape Valley
   2h · Admission ticket included
   After lunch, you’ll head to visit the Grape Valley, on the west of Flaming Mountains, east of Turpan is the Grape Valley, a green area of 988 acres covered with layer upon layer of grapes.Turpan is famous for its grapes so visit a local vineyard and relax as you sit under the grapevines.
3. Emin Minaret (Su Gong Ta)
   2h · Admission ticket included
   Later, go to visit Emin Minaret (Su Gong Ta),The Emin Minaret is particularly beautiful in the morning, with the shadow of the minaret falling across the mosque. Go into the mosque and try to tell the time by checking the position of the sunlight on the wall.
4. Karez System
   2h · Admission ticket included
   Thne,visit the Karez Wells. This irrigation system of wells connected by underground channels is considered to be one of the three great ancient projects in China.
   Finally, visit the Turpan Night Market，the end return to the hotel.

Day 7: Turpan-Urumqi

1. Ancient City of Jiaohe (Yarkhoto)
   2h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast , your will visit Jiaohe Ancient City, the site of an ancient oasis city built on the northern rim of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang. Instead of building from the ground up, the ancient city of Jiaohe was constructed by digging down into the ground. Explore the ruins of this unique ancient city and learn about the different government structures and residential areas.
2. 1h
   After having a Uygur style lunch, you’ll head to the Erdaoqiao Market, the largest in Urumqi, where you’ll find a bustling market filled with fruit, clothing, crafts, knives, carpets and almost anything that you can imagine.
   After you will be drop-off at your Dunhuang hotel.

Day 8: Urumqi Departure

1. Tianshan Tianchi Lake
   3h · Admission ticket included
   Today after breakfast, you’ll drive to Urumqi and go to have a boat cruise on the Tianshan Tianchi Lake, a beautiful blue mountain lake. The blue lake water is finely contrasted with steep forest hills, high meadows and snowy Heavenly Mountain peaks behind. There you can also walk.
   After lunch, your guide and driver will take you to Urumqi Airport and wave goodbye to you. You can connect to the main cities in China from this airport.

• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• Confirmation will be received at time of booking.
• Children must be accompanied by an adult.
• Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required.
• A current valid passport is required on the day of travel.
• Hotel accommodation standard: 2 people per room, Standard Room (2 single beds or 1 queen bed）.
• Triple room for 3 people (3 single beds).
• Please advise the type of room required when you booking.
• You will need to pay an extra fee if you generate an extra number of rooms.
• The best visiting time is from April to October.
• This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate.