18 Days Silk Road Travel from Xi’an to Dunhuang

Our guide and driver will meet you at the airport. Welcome to Xi’an, the first city on our Silk Road trip. Be transferred to the hotel and the rest of the day is for you to relax and prepare for our Natural wonder and Culture Adventure.

As the starting point of Silk Road, Xi'an has a profound history and culture. Drive to the countryside of the Xi'an city about 1hrs, we will visit an impressive historic site Terracotta Warriors which are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. Work is ongoing at this site, which is around 1.5 kilometers east of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum in Lintong. It is a sight not to be missed by any visitor to China. Believe you will be amazed by the culture and history to get a feeling back to Qing Dynasty during the 3hrs experience. （No flash when take photos)

Lunch will be in the local restaurant, and we will continue the sightseeing to the Ancient City Wall. This is the most complete city wall that has survived in China as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. You will enter the city wall through the ticket gate. Standing on the wall, you can't use your eyes to judge how long the wall is. You can walk around the city wall to take some nice photos. 

Thereafter, we will explore the Muslim Street, relax with free walking along the street tasting the local delicious food and experiencing the local lifestyle. 

In the evening, continue our sightseeing of Tang Dynasty Never Nights City, which features numerous buildings, squares, and gardens, all incorporating features of traditional Tang Chinese architecture.

This day begins with taking the Bullet Train to Tianshui- the first significant Silk Road city located along the Wei River. There you will visit the Maji Mountain Grottoes, a network of caves and walkways carved into the cliffside, adorned colorful Buddhist artwork within. It is famous for its exquisite clay sculpture art.

Afternoon, continue the visiting to Fuxi Temple, one of the famous ancient buildings in Northwest China, also known as Taihao Palace, as well as Renzhong Temple. Ten historic buildings in the temple include the theatrical stage, archways, the main gate, the instrumental gate, Congenital Temple, Taiji Temple, Bell Tower, Drum Tower, and Laihe Hall. Here is the best place to learn the Fuxi culture. 

Breakfast at the hotel and then you will be transferred to the train station to take the express train to Lanzhou. 

Then pay a visit to the White Pagoda Park located in the north of Lanzhou City, which owes its name to the amazing White Pagoda within it. It is pure white from top to bottom with the exception of the green top which greatly enhances the glamour of the whole building. 

Then travel to the First Bridge of Yellow River, the first highway bridge in the ancient Yellow River, also the second city steel bridge in China. 

Next, visit the Waterwheel Garden, which is a theme garden exhibiting the waterwheel culture. Here, you could appreciate the waterwheel driven by the flowing water all year round to collect water from the river or cofferdam.

Today we will pay a visit to the Binglingsi Thousand Buddha Temple. Take a speedboat from Liujiaxia Reservoir to Binglingsi in the morning. On the way, you will see the green water connects to the yellow water while the blue sky connects to the yellow earth. Perhaps this can only be experienced in Liujiaxia. 

Upon arrival, head to visit the Binglingsi Thousand Buddha Caves which is close to Liujiaxia Reservoir. These caves stretch for 200 meters. They were built during the Western Qin, North Wei, Sui, Tang, and Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties (between the 3rd and 18th centuries).

Coming out from the Binglingsi Thousand Buddha Temple, we will head to Xiahe with about 3 to 4 hours driving. 

Breakfast at the hotel and then we will start our new day trip from one of the six monasteries Tibetan Buddhism Labrang Monastery. The monastery is renowned for its rich Tibetan culture, imposing Buddhist structures, unique Tibetan food, and the long corridor of prayer wheels. It is a holy place where Buddhism followers learn the essence of Buddhism and retains the best Tibetan Buddhist teaching system in the country, known as the "World Library of Tibet" by the world. In the heyday, the monks reached more than 4,000 people. If you visit the monastery in the morning, you may hear the explanation of the local English lama. 

Thereafter, we will enjoy the lonely and beautiful place Songke Grassland in the afternoon. Here you will see the Tibetan nomads left on the grasslands, and graze their yak herds. 

