Silk Road Exploration

- Guide delivers your CH cell phone(one for each group). Pay no rental, call time only: A Free CH cell phone package includes free rental for the cell phone and SIM card and at least 30 free minutes, delivery and collection in China. Return the phone to your guide when you depart. A recharge at standard rate is available if the free minutes are used. Note: Our rental phones do not work in Hong Kong. You must return the phone to your guide before leaving for Hong Kong. * Free minutes vary from 30-60 mins depending on the destination of the calls. Ask the travel advisor for details. For more about the cell phone rental service, please click:http://www.chinahighlights.com/deals/free-cellphone-tour/

Note: You may receive text messages in Chinese on your cell phone. These messages are advertisements or possibly weather information. We cannot block or turn these off. If anyone in China needs to contact you, the message will be in English. If you are concerned, please ask your guide to read the message.

- Boat for Cruise on the Heavenly Lake (40 minutes): It is a different way to visit Heavenly Lake by boat.
- Erdaoqiao Market (1 hour): The Erdaoqiao Bazaar is the largest in Urumqi. You'll find a bustling market filled with fruit, clothing, crafts, knives, carpets and almost anything that you can imagine. On Sunday, there are more stalls and more goods to buy than any other day. The old streets around the bazaar are really worth seeing.Here is the most welcomed place by tourist especialy by ladies where they can buy some traditional yugur make up cosmetic.
- Heavenly Lake: Heavenly Lake (Tian Chi) is a beautiful blue mountain lake. The blue lake water is finely contrasted with steep forested hills, high meadows and snowy Heavenly Mountain peaks behind. There you can walk, take electric carts, cable cars and a boat cruise on the lake.
- Jiamu Restaurant: Jiamu Restaurant is a Uygur style restaurant, mainly providing Uygur cuisine but no wine allowed while dining. The restroom is in good decoration and there is a short time for live performance during lunch time.


- Souvenir Shop of the Great Hall of the People: This factory manufactures and sells many kinds of jade articles, including Xinjiang Hetian jade, jade jewelry, and Xinjiang jade sculptures. There are also many woven rugs on sale with beautiful traditional designs.
Tel: 0991-4835598
Address: 45 North Youhao Road, Urumuqi, Xinjiang

- The Xinjiang Museum (2 hours): The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum has collections of silver works of art, stone steles, coins and currency, ceramics, wooden articles, and paintings. One of the highlights is the well-preserved collection of 4,000-year-old corpses, unearthed along the Silk Road . A modern-style building occupying 11,000 square meters, it is located on Xibei Road, 2 km north of People's (Renmin) Park

- Id Kah Mosque (40 minutes): This 15th century mosque is one of the largest and busiest in China. As you stroll under the trees in the pleasant courtyards, you glimpse the strength and care of the local community. At midday on Fridays around 10,000 people will gather to pray and study the Koran, and prayer 5 times/day on other days. You'll be asked to remove your shoes before entering the Main Hall, which has traditional Islamic pillars,carvings and rugs strewn over the floors. Women are adviced to cover upper arms and legs, a scarf is not compulsory, but is seen as a mark of respect. This is a must visit place for tourist in Kashgar .
- Zhiren Street (1 hour): It is close to Id Kah Mosque, an old street with an amazing range of goods being crafted for sale by hand , from strictly utilitarian cookware to exotic musical instruments. There's not much light industry in Kashgar, so everything is hand-made or imported from a very distant place. Copper, metal, porcelain, woodwork, jewellery and other goods are seen to be made and you will marvel at incredible devices like the wooden objects that prevent babies from wetting the bed.
- Kashgar Old Town (1 hour): Explore the maze of narrow streets in this oldest residential area of Kashgar. Houses were originally built along a natural slope, and extended over the years with many streets either fully or half-covered. Traditional Uighur life continues here in time-honoured fashion. Visit local families, see potteries, bakeries, embroidery, and local skills. There's a local Folk Museum, and yes, souvenirs are for sale but these are not rich people, a purchase is better than a gift.
- Livestock Market (1 hour): Streets near this big market are choked on Sundays with farmers and buyers arriving by donkey cart, truck, bicycle, horseback, ute, motorbike or on foot, with their animals. It's loud, lively and cheerful as they arrive, eat breakfast, set up their animals and check out the action. Cattle, sheep (they definitely look different), goats, donkeys, horses have their own sections; sellers show their animals are "good eaters"(most go as livestock not meat) and the entire experience is fascinating and fun.
- Orida Culture Restaurant: The restaurant is located near the Id Kah Mosque. It specializes in Moslem food. It is well decorated in a Uygur' style. Wine is not provided here.

