How to book a tour
From west frontier to east coast
Tour code: beijing 047
Duration: 17 days
Route: Beijing, Xian, Dunhuang, Turpan, Urumqi, Kashgar, Shanghai
Attractions: The Tian'anmen Square,The Summer Palace,The Tang Dynasty show,The Hanyang Tomb,The Crescent Lake,The Flaming Mountain,The Grape Valley,The Heavenly Lake
Itinerary:
Day 1 ( )
Arrive / Beijing
Transfer via: International flight on your own arrangement.
Once arrive at Beijing,be met & transferred to your hotel. Feel free at leisure for the rest of the day.
Day 2 (B, L, )
Beijing
Full day trip to the Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven. Enjoy the Peking Opera Show in the evening.
TianAnMen Square, the symbolical heart of China and gathering place for the masses. It is the biggest public square in the world, which can hold one million people. Having a free walk there, imagining the great historic events of the 20th century took place there. You will also see legendary landmarks including the Great Hall of the People and the towering 125 foot granite obelisk, Monument to the Peoples Heroes, honoring those who died in revolution.
Walking across the Golden River Bridge, enter the Forbidden City, the inner sanctum and palace where for centuries Chinese emperors ruled their world. It has 9000-room maze of courtyards, places, and ceremonial halls, where 24 emperors used to live. Forbidden City was indeed a forbidden place, where commoners were kept out for nearly 500 years in the past. Tour the palace and imagine the mystery, intrigue and incredible power that reigned here.
Temple of Heaven was built in the 15th century, a sacred site for ancient Beijing, where the emperor and his 1000 member entourage would retreat twice a year for religious ritual. Surrounded by enormous grounds designed in accordance with fengshshui, the Temple complex consists of the Celebrated Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a unique wooden and blue-tiled structure built without a nail. It is considered the supreme achievement of traditional Chinese architecture.
Day 3 (B, L, D )
Beijing
Full day trip to the Great Wall,Ming Tomb and Sacred road. Enjoy a famous Peking Duck Banquet for dinner.
The Great Wall of China is the longest structure ever built. It is about 4,000 miles long, and it was built entirely by hand. About 1, 200 - 1, 500 miles of the Great Wall were built during the reign of Emperor Shi Huangdi (Qin Dynasty). The Great Wall crosses northern China from the east coast to the central part of China.
Visit the fabled Ming Tombs, the resting places of thirteen emperors and their splendid treasures, passing down the Spirit Way, a road lined with statues of dignitaries, as well as huge elephants, lions, camels and horses, you will encounter the marble tombs of the Ming Dynasty emperors. Visit one of the spectacular tombs- Dingling featuring an underground palace.
Day 4 (B, L, )
Beijing / Xi'an
Visit Hutongs by rickshaw. Visit Summer Palace. Take evening flight to Xian. Airrive in Xian, be met and transferred to the hotel.
Hutongs: The old narrow paths where common people lived. All the Hutongs crisscross with each other, dotted with the Kindergarten, the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, the Tea House, and the lake, House of Gong Infant and local people's houses among them.
The Summer Palace is the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China with a history of over 800 years. With its cool features - water, gardens and hills, it was the palace of choice for vacationing emperors and Dowager Empresses. It was badly damaged by Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War (1860) and its restoration became a pet project of Empress Dowager Cixi, the last of the Qing dynasty rulers.
Day 5 (B, L, )
Xi'an
Visit the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, the Bell Tower and the Wild Goose Pagoda.
The Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses: The greatest archaeological findings of the century: the army of terra-cotta warriors and the bronze chariots entombed in vast underground vaults at emperor Qin's tomb.
The Bell Tower: The emblem of Xian city.
The Wild Goose Pagoda: The pagoda where widely renowned Master Xuanzang (Monk Tripitaka) stored his classics brought from India.
Day 6 (B, L, )
Xi'an / Dunhuang
Transfer via: Flight MU2227 (19:10-21:10)-on our arrangement
Visit the Provincial Museum, and the Ancient City Wall. Take afternoon flight to Dunhuang.
Shaanxi historical museum: The Shaanxi Historical Museum, a large-scale modern State-class museum, is situated at the western side of the "Wild Goose Pagoda" in Xian City. It covers an area of about 70,000 square meters, the architectural area of which is 55,000 odd square meters. It was completed on June 20, 1991 and open to the public.
Xian City Wall: Xian City Wall is a major landmark, and iis the best preserved, as well as the oldest and largest of the city defence systems in China. Bikes can be rented to ride along the top of the wall for about RMB20/hour.
Day 7 (B, L, )
Dunhuang
Have tours to the Mogao Caves and the Crescent Lake in the evening.
The Mogao Caves: Constructed over a millennium, from the 4th to the 14th centuries, the caves hold the world's richest treasure house of Buddhist sutras, murals and sculptures.
The Crescent Lake: The lake and the Sounding Sand Dune which can make sounds when the wind passes are located in the place where the sand and the oasis meet.