After enjoying the scenery, we will drive back to Lanzhou for overnight stay.

The journey is still ongoing. Set on the edge of the Gobi Desert, Wuwei may seem like an unlikely place to find an oasis of Buddhism and historical relics. 

The tour will begin from Tiantishan Grottoes, also known as Temple of Giant Buddha. The grottoes are situated on the Huangyang River, about 60 km south of Wuwei (originally Liangzhou) and it was excavated during the Northern Liang dynasty (397–439 CE). When you entering the scenic area you will see some Buddha Statues and exquisite murals, which will definitely feast your eyes.

Let's continue our visit. Later we are going to the Leitai Han Tomb. It is a large brick-and-stone structure built during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. A total of two hundred and twenty-one pieces of relics were unearthed from the tomb. 

This morning we will leave for Zhangye and pay a visit to Mati Temple, which was built in Jin Dynasty. We are about to drive 2hrs to the site. A series of horse shoe prints are visible in Grotto 9, which are said to be left by a heaven horse. Hence, the temple was named for the horseshoe prints left by the legendary heaven horse, which become the treasure of the temple.

Next, transfer to our next stop Giant Buddha Temple, which is the important place of the Silk Road. The Giant Buddha Temple is the largest architectural relic in Gansu Province of the Western Xia (1038-1227) period. China's largest reclining Buddha is well preserved in this temple.

Today we will proceed the tour to Pingshan Lake Valley, which is not far from the urban area. It is a beautiful landscape in the Zhangye Landform Landscape Grand View Garden in China, and can comparable to the Colorado Grand Canyon. Entering this rugged and labyrinth-like grand canyon, you will see the magnificent terrain, stone forest, the crisscross gullies, and forested peaks, which will feast your eyes. 

Then transfer to Badan Jaran for overnight stay.

Enjoy your breakfast then to start of exploring Badain Jaran Desert with different scenery and activities. This desert is home to some of the tallest stationary dunes on Earth, with some reaching a height of more than 500 meters, although most average at around 200 meters. Its tallest dune is also measured, from base to peak, as the world's third tallest dune and highest stationary dune in the world. The desert also features over 100 spring-fed lakes that lie between the dunes, some of which are fresh water while others are extremely saline. These lakes give the desert its name which is Mongolian for "mysterious lakes". It is also crossed by one river, the Ruo Shui ("weak water"), which has formed an alluvial plain in the desert. 

Tonight you will stay in the desert.

Enjoy the sunrise and beautiful scenery in the desert. Then you will come out from the desert and drive all the way to visit Zhangye Danxia Geopark for its ribbons of red, orange and yellow through the rock to create a rainbow vista contained only by the contours of the jagged mountain peaks. So many people also call it "Rainbow Mountain" for taking photos and hiking around.  

Today we will drive all the way to Jiayuguan and accompany you to climb the Jiayuguan pass upon your arrival. This Ming Dynasty fort guards the strategic Jiayuguan pass, at the western end of the Great Wall–this was the last section built by the Ming Dynasty. And visit the The Great Wall Museum, which was opened to visitor in October 1989 and it is the first one to exhibit the Great Wall culture in a comprehensive and systematic way. (There are many steps from one tower to the other, please consider if are able to walk and climb about 2hrs). 

Continue the sightseeing to renowned underground gallery Weijin Tombs. There we can enjoy lifelike and succinct wall paintings covering a wide range of subjects including politics, economies, culture, military affairs, folk customs, and science and technology during the Wei and Jin periods (4AD)

Today we will head to Ejina Qi to visit Khara-Koto.

This city ruins site was first discovered by a Russian explorer named Botanin, who traveled through Inner-Mongolia in 1886. The site was then visited a second time by Tsogt Badmajapov, a Russian explorer who had continued the work of Nikolai Przhevalsky in Mongolia and Tibet after his Death. Badmajapov only performed initial surveys, after which in 1908 a Russian expedition was sent off to the East to find the ruined city and seek archeological remnants and relics. In 1909 AD, this expedition under the leadership of the Russian explorer Colonel Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov reached the ancient ruins and surveyed the site. Apart from the ancient walls of the fortified town, the scientists identified a sand buried Stupa, at some 400 meters outside of the City Walls opposite the Main Gate. Inside the Stupa lay a hidden treasure. Breaking inside Kozlov and companions found a large collection of scrolls, scriptures and art pieces.

