12 Days Silk Road and Inner Mongolia

Nihao, welcome to Beijing, the capital of China. Be transferred to the hotel. Relax and prepare for your Natural wonders and Culture Adventure.

At 08:00, we will pay a visit to Tianan Men Square for 30 mintes, Continue the 3hrs exploration in Forbidden City, also called Palace Museum. Walk on the steps of the most magnificent and splendid palace complex in China. Feel the enchant atmosphere or to foresee the Emperors were ruling this great county. The Hollywood Movie“The Last Emperor” highly recommended before your visiting

After Lunch in the local Restaurant, make our way to Temple of Heaven,1-2hrs walking through the vast beautiful park to enjoy the impressive architecture and interesting story of the Chinese Emperors prayed for good harvest

In the evening, enjoy a delicious dinner and have a good rest in the hotel.

As the most famous and popular site, we will start early at 7:00 before the big groups arrive. After 2hr's driving, enjoy the cable car ride to the wall is peaceful and scenic. It is a fantastic experience to walking on the well-maintained wall where you also need a lot of water or an umbrella in the 2hr's visiting. Lunch will be arranged in the courtyard at the foot of the Great Wall.

Drive back to the city and visit the Bird's Nest National Stadium and Water Cube Aquatic Centre en route.

Then transfer to the airport to take the flight to Hailar for a good rest.

After breakfast, head to Hulun Lake, the 5th largest fresh water lake in China and the largest lake in the Inner Mongolia. There you can experience 241 bird species, including crane, gull, swan, one of the few treasure houses of birds in the world. You will enjoy an all-fish feast for your lunch.Then head to appreciate the massive grassland lake. Boating on the lake is optional at your own fee. 

Then go to Shiwei used to be a cradle of multi-ethnic groups including Mongols. It is a beautiful town and listed as one of top ten most beautiful townships in China. The town and its surrounding villages feature the Russian style in terms of architectures and living habits

Dinner will be arranged in a Russian descendant family and home-stay overnight in a Mukeleng house, a kind of Russian traditional house built with logs on stone foundation.

After breakfast at 09:00 , you will visit a Muleleng House of over 100 years old. Then move on to the Sino-Russian boder river to appreciate the beauty of Erguna River scattered around the forest and the grassland with many types including marshes, shrub swamps, swamp forest, open bogs and moss. and have a distant view of the opposite Russian town. 

In the afternoon drive to the heartland of Hulunbuir Grassland. On the route, you are immersed in the blue sky and white clounds though the grassland. Then drive to Jinzhanghan Grassland, the only nomadic tribe open to the tourists, a reproduction of the camping tents in Genghis Khan's time.

At 09:00 we will participate in the sacrificing of Aobao, the most common and grand sacrificial activity of the Mongolians.

Afterward, you will be transferred to the airport to take the flight to Jiayuguan. Upon arrival, meet with your guide and driver, be transferred to your hotel in Jiayuguan to check in for a good rest.

Begin your today's journey to the Jiayuguan Fortress. Standing among vast desert and surrounded by rolling mountains,it looks like a dignified general guarding the grand land. It was constructed with the most integrated defensive system: an inner city, an outer city, and a moat. Besides functioning as a frontier military fortress, it was also an important traffic hub along the Silk Road, the oldest worldwide trading route.

Then continue driving to Dunhuang to visit Echoing Sand Mountain, where you can ride the camels for 40mins to experience the beautiful desert scenery in the sunset. It is also fun to climb up to the top of the sand dune by the ladders to have the bird-view of the park and slide down to the bottom.

Today is another day to explore Dunhuang.

Morning meet your guide and driver at the hotel, then head 2hours to vist the Yangguan Pass, a scenic spot built on the basis of the ancient Yangguan Site. There you can appreciate ancient buildings and exhibition halls displaying  cultural relics and historical sites on the ancient Silk Road.

We will travel to the majestic Yadan National Geological Park, also called "Yadan Ghost City". The park stretches twenty-five kilometers from north to south and about two kilometers from east to west. There you can appreciate unique and wonderful scenes and landscapes of Gobi desert.

After an extraordinary day, freshen up and enjoy a good dinner, we continue to appreciate the bustling Shazhou Night Market dotted with special commodities and souvenirs.

Today is another day to explore Dunhuang.

Today we are going to appreciate the Holy Center of Buddhism Culture and Art-UNESCO of Mogao Grottoes, enjoying the 40mins 4D movie to learn the development of the grottoes and then we will be escorted by the professional guides from Mogao to enjoy the the 8 caves mainly.

Afterwards, say farewell to Dunhuang and we will take high-speed train to Turpan.

Our first stop is Bezkilik Thousand Buddha Caves located in the center of Flaming Mountains.Then continue to Tuyoq Valley, an ancient oasis-village. We will have lunch in the local Uighur family before exploring this traditional village surrounded by the impressive grape trellis and the stories of the adventurers all of the world.

About 3pm, head up to the Karez Well irrigation system that produce the best melons and grapes in China. Following is the visiting to Sugong Minaret, a conduit for cultural exchange between different ethnic and religious groups.

Today's tour end up with the 2hrs's exploration of Jiaohe Ruins, resembles Pompei, but 300 years older, a Chinese archaeological site found in the Yarnaz Valley, 10 km west of the city of Turpan and a natural fortress located atop a steep cliff on a leaf-shaped plateau between two deep river valleys where you can experience the way of life of the Uygur ancestors.

Drive to the capital city of Xinjiang- Urumqi. Relax with free time for the rest of the day. If the group is less than 4 persons, we may use high-speed train for transfer.

We will drive 1.5 hours to entrance of the Heavenly Lake about 08:30, following is the 40-minutes shuttle bus twisting through the picturesque Tianshan mountains to the edge of the Lake. Either Trek around the lake, enjoy the boating cruise, or even take the cable car to the explore the Maya Mountain for the incredible view of Bogoda Peak.

Lunch will be arranged in the Yurt of the local Kazakhs. Back to Urumqi and head to Xinjiang Regional Museum, where are many archaeological treasures of the Silk Road and Xinjiang's minority cultures. You will learn about the history of Xinjiang and its peculiar ethnic customs. If time allowed, you will visit Grand International Bazaar and have dinner there.

Today our journey comes to a halt after a good breakfast. You will be transferred to the airport or train station based on your schedule.