- Qingzhen Fengwei Restaurant: The restaurant is located near the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region museum. It specializes in Moslem food. Dishes like fried rice and mutton chop are recommended. It is well decorated in a Uygur’style. Wine is not allowed here.

- Astana Tombs (40 minutes): It is located in the Gobi Desert in the north of Gaochang, 40 kilometers away from Turpan city. At the Ancient Tombs of Astana, thousands of treasure historical relics had been unearthed, including mummy, writing, inscription, painting, earthen figurine, stone wares, pottery wares, wood wares, bronze wares, iron wares, gold wares, silver wares, cotton, silk, wool, ancient coins and so on. Therefore, the Ancient Tombs of Astana is called the "Gaochang's live history record and underground museum in the Turpan area." Although there are almost 500 tombs in this area only three tombs opened to tourists.One have two mummys the other two have murals.
- Tuyoq Village and Tuyugou Canyon (1.5 hours): The Tuyugou Great Canyon is 46 kilometers away from Shanshan county in the east, 47 kilometers from Turpan city in the west and 13 kilometers from the Gaochang Ancient City in the southwest.Among the canyons in the Flame Mountain which extends nearly one hundred kilometers, the Tuyugou Great Canyon is the canyon with the longest culture and the most mighty and majestic natural landscapes.



Tuyoq is a traditional village of vineyards, orchards, narrow streets and irrigation channels tumbling between ancient mudbrick houses and shady trees against the backdrop of the bare, red Flaming Mountains. An easy and pretty walk takes you to a group of very ancient caves carved into the mountainside. You can stop and enjoy the surroundings, or climb the steep stairways to view some of the caves, parts of their frescoes still visible, with both Buddhist and Nestorian connections.
- Suleiman Minaret (40 minutes): Also known as Sugong Tower, it is the biggest ancient tower existing in Xinjiang and the only ancient Islamic minaret in the country. It is located 2 kilometers southeast of Turpan's center.
- Local vineyard visit (40 minutes): Turpan is famous for its fruits with grapes being the most famous. The Grape Valley is very touristy so we'll arrange a visit to a local family run vineyard so that you get a real experience. They plant their grapes at the back of their house. It is a major source of income for local people. You will be able to walk around the farm and talk to local people to learn about their daily life.
- Red Rose Restaurant: Red Rose Restaurant is located near the Turpan Museum. It is an authentic Uygur restaurant mainly providing Uygur cuisine in local. Dishes like Xinjiang rice and lamb chop are recommended.

- The Karez Wells (40 minutes): This irrigation system of wells connected by underground channels is considered to be one of the three great ancient projects in China. The Karez Wells Folk Garden and Museum is located adjacent to Turpan, 3 kilometers east of the city center. The famous fruit and vineyards of these hot, dry desert communities owe their existence to the Karez wells, ancient underground irrigation channels fed by wells that tap into the snowmelt from surrounding mountains. These systems are still maintained and functioning today. A small museum provides an insight into their intriguing history and construction, and takes you below ground for a first-hand view.
- The Ruins of the Ancient City of Jiaohe (2 hours): The Jiaohe Ruins are the biggest, oldest and best-preserved city of its construction in the world. Jiaohe was built by the ancient Cheshi people in the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC) and the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). Located in the Yarnaz Valley, 8 km (5 mi) west of Turpan, it was dug out of and constructed from the yellow-gray parched ground of a narrow 30-meter-high, 1.5-km-long vertical sided island in a river. It is a good vantage point for seeing the surrounding landscape of vineyards and orchards followed by desert and mountains.
- Red Rose Restaurant: Red Rose Restaurant is located near the Turpan Museum. It is an authentic Uygur restaurant mainly providing Uygur cuisine in local. Dishes like Xinjiang rice and lamb chop are recommended.