This morning, continue to explore this mysterious place.

The site of Khara-Koto was built in the Western Xia Dynasty. It was an important agricultural and animal husbandry base and frontier fortress in the western region of the western Xia Dynasty, and also the main road of the Hexi Corridor in the Yuan Dynasty. Although after more than 700 years, Khara-Koto still retains its lofty grandeur. It is the best preserved ancient city site north of the Ancient Silk Road. A large number of cultural relics have been unearthed here. There used to be quite a large body of water here, and it is in the middle of three water-facing oases.

Next let's turn to visit the Strange Forest, which is formed by the dead populus euphratica. Walking into this forest, you seem to enter a mythical wonderland. The lush populus euphratica is breathtaking in its myriad gestures. In late autumn, their leaves are golden. Standing in the sand sea, they appear more beautiful, and the scenery is attracting.

After that, you will be transferred to Jiayuguan and have a good rest.

Enjoy your buffet breakfast at the hotel, then we will head to Dunhuang with about 4.5 hours driving. 

On the way, you will see the historical and cultural site Yulin Grottoes. The Grottoes are chiseled into the cliffs on both the east and west sides of the Yulin River. The east cliff has 30 grottoes and the west has 11, with a distance of more than 100 meters between them. It used to be called Ten-Thousand Buddha Gorge. The grottoes began to be chiseled and sculpted during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), and was enlarged in the later dynasties, such as Tang (618-907), Five Dynasties (907-960), Song (960-1279), the Western Xia (1038-1227), Yuan (1271-1368) and so on. More than 1,000 square meters of frescoes, and more than 100 colored sculptures are still extant there. The name Yulin (elm forest) came from the elms in the valley, and as you travel along the valley road you can easily imagine how it must have been to be a poet or brave solder in the distant past.

This morning, we will visit Mogao Grottoes, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is one of the great artistic and religious wonders of the world and it is famous for its exquisite murals and various sculptures inside the caves, which was built in different dynasties, spanning 1,000 years of Buddhist art. Enjoy the Silk Road Movies in the visitor Center about 40 mins before our exploration into the Grottoes. The professional guide from the Mogao will bring you to 8grottoes with their special torch so that you have clear view of the murals and paintings. （Note: No photos and Video in the caves). The visiting time is around 4hrs including movie.

Head up to Echoing Sand Mountain&Crescent Lake. When there is wild wind, the sands will be blown up and make loud sound, while the sound sounds like being produced by some ancient musical instrument when blew by breeze, There is also a Crescent Lake that  has been in existence for hundreds of years without ever being buried by the sand. Riding the camel as the Silk Road Caravan in the vast desert is highly recommended (approximately 40mins). Please bring your sunglasses and mask to keep out the dust. 

Afterwards to walk around Shazhou Night Market, the most bustling place of Dunhuang at night. It's easy to lose our sense of time wonder the market while enjoy your leisure time and taste some local cuisine. 

Today we will spend a whole day to explore the geological landscape of Dunhuang

The first site we will visit is the Yumen Guan Pass. It got the name because the famous Khotan jade entered the Dunhuang from here. Yumenguan pass and Yangguan pass were the two critical defensive passes protecting Dunhuang from invasion from the West about thousands of year ago. From here you can not only learn more history and culture about the ancient Silk Road, but also learn many famous poems of Tang Dynasty. 

Thereafter, we will travel to the amazing Yadan National Geological Park, also called "Yadan Ghost City", which is the largest one of Yadan Landform found so far. The park stretches twenty-five kilometers from north to south and about two kilometers from east to west. It features the unique and wonderful scenes and landscapes of Gobi desert.

Breakfast at the hotel, then we will arrange the airport transfer for you. Wish you have a pleasant journey home! Looking forward to meeting you next time~