Silk Route Highlights

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Duration: 9 Days

Trip Grade:

Day 1 Fly in Urumqi and connect flight to Kashgar

Arrive in the afternoon in Kashgar, the heart of Chinese Islam, which owns the largest Muslim community and best market in China! Walking along the bustling street of Kashgar, and get to the square and see the Id Kah Mosque, the largest in mosque in China. It attracts more than 10,000 worshippers for Friday prayers. Stay the night in Kashgar.

Day 2 Khalkhas People, Lake Karakuri and Snow Mount. Muztagata / a Tajikistan County

Take Kashgar's side trip to Lake Karakuri & Snow Mount Muztagata. It will be 4 hours' drive (one way), but you wouldn't feel bored on the bus as you will stop and take pictures of the magnificent landscapes with diversified lakes, mountains, field, wildflowers and plants. We will also meet Kazaks, Tajiks as well as Tibetans, Uighurs. On enroute we drive pass the border sentry to Pakistan, where we will have our baggage and documents checked). Arrive at the Lake Karakuri, a majestic glacial lake fed by century-old glaciers, which sits at the base of Muztagh Ata (7,545 meters). We take some walk in the area. Drive to a Tajikistan county on the highland and stay overnight.

Day 3 Tajikistan highland & village / Kashgar

Explore the "stone city" - a castle ruin and then a Tajikistan village and visit local residents on the grassland. Have lunch. Drive back to Kashgar in late afternoon. Stay another night in Kashgar.

Day 4 Kashgar / Kucha

Shop around at the massive International Bazaar, a lively and colourful market, where farmers and merchants gather from the far corners of the region. Here, you can find some of the Silk Road's most interesting souvenirs, from handmade leather boots, embroidered caps, and ornate knives to traditional musical instruments as well as bags of fresh spices, dried fruits and nuts. Free time for you to explore Kashgar. Feel the effect of the time difference with Beijing or Shanghai by observing the locals start the day at their own pace in the morning, despite local banks and administration catering to the Capital' s rhythm. Take the air-conditioned soft-sleeper train to Kuqa (13:50 - 22:29). Stay overnight in the quaint oasis town Kuqa, which was once the home of an ancient Buddhist Kingdom in the Tarim Basin named Kucha. In the Chinese classical novel "Journey to the West, Kuqa was featured as the Kingdom of Women, where the Buddhist monk Xuan Zang and his three disciples passed by on their way to the "Western Regions" to obtain sacred Buddhist texts (sutras) during the Tang dynasty.

Day 5 Kucha (Grand Canyon & thousand Buddha Grotto)

Drive 70 km to visit the Tianshan Grand Canyon featuring Danxia landforms. Along the way, admire the diversified geological landforms as well as the effects of natural erosion. Known as the “Red Cliffs” in the Uighur language, the Tianshan Grand Canyon is situated at 1600m sea level with the highest peak reaching 2048m. More impressive is the fact that the Canyon meanders along a distance covering more than 5 km! Visit the huge Kizil Thousand Buddha Grotto Temples, which holds some of the most impressive Buddhist art in Central Asia. Dating back to the 3rd century AD, it comprises of a set of 236 Buddhist rock-cut caves said to be the earliest major Buddhist cave complex in China. Although the site has been both damaged and looted, at least 1000 square meters of wall paintings remain. Stay overnight in Kucha.

Day 6 Kucha (Taklamakan desert and poplar trees)

Drive 2.5-3 hours to the Taklamakan Desert: the largest desert in China as well as the second largest desert in the world. Step upon the steamy hot sand of the vast desert. Take a walk into the dense forest of diversiform poplar and mulberry trees, bushes and streams by the Tarim River, all of which is part of the Tarim Euphrates Poplar National Nature Reserve. The poplar trees in the vicinity of the Tarim River are the oldest poplar trees in the world, emerging with the upheaval of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. This kind of poplar tree has existed for more than 60 million years. They are living fossils that date back to the Tertiary period (referring to the geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago). Drive back to Kucha and stay another night.

Day 7 Kucha / Urumqi

Walk around the old town of Kuqa, and see the old city wall, mosque and local residents. The mosque houses the last remaining building of an Islamic Court in China. Discover the different “torture” instruments used to punish offenders of the Islamic law in the past. Lunch and fly to Urumqi. Free time for you in Urumqi and stay overnight.

Day 8 Urumqi / Turpan

Drive 3 hours to Turpan, a city known for its grape and melon harvest and Uigur people good at songs & dance). Head to Tuyu Gully, a magical place at the foot of Flaming Mountain near Turpan. With great geographical and ecological contrasts, it is home to several ancient cultures, Buddhism and Islam, and is also home to the first Chinese who practiced Islam. Have meal with a local Uygur family under the grape shade. Visit the Keraz Well, an ancient Han irrigation project. Stroll under the shade of fruit trees and grape vines and try their 5-6 types of grapes which are grown there. Tour Jiaohe (Yarkhoto) Ancient City near Turpan. Stay overnight in Turpan.

Day 9 Turpan / Urumqi / Fly out

Take coach back to Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Regions. It has served and still serving as a main entry for those crossing into Central Asia. Today it becomes a lively metropolis with an urban population of 1.08 million.  Visit the main attraction now for Xinjiang is the exhibits of mummies and other artifacts of Uigur ethnic culture and treasures from Silk Road in Xinjiang Regional Museum(Closed on Mondays). Fly out in the afternoon.

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