Beijing - Xi'an - Dunhuang - Turpan - Kashgar - Karakul Lake - Urumqi - Chengdu - Lijiang - Shangri-la (Zhongdian) - Kunming - Shanghai

Scroll down for departure dates, prices and hotel list.

Day 1/Wed: Departing Home City
The journey begins with our transpacific flight departing the west coast in early afternoon. Cross the International Date Line.

Day 2/Thu: Arrival in Beijing
Meet your guide upon arrival in late afternoon and transfer to the hotel. The balance of the day is at leisure.

Day 3/Fri: Beijing
Beijing is China's capital. Its current resident population of 22 million (2011) ranks Beijing China's second largest city after Shanghai. The ancient city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, and huge stone walls and gates, treasures that make Beijing the most popular destination city in China among both domestic and international visitors.

Following tour orientation we visit Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City and an old hutong - alleyway flanked with traditional residential courtyards. Welcome dinner is a delicious Beijing roast duck feast. (B/L/D)

Day 4/Sat: Beijing
Enjoy a full-day excursion to the legendary Great Wall at Mutianyu, 75km northeast of the city. Zigzagging over 6,000 kilometres from east to west along the undulating mountains, the Great Wall, said to be visible from the moon, was built to hold off tribal invaders from the north. Construction of the earliest sections of the Wall started in the 7th century B.C. A major renovation started with the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368 and took 200 years to complete. The wall we see today in Beijing is almost exactly the result of this effort. (B/L)

Day 5/Sun: Beijing - Xi'an
Morning sightseeing at the Temple of Heaven. Built for emperors to worship Heaven, the Temple of Heaven is China's largest existing complex of ancient sacrificial buildings occupying an area of 273 hectares and three times the area of the Forbidden City. Late afternoon flight to Xi'an after a tour of the Summer Palace. (B/L)

Day 6/Mon: Xi’an
Eastern terminus of the fabled Silk Road and one of the ancient capitals of China, Xi'an is home to the Terracotta Army designed to follow the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) into eternity. Visit the excavation site of the Terracotta Army located 30km east of the city and the emperor's mausoleum nearby. Tonight we enjoy a music and dance show of Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) style after dinner. (B/L/D)

Day 7/Tue: Xi'an - Dunhuang
Today's schedule takes in the ancient City Wall and the Wild Goose Pagoda. Late afternoon flight to Dunhuang. We visit Dunhuang Museum if time allows. (B/L)

Day 8/Wed: Dunhuang
Morning sightseeing introduces us to the brilliant murals and sculptures inside Mogao Grottos, one of the most celebrated legacies of the Silk Road era. Situated at a strategic point along the Silk Route, at the crossroads of trade as well as religious, cultural and intellectual influences, the 492 cells and cave sanctuaries in Mogao are famous for their statues and wall paintings, spanning 1,000 years of Buddhist art. In the afternoon, we visit the Crescent Moon Lake and Singing Sand Dunes. (B/L)

Day 9/Thu: Dunhuang - Urumqi - Turpan
Morning flight to Urumqi, capital and the largest city of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Urumqi means vast pastureland in local Uighur language. Muslim Uighurs account for 71% of the oasis city's entire population. Our sightseeing takes in the provincial museum of history and Red Hill Park. Transfer to Turpan (180km) late in the afternoon. (B/L/D)

Day 10/Fri: Turpan - Kashgar
Located on the northern route of the fabled Silk Road, Turpan is a fertile oasis where crops and vineyards are irrigated by an underground water canal system called karez. Ethic Uyghurs make up 70% of the local population. Our sightseeing today includes Jiaohe Ruins (Yarkhoto, an ancient garrison town), the Bezeklik Buddhist Caves in the Flaming Mountains, and the Karez museum. Transfer to Urumqi airport to fly to Kashgar in the evening. (B/L/D)

Day 11/Sat: Kashgar
Located at the westernmost tip of China, Kashgar, also known as Shufu in the old days, is a vibrant kaleidoscope of Central Asian cultures. An oasis 1200 metres above sea level, Kashgar is a remarkably prosperous and pleasant place, despite remaining, in part, an essentially medieval city.  

