Silk Road adventure trip The Silk Road has been the most important trade connection between the East and West. The wonderful achievements of various civilizations have left abundant footprints on this route, those ancient artists and travelers left behind many historical records and invaluable relics. Now this adventure trip is to explore these mysterious records along the classic Silk Road.

Payment: $3800 USD for one person.
Total transport distance: 4100km.
A group is composed of 2 or 3 persons.
Transport vehicle for three-man group: 4-wheel-driven land cruiser.
Transport vehicle for twin group: motor car.

Starting at the old capitals of Xi'an (then called Chang'an), reaches the Yellow River at Lanzhou, the oasis of Dunhuang, then follows one of the originally divided routes driving westward along deserts and mountains, finally reaches the bustling market town of Kashgar.

Day 1: Lanzhou/Wuwei/Zhangye/Jiayuguan
Distance: Lanzhou-Jiayuguan 726km.
Live: Jiayuguan City.
Schedule: Starting early in the morning, go to Wuwei city, the old strategic town westward form Xi'an. 40kms long Yellow river scenery Leitai Han tomb is outside of the vehicle window, it's quite eye-catching, then visit the Sculptures of the Mother River, the old Water wheels Garden. Next, climb the Wushao Ling snow mountain, get through Gulangxia valley to reach Wuwei, where the(A.D.186-219) was excavated in 1969. It has been a great archeological discover, the renowned bronze sturdy steed was unearthed, which is molded as a bronze galloping horse with a hoof on a flying swallow, now the symbol of China's tourism industry. After lunch, get on to see the Great Wall remains in Shandan, the Great Buddhist temple, the wooden pagoda in Zhangye city. Arrive in Jiayuguan city in the evening.

Relevant information: Lanzhou, where the Yellow River flows across, is a city of 2,000-year history and is capital of Gansu Province. Wuwei, Zhangye, the only access to the ancient Silk Road, both has been set up as an improtant millitary town when this trade route initially opened up during the Wester Han dynasty (B.C.206-8).

             the old Water wheels Garden
Day 2: Jianyuguan/Dunhuang
Distance: Jianyuguan - Dunhuang 387km.
Live: Dunhuang.
Schedule: First visit Jiayu Pass, the western terminus of the Great Wall. Occasionally, there's a chance to appriciate the mirage in desert if luck enough. Visit the ancient Suoyang town, Yulin Grotto, witch has the same fame to Mogao Grotto, then reach Dunhuang, the Buddhism Holy Land.

Relevant information: Jiayu Pass in southwest Jiayuguan City is the western terminus of the Great Wall. It is a trapezoid-shaped fortress with two imposing gate-towers facing each other symmetrically atop a 733-metre-long city wall. The fortress provides an overview of the gobi deserts beyond the Great Wall. Jiayuguan International Sailplane Festival is held annally.

Day 3: Dunhuang
Live: Dunhuang
Schedule: Visit Mogao Grotto, have a good fun in the famous Mingsha(Humming Sand) hill and Crescent Moon spring south of Dunhuang, later taste local snacks in Shazhou night market.

Relevant information: As a Silk road terminal-junction, Dunhuang played a pivotal role in China's trade and cultural exchanges with the West in ancient times. Mogao Grottoes, discovered 100 years ago, is a colossal treasure-trove of 45,000 square metres of frescos and 2,415 painted sculptures, has created one of mankind's important learning area: Dunhuang study.

Day 4: Dunhuang
Live: Dunhuang.
Schedule: Visit the ruins of the Yanguan Pass, Yumen Pass on the Great Wall, the ancient Hechang town, and Han dynasty Great wall relics. Takes photographs of the glorious sunset against the splendid Yardang landform.

Day 5: Dunhuang/Hami/Turpan
Distance: Dunhuang-Turpan 853km.
Live: Turpan.
Schedule: Hami is the next stop after Dunhuang, it's the eastern entrance to Xinjiang, being famous for its sweet juicy Hami melon. Have lunch here, and then get to Turpan, another key terminal-junction along the ancient Silk Road.

 
Day 6: Turpan/Urumqi
Distance: Turpan-Urumqi 187km.
Live: Urumqi.
Schedule: Wander through Grape valley, enjoy the Uygur dance and music. Travel through the Gaochang ancient town, the Jiaohe ancient town, the Baizikeli Cheonbuldong, the Flamming Mountain, watch complicated underground irrigation system karez, and the unique giant rhinoceroses fossil 24 million years ago. Leave Turpan in the afternoon, pass over Daban town, watching the largest scale wind power station in Asia, arrive in Urumqi, taste the local food in its lively bazaar.

Relevant information: Turpan, situated in Turpan Basin, the lowest point on the mainland of China, also the hottest in summer, is a major tourist city of Xianjiang. No place in China is hotter in summer than the Flaming Mountain in Turpan, a mountain made famous by the classical Chinese mythological novel, Journey to the West. The local people have developed karez, an irrigation system composed of wells connected by underground channels, to counter the heat and drought of the place. at the foot of the Flaming Mountain east of Turpan lies Grape Gully (nickname: "Green Pearl City"), an oasis where the scorching sun is shut off by luxuriant tree foliages and grapevine trellises that cover 220 hectares and are crisscrossed by irrigation ditches.

Attractions: Xinjiang's largest ancient pagoda, Dorbiljin (Emin) Pagoda, (also called Sugong Pagoda) stands 2 km east of downtown Turpan. To the east lies Gaochang, which until the early Ming Dynasty(A.D.1368-1644) was a thriving town on the Silk Road, today it has been reduced to a 2 million-square-metre stretch of broken walls and deserted fields. The inexorable pace of history is even more keenly felt at Jiaohe, another ancient city that was deserted during the early Ming Dynasty, leaving a pile of ruins west of Turpan.

                                              camping in Flamming Mountain.
Day 7: Urumqi/Heavenly Mountain (also called Tianshan).
Live: Urumqi.
Schedule: Enter the majestic Heavenly Mountain, walking around the Heavenly Lake, scenery there is really most fascinating.

Relevant information: Tianchi Lake is situated on north side of Bogda Peak of Tianshan Mountains, 110km away from Urumqi City, covers an area of 4.9 square kilo meters, over 1900m above sea level, 105m deep at the deepest point. It's an alpine drift lake shaped in the Quaternary Glacier period and fed by thawing snow runoffs. Snow-mantled peaks and sky-soaring dragon-spruce, among other things, define Tianchi Lake as a scenic place with prismatic splendor.

Riding a horse from here, one can, within one day, arrive at the foot of the 5445m high Bogda Peak. Bogda is a Mongolian word, meaning “God”. The 5445m high Bogda Peak was covered by ice and snow all the year round. The Bogda Peak is chosen by Chinese and foreign mountain climbers for climbing sports.

                           No. 1 glacier in Urumqi.                          Tianchi Lake in winter with icy surface.

Day 8: Urumqi/Korla.
Live: Korla.
Distance: Urumqi - Korla 460km.
Schedule: Pass by the well-known Tiemen Pass, the Jinsha shore, stroll down the Kongqi River ouside the Korla city after supper.
Relevant information: Korla, means "looking forward" in Uygur, lies in the south of Tianshan mountain, in the north-easten brim of the Tarim Basin, with a comfortable temperature.

Day 9: Korla/Taklimakan desert highway/Kuqa.
Live: Kuqa.
Distance: Korla-Koqa 287km.
Schedule: Explore into the second largest desert in the world: Taklamakan. Sightseeings here: the large area diversiform-leaved poplar trees, groups of boring towers scattered in the Tarim base oil field. Get to Kuqa County at night.

Relevant information: Taklimakan desert, in Tarim Basin, south Xinjiang, is the world's second largest desert which used to be dubbed "Death Sea". A 522-km-long highway has been paved across it from south to north, turning the "Death Sea" into a tourist hot cake, and brings visitors to discover the magnificent landscape, places of historical interest, and colorful local customs.

Diversiform-leaved poplar: also known as Euphrates Poplar, with the Latin name "Populus emphatic", Well known for it's strong ability to withstand harsh environment, there are still a few areas in China's western regions (Xinjiang, Tibet) where patches this tree can be found.

                                  Taklimakan Desert and the Euphrates Poplar.

Day 10: Kuqa/Aksu.
Live: Aksu.
Distance: Kuqa-Aksu 267km.
Schedule: Visit Qiuci ancient town, the Kizil Thousand-Buddha Grottoes, also a Tears spring. Live in Aksu , which is a big city, with a fine infra-construction and layout.

Relevant information: Kizil Thousand-Buddha Grottoes is situated at the north bank of Muzat River and about 7 km the south of Kezil Town between the Kuqa County and Baichen County, 70 km from Kuqa County. The 10,000 square metres of murals kept in the 236 caves are of high value for artists and researchers alike. It's built earlier than Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, and the chiseling works started in the Third or Fourth century A.D., namely, the East Han Dynasty period(A.D.25-220), and flourished in the Sixth and Seventh century, lasted over 500 years, until the Islam was introduced into Xinjiang.

The 236 grottoes are distributed at the foot of or on the cliffs of the Mingutag Mountains. At present, frescoes in 75 caves are still well-preserved. The art achievements of Kizil Thousand-Buddha Grottoes are reflected in two aspects: one is the beautiful fresco and the other architecture of the grottoes. The ancient Quici artists skillfully expressed people's real life and events occurred at that time on their paintings.  The theme of mural painting and its artistic style, mirrored the Quici society thousands of years ago, and provide valuable information for researching history, Buddhism, culture and art at that time, even the relationship between ancient China and Western countries.

Day 11: Aksu/Kashger.
Live: Kashger.
Distance: Aksu-Kashger 469km.
Schedule: Arrive in Kashger in the afternoon, and then go to the tomb of Abac Hoja (Fragrant Lady), a massive, elegant building created in 1640 in a typical Islamic style. Then, ride in the carriage to visit Atigar, China's largest Islamic mosque dating back to more than 500 years ago. There's a very popular bazaar at night.

Day 12: Kashger/Taxkorgan.

Distance: Kashger/Tashkurghan 317km.Schedule: Go to the Pamier Plateau(4000m above the sea level), the eminent Kongur peak(7649m) could be seen clearly on the way, also, the "father of glacier"- the lofty Muztagata snow maintian(7509m high), and pass by the exquisite Kalakul lake down at the foot. Arrive in Taxkorgan County in the afternoon, visit the Stone town. Surely don't forget to take a planisphere with you to recognize those constellations; for the night sky in Parmir is so clear and beautiful, it's an absolutely good time to appreciate the twinkling starry sky.

Day 13: leave for Parkinstan from Taxkorgan, or spend one day in returning to Kashger and take an airline to Urumqi.

Note:

If your journey begins from Beijing, the following schedule is proposed:

Day 1: Arrive in Beijing.

Day 2-3: visit Beijing, then leave for Xi'an on train at the second evening, and arrive in the next morning. (the train between Beijing and Xi'an runs for 12 hours.)

Day 4-5: Visit Xi'an and leave for Lanzhou on train at the fifth evening, and arriver in the next morning. (The train between Xi'an and Lanzhou runs for 8 hours.)

From Lanzhou on, the entire journey is as described above. The overall time would be 18 days, and expense from Beijing to Lanzhou is paid by yourself, you should only arriver in Lanzhou as previously agreed.