- The Singing Sand Mountains and Crescent Spring (2 hours): Crescent Spring (Yueya Quan) is in the Singing Sand Mountains (Mingsha Shan), 6 km (4 mi) south of Dunhuang. It is an oasis in the desert. The spring's name derives from the crescent-shaped lake formed by the spring water between two huge sand dunes. Although the area is very dry, the pool doesn't dry up as one might expect.
- The Mogao Grottoes (3.5 hours): Constructed over a millennium, from the 4th to the 14th centuries, the caves hold the world's richest treasure house of Buddhist sutras, murals and sculptures, including the world’s third largest giant Buddha. Photography is strictly prohibited. They are located 17 km (11 mi) southeast of Dunhuang on the east face of the Singing Sands.
- Riding on a Camel: Riding a camel on the desert of the Singing Sand Mountains is a great experience. You can enjoy the beautiful wavy shapes of the smooth yellow dunes against the deep blue sky, and imagine you are traveling the ancient Silk Road. Step off the camel and listen for the singing of the sand.
- Fengqingyuan Restaurant: The restaurant is near the Moon Spring in Dunhuang. It is courtyard-style and the cuisine is based on local flavors. It is very popular with the locals.

- The Jiayuguan Pass(including Great Walls Museum) (3.5 hours): The "First Pass Under Heaven" is at the western end of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) Great Wall. It is the most magnificent and best-preserved pass among over a thousand Great Wall passes. This fort commands an awesome position straddling the Gansu corridor between two mountain ranges. The adjacent Great Wall Museum is full of artifacts tracing the history of the world's longest wall.
- The Great Wall on the Cliff (1.5 hours): This spot is 11 km northwest of Jiayuguan city center, and 7 km north of Jiayu Pass Fort. The Suspended Wall is part of the Great Wall. The wall there was built on a ridge with a gradient of 45 degrees. It is very steep and it looks as if it should fall down from the side of the mountain range, so people refer to this section of the Great Wall as "the Suspended Wall".
- JiaYuGang Hotel: The Jiayuguan Hotel is near the Jiayuguan Pass.The cuisine served is based on local flavors.

- Grand Buddha Temple (2 hours): The Grand Buddha Temple is located in Shandan County, Zhangye, which is on the side of 312 National Highway and 66 kilometers away from the east of Zhangye City.The largest indoor reclining Buddha of China – the Nirvan Buddha lies in this temple, which was built in Western Hsia period (1098). It is recorded that the premier of Western Hsia once discovered a Buddha covered by a bluish-green tile, thus the Grand Buddha Temple was initially built.Giant Buddha Temple (Dafo si)：The Giant Buddha Temple, in the southwestern corner of the Zhangye city, is home to China’s largest indoor reclining Buddha.
- Wooden Tower of Sui Dynasty (30 minutes): Originally built in the Sui Dynasty and restored in 1926, the wooden tower is 9 storied with a height of about 40 meters. It is an essence among the wooden towers in China. Buddhist relics were once stored in this tower.
- Local Restaurant: The limited restaurant options mean that there is no choice available however our guide will organize the best available based on the season and the surroundings.

- Lei Tai (2 hours): Leitai Han Tomb is located in north of downtown area in Wuwei.Being a large brick tomb of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Leitai Han Tomb is famous for excavating the cultural treasure bronze galloping horse, which is the symbol of Chinese tourism. Now Leitai Han Tomb is one of important scenic spots in Wuwei
- Wuwei Wen Temple (Wen Miao) (2 hours): Wuwei Wen temple is located in the southeast of the city.Wuwei Wen temple became key provincial level historical reservation approved by Gansu Municipal People's Government on September 1st, 1981.
- Tiantishan Grottoes (1.5 hours): The Tianfo Temple Grottoes is located in Dengshan Village of Zhonglu Town, which is 50kms south of Wuwei City.Tianfo Temple Grottoes, first constructed during Northern Liang of Sixteen Kingdoms Period and carved dynasties and dynasties, forms a grand-scale and owns much magnificent architecture. It is one of earliest grottoes carved in China and regarded as the "forefather of grotto" by researchers. The grotto still preservers 3-story grottoes, 17 different Buddhist shrines, hundreds of square meters of murals and over 100 painted Buddha.
- Local Restaurant: The limited restaurant options mean that there is no choice available however our guide will organize the best available based on the season and the surroundings.