We tour Abakh Hoja Tomb (also known as Fragrant Concubine's Tomb) before embarking on a full-day excursion to Karakul Lake, 198 kilometres southwest of Kashgar. Accessed via legendary Karakoram Highway leading to Pakistan, the lake, 3,600 metres above sea level, sits on the laps of Muztagh Ata and Kongur, two towering peaks of the Pamir Mountains. The scenery along the way is simply stunning: high mountain pastures nibbled by camels and yaks tended by yurt-dwelling Tajiks. (B/L)

Day 12/Sun: Kashgar - Chengdu
Kashgar’s extraordinary Sunday market, when half of Central Asia seems to converge on the city, is as exotic to the average Han Chinese as to the foreign tourist. We spend most of the morning exploring the Sunday market. A quick visit to Id Kah Mosque is arranged before lunch. Since there is no direct flight from Kashgar to Chengdu, we'll have to fly to Urumqi (1hr40min) in the afternoon to connect our Chengdu bound flight. Air travel time from Urumqi to Chengdu takes 3 hours covering 2,258km. Chengdu is capital of Sichuan Province; the city has an urban population approaching 3.5 million. (B/L)

Day 13/Mon: Chengdu
Tour of the Giant Panda Breeding Centre is followed by a visit to the museum built on the archaeological site of Sanxingdui Culture (Bronze Age). First chanced upon by a farmer in 1929, Sanxingdui, 40km west of Chengdu, continued to surprise the archaeological community in the decades to come. In 1986, two major sacrificial pits were discovered and the breakthrough aroused widespread academic attention from around the world. The Sanxingdui finds are exciting, but they remain enigmatic. So far no written records of this 5,000-year-old civilization have been found. (B/L)

Day 14/Tue: Chengdu - Lijiang
Morning schedule includes Wangjianglou (river view) Park and a traditional tea house. Fly to Lijiang in late afternoon. Lijiang is home to the ethnic Naxi people whose intriguing Dongba religion and unique customs coupled with the region's enchanting scenery combine to make Lijiang and its vicinity a fascinating place to explore. The old town known as Dayan is protected as a UNESCO-designated World Cultural Heritage Site. (B/L)

Day 15/Wed: Lijiang
A walking tour of the old town is followed by an excursion to Yunshanping or Spruce Meadow, an alpine pasture surrounded by virgin forests at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. En route we stop by an ancient village. The evening concert of classical Naxi music is optional if available. (B/L)

Day 16/Thu: Lijiang - Shangri-la (Zhongdian)
After breakfast we embark on an overland journey to Zhongdian. The day-long drive covers 200 kilometres of country road snaking through scenic river valleys and high mountains dotted by villages of various ethnic nationalities. En route we stop by at Tiger Leaping Gorge, the first bend of the Yangtze. (B/L/D)

Day 17/Fri: Zhongdian
We spend the morning visiting Bita Lake surrounded by virgin alpine forests and a Tibetan village along the way. Afternoon sightseeing takes in Songzanlin Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism, and a local market. (B/L/D)

Day 18/Sat: Zhongdian - Kunming
The morning flight to Kunming takes less than one hour. Capital of Yunnan Province, Kunming is widely known as the "city of eternal spring" due to its temperate climate year-round. Our sightseeing in Kunming includes the historic Western Hill Scenic Area. (B/L)

Day 19/Sun: Kunming - Shanghai
Enjoy an excursion to Stone Forest. Located 126km southeast of Kunming, the Stone Forest is a massive collection of gray limestone pillars created by water erosion. The tall rocks seem to emanate from the ground in the manner of stalagmites, with many looking like trees made of stone. Evening flight to Shanghai. (B/L)

Day 20/Mon: Shanghai
Our sightseeing in Shanghai begins with a stroll on the Bund - a waterfront promenade famous for its landmark neoclassical buildings of European style, followed by Shanghai Museum, Jade Buddha Temple, and Yu Garden. Evening entertainment is a dazzling acrobatic show. (B/L/D)

Day 21/Tue: Shanghai - Home City
Spend the morning packing and relaxing. Transfer to the airport to board return flight departing in the afternoon.  Cross the International Date Line and arrive home the same day. (B)

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Hotels
City	No. of Nights	Hotel	Star Rating
Beijing	3	Crowne Plaza U-Town or Sheraton Dongcheng
Xi'an	2	Sheraton Xi'an
Dunhuang	2	Dunhuang Hotel	- best available
Turpan	1	Tuha Petroleum Hotel	- best available
Kashgar	2	Kashi Tianyuan International Hotel	- best available
Chengdu	2	Jinjiang Hotel
Lijiang	2	Guanfang Hotel
Shangri-la/Zhongdian	2	Paradise Hotel
Kunming	1	Green Lake Hotel
Shanghai	2	Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou

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