Day 8 (B, L, )
Dunhuang / Turpan
Transfer via: Train K889(2006/0615+1)
Visit the Yumen Guan Pass, the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty(about 2000 years ago); Having lunch in a local farmer's family. Visti the Hecang Fortress and the Yang Guan Pass in the afternoon. Taking overnight train to Turpan.
The Yumen Guan Pass: Once as one of the west gates out of the country of the Han Dynasty (206 B. C. -220 A. D.), it is quite ruined by the shifting sands but still shows the ever splendor.
The Great Wall of the Han Dynasty: Though made in clay and bulrushes, the wall still remains very well.
The Hecang Fortress: Supplies like food and wine were tranported here from nearby towns to be stored for the armies that guarded the Yumen Guan Pass.
The Yang Guan Pass: Together with the Yunmen Guan Gate, it is also one of the west gates out of the country of the Han Dynasty.
Day 9 (B, L, )
Arrive / Turpan
Arrive at Turpan, be met and visit the Ancient Gaochang City, the Bezaklik Thousand Buddha Grottoes, The Karez Well,and the Grape Valley. Enjoy the night show of Uygur songs and dances.
The Gaochang Ancient City: The city's name means "the King City". It is laid in the first century B.C. and abandoned roughly in the 15th century.
The Bezaklik Thousand Buddha Grottoes: It contains 67 caves dating from the Northern and Southern dynasties (317 - 589) to the Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368).
The Karez Well: It is an irrigation system of wells connected by underground channels and is considered as one of the three great ancient projects in China.
The Grape Valley: Grape Gorge, with its shady vineyards and fruit-laden trees, provides you with a welcome place of relaxation amidst hundreds of square miles of sand.
Day 10 (B, L, )
Turpan / Urumqi
Visit the Southern Pasture and Khazak Yurts. Drive to Urumqi in the afternoon.
The Southern Pasture: Located in the valley of Tian Mountain, the pasture is a very beautiful nice place for graze with mountains, valleys, fountains, waterfalls, cypress and pine trees.
The Khazak Yurts: Of the three main types of yurt in use today, Khazak yurts, with a bentwood roof and crown, are mainly used by Uygur people.
Day 11 (B, L, )
Urumqi / Kashgar
Transfer via: Flight CZ9901
Visit the Heavenly Lake in the morning, and go to Uygur's Bazzar in the afternoon Fly to Kashgar in the evening. Upon arrival, be met and transferred to the hotel.
Day 12 (B, L, D )
Kashgar / Urumqi
Transfer via: Flight CZ9902
Visit the Idigar Mosque, the Abakh Khoja Tomb. Take evening flight back to Urumqi.
The Idigar Mosque: The mosque was built in 1426. It is the largest mosque in Xinjiang and the centre of the Moslem activities, as well.
The Abakh Khoja Tomb: The tomb served as the family tomb of Abakh Khoja, the powerful ruler of Kashgar in the 17th century who was revered as a prophet and second only to Mohammed.
Day 13 (B, )
Urumqi / Shanghai
Transfer via: Afternoon flight
Be transferred to airport and fly to Shanghai. Arrive Shanghai be met and transferred to your hotel. Free time on Nanjing Road at night.
Nanjing Road: the busiest shopping street in Shanghai.
Day 15 (B, L, )
Shanghai
Tour to the Bund, Nanjing Road, Jade Buddha Temple, Yu Garden & Yu Market.
Shanghai Museum: The biggest museum in China, with a collection of over 120,000 pieces of Chinese art & cultural relics. The museum is especially famous for its treasures of bronzes, ceramics, paintings, and calligraphy.
Yu Garden: It is characteristic of the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty and it used to be a private garden with 400 years' history. Infront of the garden, there is a market called Yu Market.
The Bund: the former foreign settlement, ranged along with imposing buildings of the colonial period.
Day 16 (B, L, D)
Shanghai / Suzhou
Transfer via: Coach-on our arrangement
Be transferred to Suzhou. A cruise on the Grand Canal, then visit the Pan Gate, Lingering Garden, The No.1 Silk Factory,and transfer to Shanghai in the evening.
Grand Canal: The Grand Canal ranks alongside the Great Wall of China as the country's greatest engineering achievement and it is the longest man-made waterway in world.Cruising on the Canal,you can see the local people's life.
Pan Gate: Pan Gate is an ancient city gate with land and water entrances. One gate with land and water entrances was quite typical in ancient China. Pan Gate is the only one left.
Lingering Garden: Shouzhou is famouse for its the Gardens. Lingering Garden is an elaborate succession of small gardens. Linging in the garden you would marver this unique architecture art.
The No.1 Silk Factory: Suzhou is also famous for its silk production. In the factory you can see how the silk is processed from the silk worm to the final woven cloth.
Day 17 (B, )
Shanghai / Exit
Transfer via: International flight on your own arrangement.
Free time in the morning, be transferred to the airport for the flight to the next destination.