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Day 1 Shanghai (D)
Arrive in Shanghai, the largest and most cosmopolitan city of China, as modern as any in the world. You are greeted on arrival and escorted to your world-class hotel in a prime setting near many popular shops and restaurants.
Day 2 Shanghai (B L D)
Your full-day tour presents Shanghai's eclectic nature, from the riverfront Bund where foreign traders left a legacy of European-style buildings, to the Yuyuan Gardens with its quintessential Chinese zigzag bridge, rockeries, and pavilions. Visit the Children's Palace where school kids study traditional arts. Complete the day at a thrilling show by the Shanghai Acrobats.
Day 3 Shanghai / Urumqi (B L D)
Wing on to the most westward metro, the capital city of Xingjiang Urgur Autonomous Region, and a Chinese Islamic community.
Day 4 Urumqi (B L D)
Tour the Mt. Tian (Mt. Heaven) and cruise on the Heavenly Lake. Far from the industrial area, these scenic place preserves the natural beauty and minority features.
Day 5 Urumqi / Karshgar (B L D)
Fly to Karshgar (also called Kashi in Chinese), the largest Chinese city to Afghanistan. At your guide's accompany, stroll in the Bazaar. At this time, you will find yourself at the thrill in bargaining with the strollers selling the handicrafts with distinctive folk designs.
Day 6 Karshgar (B L D)
Tour the Mosque, Xiangfei's Tomb. In your leisure time, probably you would like to try the "local taxi", a kind of carts pulled by donkeys.
Day 7 Karshgar / Urumqi (B L D)
Return to Urumqi by flight. Motor coach to Turpan after lunch. Here is a community of mixture of the Chinese Han and Islamic. Gao Chang, though an abandoned city in the history for unknown reason, is with the relics which tells today's visitors this used to be a fluorite township of commerce. Kar Water Well, the unique underground water system which channels the water from place to place from being evaporated in the dry land is also admired by most visitors.
Day 8 Turpan / (Liuyuan) Dunhuang (B L D)
Morning sightsee Mt. Flame, the well-known scene in the Chinese legendary story "Pilgrims to the West", and "Thousands of Buddha Cave". Embark on the afternoon train for Liuyuan. This evening, you will be sleeping on the train transiting through the Gobi Desert. |
Day 9 Dunhuang (B L D)
Morning arrival in Dunhuang, so called 'a diamond inlayed on the belt' of the Silk Road. You will be exploring Mogao Grotto, the world-renowned cultural finding, which include a numerous sculptures and murals created in the dynasties from Sui (581- 618 AD) till Qing (1640 - 1911). Each of them reflects a certain style of the art form in the dynasties and development of the art form in the history. Afternoon motor coach to Jiayuguan Pass, the ancient military stronghold which was intended to ward off the invasion of nomads from the north, even from ancient Iran. The magnificent as well as ancient city gate and city wall, though thousands years old and rebuilt during the dynasties, still looks formidable in today. The murals left in Wei and Jin Dynasties (535 - 556 AD) tells people this is not only a ancient military place, but also a place which linked the world culturally.
Day 10 Jiayuguan Pass / Xi'an (B L D)
This morning continue to sightsee the well-known natural scenes of Sounding Sand Dune and Crescent Lake. In the afternoon, take a flight eastward to Xi'an, a vital center of history, culture and archaeology.
Day 11 Xi'an (B L D)
It is impossible to overstate Xi'an's importance in China's history. Here began the fabled Silk Road, here a string of dynasties made their capital, here a Neolithic culture built a village 6000 years ago, and here lies a highlight of your trip: the excavation site of 8000 terra cotta soldiers, buried around the tomb of Emperor Qin, builder of the Great Wall and other massive endeavors. Round out your tour with stops at the old City gate, Provincial Museum, Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
Day 12 Xi'an / Beijing (B L D)
Wing on to Beijing, the capital and cultural center of China, where virtually every boulevard and building exudes an air of importance, Transfer on arrival to your plush hotel.
Day 13 Beijing (B L D)
Enjoy a full-day tour of the sights that make Beijing a spectacular destination: the sprawling Forbidden City, home to 24 Min and Qing emperors and now a repository of precious art and antiques; the Temple of Heaven, famous for its elegance and symmetry; and the Summer Palace, an oasis of tea gardens, pavilions, painted corridors, and shimmering Kunming Lake with Empress Dowager's eccentric marble ship.
Day 14 Beijing (B L D)
One of the world's most awe-inspiring sights, the Great Wall snakes along nearly 4000 miles of impossibly steep hills and harsh, rugged plains. Today's excursion will give you ample time to explore it in leisure and marvel at the manpower that went into building the world's longest structure entirely by hand. Continue to the Min Tombs, the graveyard of 13 emperors, before returning to Beijing for an imperial-style Peking Duck dinner.
Day 15 Beijing / Hometown (B)
With new insights and found memories of China, you embark on your homebound journey aboard your select airline. |