- White Pagoda Hill (1 hour): It is located on the north bank of the Yellow River in Lanzhou. It is named after the white pagoda on top of it, which was originally erected in the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). A half hour climb (that could be shortened by a cable car ride over the Yellow River) offers a great view of Lanzhou and the surrounding mountains.
- Waterwheel Garden (20 minutes): There are giant steel and wood, once used to lift precious water from the Yellow River to supply the needs of this dry region. There is also a chance to ride on a raft of inflated sheep skins. It is located on South Binhe East Road, the opposite side of the river from White Pagoda Hill, 1 km west of Zhongshan Bridge.
- Golden Beach Hotel: The Golden Beach Hotel is considered to be on the best restaurants in Lanzhou city. Cantonese food and Sichuan food are their specialties.

- Labrang Monastery (3 hours): The Temple of Labrang located in the west one kilometer to Xiahe County. The well-known Temple of Labrang is a symbol of Gelu Denomination among Tibetan Buddhism. The Temple of Labrang was established in the year AD1710. Now it is the largest center of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan culture among Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Sichuan Province
- Xilin Hotel: the Xilin Hotel is near the Labrang Monastery. It serves Sichuan style and Tibetan style food. Tsampa (roast barley) with butter and boiled mutton is one of the famous dishes.

- Shaanxi History Museum (1.5 hours): The history of Shaanxi is said to be the history of China, and this museum is quite simply one of the nation's best. Four major galleries in large, Tang-style buildings house a vast and impressive collection, beautifully displayed. Most of the item labels are in English, although some other information on the exhibitions is not, but your guide can help here. Wear comfortable walking shoes.
- Ancient City Wall (30 minutes): The walls, ramparts, gates and watchtowers form one of the oldest and most complete city defenses still around. Built in the 13th century on the foundations of the original Tang Forbidden City, it s surrounding the city centre. You can walk or pay extra cost to rent a bike (CNY40 per person), rickshaw (CNY45 per person for 45 minutes) or an electric cart (CNY40 per person) around the full 14km circuit, with great views of the city on either side. If the weather is not good for biking on the city wall, we will substitute a visit to the Bell Tower. Your guide will be very glad to take you the Bell Tower after you have been to look at the city wall.
- Muslim Street (1 hour): The Muslim quarters lies 100 meters west of the Bell tower in downtown Xi'an. The 500 meters long avenue paved by bluestones are dotted with many unique stall, souvenir shop, café and bars which are mostly run by Muslim people. Tourists, especially from overseas come and shop here.
- Chongde Handmade Pottery Factory: Chongde Handmade Pottery Factory manufactures copies of the famous Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses from Jing De porcelain. This is a popular place for those looking for special, quality souvenirs. China Highlights customers have the opportunity to see the manufacturing process but also try it with their own hands. This is an exclusive offer for our customers! There is no pressure to buy!
Tel: 029-83577031
Address: No.2 East Chanhe bridge, Hua Qing Rd., Xian.
- Reallove Restaurant: Real Love Restaurant is located opposite the east gate of Small Wild Goose Pagoda and is one of the finest restaurants specializing in Shaanxi cuisine. It has become popular for its elegant environment and excellent service.

- The Terracotta Warriors and Horses (2 hours): Discovered accidentally in 1974, this incredible army of over 7000 soldiers, archers, horses and chariots in full battle array has guarded Emperor Qin's tomb since 210BC. Each figure is unique, and the painstaking repair and excavation continues in 3 pits which are protected inside huge hangars. 1.5 hours from Xian, there is also an excellent museum and film about the history of the vaults. Photos (no flash) are allowed. Wear comfortable walking shoes.
- Big Wild Goose Pagoda (1 hour): A major Buddhist site, the simple, elegant brick Pagoda stands in the grounds of the attractive Da Ci'en Temple. The Pagoda was built in the 7th century to house the Buddhist materials that Xuanzang (Tripitaka) brought back from his epic journey to India. The Temple complex has several large halls with some great Buddhist statues and murals.
- A Wa Shan Zhai Restaurant(Qinling Branch): A Wa Shan Zhai Restaurant was established in 2004, mainly specializes in Hunan and Sichuan cuisine. It provides delicacy by using the material from Shanxi, obtaining a nationwide reputation from customers. It would be a nice choice to dine while traveling the nearby Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses.