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1. Arrive in
Beijing: transfer to hotel;
visit Temple of
Heaven
 , a
place where the "sons of heavens" used to come to
pray for bountiful harvest; sightseeing of the
vanishing small streets and lanes of Old Beijing;
dinner - Beijing Duck, local
specialty
(optional).
2. Peking:
sightseeing of Forbidden City
, one
of the largest temple complexes in the
world; stroll through the
Tiananmen Square (Gate of Heavenly
Peace), and narrow
lanes of the Old Beijing; night sleeper
train to Xi´an.
3. Xi'an:
the goal of the Silk Road; visit the
legendary Terracotta Army
of
Emperor Qin's tomb (the
First Chinese Emperor of the Qin (Chin)
Dynasty)
- 8,000+
life-sized terracotta figures, warriors
and horses, speculated that many
contained treasures and sacrificial
objects that were to accompany the
emperor in his after life;
monumental fortification; Grand
Minaret, evening stroll through the
Muslim quarter.
4. Xi´an:
Taoist monastery of Eight Immortals,
Pagoda of Little Wild Goose (7th
century); the heaviest library in the
world - so called Les stél; night
sleeper train to Tianshui.
5. Tianshui
(Thien-shuej): sightseeing Cliff Temple
of Maijishan (Maj-ťi-shan), high
on a cliff; transfer to Lanzhou.
6. Xiahe (Sia-he):
half day transfer by bus to small town
of Xiahe containing the monumental
monastery of Labrang.
7. Xiahe:
immersion into the atmosphere of a major
pilgrimage site; pilgrim's circuit "kora"
roundabout the monastery, Muslim
quarter; afternoon transfer to Lanzhou;
evening night sleeper train to Jiayuguan.
8. Jiayuguan:
full day trip to small town of
Jiuquan (Giou-chüan) and Mt.
Wenshu (Wen-shu) with a complex
of cliff Buddhist temples 5.–9. century.
9. Jiayuguan:
visiting the Western-most end of the
Great Wall
dating to the era of Ming Dynasty; walk
on the Wall, see 14th century
fortification.
10. Dunhuang
(Tun-huang): morning transfer to
Dunhuang; afternoon visit to picturesque
"Moon-Sickle" Lake under the
Mount of Singing Sands; visit the
museum, optional bike ride into the
desert.
11. Dunhuang:
entry gate into the Chinese Empire during the Han Dynasty; visit legendary
Mogao Buddhist Caves
(Mo-kao), wall paintings from 4.
century, polychrome statues, more than
1000 paintings on silk and wood; night
sleeper train to Turfan.
12. Turfan:
important Silk Road crossroad and
traditional transit station of various
cultures; full day trip to Bezeklyk
Caves, known as the Caves of
Thousand Buddhas, decorated by frescoes
from the Tang (Thang) Dynasty; ruins of
the desert town of Jiaohe (Giao-he);
Fire Mountains, exceptional natural
phenomenon -
in Chinese "huoyan shan"...situated in
the middle of the Turfan Depression and
running from east to west, one of the
branch ranges of the Tian Shan
Mountains, formed in the organic
movements of Himalayas fifty million
years ago; under the desert sun, the red
rock glows and hot air curls up like
smoke as though it were on fire, hence
it's name; stroll in the lanes of the
vanishing Old Turfan.
13. Turfan:
bus trip to the surrounding Uighur
villages, village of Tuyok,
Emin's Minaret, local gardens, buy
excellent local raisins; transfer to
Heavens Lake; overnight by the lake
in a traditional Kazakh yurt.
14. Heavens
Lake,
also called Jade Lake or
Tian Chi in Chinese,
1980 m/6,336
feet above sea level under
Mount Bogda (5445 m), a region populated
by Kazakh ethnic minority; the
lake covers an area of 1.9 sq. miles
with a depth of 288 feet. It is a lake
in the midst of high mountains fed by
melting glaciers and snows, of pure,
jade-blue water. Scattered around are
the yurts of the Kazakh people who
inhabit the Tian Shan Range;
continue to Urumchi;
city sightseeing; visit traditional Uighur bazaar.
15. Fly Urumchi–
Beijing; connect to your
international flight.
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