14 Days Best Silk Road Tour with Beijing and Shanghai
During this tour, you will witness the history and modern culture of China through visiting the most popular cities of Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. Besides, follow us to explore the silk road from Dunhuang to Urumqi.
Highlights:
- Witness the history and modern culture of China.
- Explore the silk road from Dunhuang to Urumqi.
Brief Itinerary
- Day 1: Shanghai Arrival
- Day 2: Shanghai
- Day 3: Shanghai – Xian
- Day 4: Xian
- Day 5: Xian – Dunhuang
- Day 6: Dunhuang
- Day 7: Dunhuang – Turpan
- Day 8: Turpan
- Day 9: Turpan – Urumqi
- Day 10: Urumqi
- Day 11: Urumqi – Beijing
- Day 12: Beijing
- Day 13: Beijing
- Day 14: Beijing Departure
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1 Shanghai Arrival
Sightseeing and Activities:
Accommodation: Shanghai
Meals:
Upon your arrival, tour guide will pick you up from airport or train station and then transfer to your hotel in Shanghai city.
Day 2 Shanghai
Sightseeing and Activities: Yuyuan Garden, Yuyuan Market, Shanghai Museum, the Jade Buddha Temple
Accommodation: Shanghai
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
After breakfast, we will first visit Yuyuan Garden and Yuyuan Market. Yu Yuan Garden(or Yun Garden) is a famous classical garden located in Anren Jie, Shanghai. It abuts the Yuyuan Market. Then we will stop at Shanghai Museum. It is the Museum of Ancient Chinese Art with more than 120,000 precious and rare works of art. In the afternoon, we will head to the Jade Buddha Temple, which is a venerable and famous Buddhist temple built in 1928.
Day 3 Shanghai – Xian
Sightseeing and Activities: Shaanxi Provincial History Museum
Accommodation: Xian
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Today take a morning flight to Xian. A local tour guide will pick you up at airport and transfer to your hotel. After a short rest, head to visit Shaanxi Provincial History Museum, one of the first huge state museums with modern facilities in China and one of the largest with the large storage of cultural relics from the Shang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.
Day 4 Xian
Sightseeing and Activities: Terracotta Warriors, Xian Museum, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show
Accommodation: Xian
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Today visit the world famous Terracotta Warriors. The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. After that, visit the Xian Museum and the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. At night, enjoy the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show(paid by yourself).
Day 5 Xian – Dunhuang
Sightseeing and Activities:
Accommodation: Dunhuang
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Today we will take a flight to Dunhuang. The rest of the day is free for you to exlpore this city.
Day 6 Dunhuang
Sightseeing and Activities: Yadan National Gepark, Yumenguan Pass
Accommodation: Dunhuang
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
We will head to Yadan National Gepark and Yumenguan Pass. Situated 180 kilometers in the northwest away from Dunhuang City, Yadan National Gepark features the unique and wonderful scenes and landscapes of gobi desert.
On the way to the Yadan Gepark, we will stop at the Yumen Pass for a brief visit. Enjoy changing scenery along the way from bustling city to desolate Gobi. Yumen Pass was a significant military pass and a vital pass on the route of Silk Road.
Day 7 Dunhuang – Liuyuan – Turpan
Sightseeing and Activities: Mogao Grottoes
Accommodation: Turpan
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
In the morning, head to visit Mogao Grottoes that is known as “The Thousand Buddha Cave”, and noted as one of the most important cultural and historical sites in China.
After the tour, escorted to the Liuyuan Train Station to catch 4-hour high speed train to Turpan. A local tour guide will pick you up at the train station and transfer to your hotel.
Day 8 Turpan
Sightseeing and Activities: Gaochang Ancient Ruins, Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, Astana Graves, Flaming Mountain
Accommodation: Turpan
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Today we will head to Gaochang Ancient Ruins, 46 kilometers southeast of Turpan. Built on the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert and to the south of the Flaming Mountains, its old palace and city ruins can be seen today as they’ve been well-preserved.
Then continue the trip to Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, a complex of Buddhist cave grottos. Move on to Astana Graves, an underground cemetery of ancient Gaochang residents, which is considered to be one of the humblest burial sites in China.
On the way back to Turpan, pass the Flaming Mountain and enjoy the flame-like landscape.
Day 9 Turpan – Urumqi
Sightseeing and Activities: Emin Pagoda, Karez Well system, Grape Valley
Accommodation: Urumqi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Today, our tour start with Emin Pagoda, the largersrt pagoda in Xinjiang, which is an elegant-shaped Muslim minaret in honor of a great Turpan general.
Then visit Karez Well System. Located in the Turpan Depression, it is a vertical tunnel system adapted by the Turpan people.
After that, continue to visit Grape Valley. After all the visit, transferred back to Urumqi for overnight.
Day 10 Urumqi
Sightseeing and Activities: Heavenly Lake, Erdaoqiao Grand Bazaar
Accommodation: Urumqi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
After the breakfast, head to Heavenly Lake, 98km northeast of Urumqi downtown. It is a crescent alpine lake in the north of Bogda Peak, which enjoys crystal water due to melted snow as its source.
Then transferred back to Urumqi and visit Erdaoqiao Grand Bazaar. It is one of the most famous landmarks in Urumqi city, which is the largest bazaar in the world by scale, combining Islamic culture, architecture, ethnic commerce, tourism and entertainment.
Day 11 Urumqi – Beijing
Sightseeing and Activities: Beijing Hutong
Accommodation: Beijing
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Take a morning flight to Beijing. Upon arrival, local tour guide will picek you up and transfer to your hotel. After a short rest, take a rickshaw to visit Beijing Hutong.
Day 12 Beijing
Sightseeing and Activities: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, Kung Fu Show
Accommodation: Beijing
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Breakfast at hotel, start today’s tour with Tiananmen Square. Go north through the square and you will reach the Forbidden City. As the largest and best-preserved ancient wooden structure in the world, it has more than 8,000 pavilions and thousands of historic treasures. Then enjoy the lunch.
In the afternoon, head to visit the royal altar of the Ming and Qing dynasties – the Temple of Heaven. Then have a fantastic Chinese Kung Fu Show at the Red Theatre in the evening.
Day 13 Beijing
Sightseeing and Activities: Badaling Great Wall, Summer Palace
Accommodation: Beijing
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Get up early to visit Badaling Great Wall. Great Wall is one of the greatest architecture projects in human history. Then drive back to visit Summer Palace, which used to be the summer resort for royal families and emperors.
Day 14 Beijing Departure
Sightseeing and Activities:
Accommodation:
Meals: Breakfast
Transferred to the airport or train stataion for your next destination. Service ends.
Service Included:
- Admission fees for all of the sightseeing spots listed in the itinerary;
- Meals as listed in the itinerary;
- Hotels as listed in the itinerary;
- Private English-speaking tour guide;
- Private vehicle for transfers & sightseeing with skilled driver;
- Service charge & government taxes;
- Luggage transfers between airports and hotels;
- Domestic train tickets of soft sleeper.
Service Excluded:
- Any arrival and departure international airfares or train tickets;
- Chinese visa fees;
- Excess baggage charged by Airlines;
- Single room supplement;
- Tips to guides and drivers;
- Personal expenses and gratuities to service staff;
- Personal travel accident insurance;
- All optional programs.
