12 Days Xinjiang Classic Silk Road Tour

Today our guide and driver will pick you up at airport or train station ,or our guide and driver can pick you up at Irkeshtam or Torugat pass from Kyrgyzstan border and transfer you back to kashgar to hotel , please let us Know your mode of Arrival to Kashgar

Walking tour to kashgar night food market can be offered at the day of arrive on your request ,

Kashgar has been claimed “the best-preserved example of a traditional Silk Road city to be found anywhere in Central Asia”, although the city is becoming more developed. Being the cultural center of China, Kashgar is one of the top silk road destinations in China So far today we will do full day excursion in this city, and visit Kashgar Sunday livestock Market, south and central Asia Market, Apak Hoja tomb, Idkah Mosque and Kashgar old town, and enjoy the Uyghur local cuisines like kebab, hand pulled noodle in best Uyghur food restaurant in kashgar

So far today we will do full day excursion in this city, and visit Kashgar Sunday livestock Market, south and central Asia Market, Apak Hoja tomb, Idkah Mosque and Kashgar old town, and enjoy the Uyghur local cuisines like kebab, hand pulled noodle in best Uyghur food restaurant in kashgar.

 Kashgar Live Stock Market:  Open field agricultural market only held every Sunday, Uyghur farmers type, very local atmosphere, business is all about the animals like sheep, yaks, goats, donkey, cows, camels and horses,

 South and Central Asia Market: it is regular commodity market that has all sort of goods, Market attracts more than hundred thousand people every Sunday from nearby towns around the kashgar and from central Asian countries as well.

 Apak Hoja tomb: Mausoleum is finest examples of Uyghur  architecture in China, large dome of 17m is at the center surrounded by four corner minarets with strips and arabesque floral patterns initially built in 1640, powerful religious and political leader Apak hoja’s five generations of relatives buried inside the tomb,

 Idkah Mosque:  Being largest mosque in China ,the Idkah mosque is unique best preserved Uyghur architecture in modern days and can hold more than 20 thousand worshipers on Friday prayer.

 Kashgar old town: well preserved more than 1000s years old Uyghur residential area, people began to settle down there 11 hundred years ago  ，and it was cultural, political and important transportation hub in Central Asia’s silk road, it is treasure of silk road.Because of its unique natural old fashion medieval style, old town attracted the attention of Hollywood to shot the film “Kite Runner”, most parts of the film were shot in this old town,

And more than 40 thousands of Uyghur families still live here behind hand-carved poplar doors, many in tumbledown rentals, others in two-story homes that vault over the alleys and open on courtyards filled with roses and cloth banners.

Nigh in hotel in Kashgar

After breakfast in hotel， we’ll drive on  breathtaking highest and adventurous paved highways in the world called Karakoram highway  to go though High Mountain range to Karakul Lake（卡拉库里湖） , we will visit the Opal village market ,Red Mountains beside the Gez river and Bulungku lake(sand mountain lake白沙湖) along the way , and you might be interested to see and have lunch in nomad Kyrgyz Yurt to experience the nomadic life of Kyrgyz people in the remote mountains ,on the way will also enjoy the great view of the snow peaks like Kongur (7719m) and Muztagh ata(7546m)

Karakul Lake: it is rare highland lake in the world at the elevation of 3600m, located on the side of Karakoram highway ,200km south west of Kashgar, it is surrounded by many snow capped high mountains like Mt Muztagh Ata(7546m) and Konggur (7649m). You will have chance to hike around the lake,

Today you will have option to depart for Hotan(khotan,和田)by driving or by train or by flight from kashgar , you can just let us know , to day will spend to arrive Hotan , you can just let us know your prefered mode of transport to Hotan from kashgar

arrive hotan in the evening and transfer to hotel ,

Khotan was very important city and non touristic Uighur city in the southern silk road, and also was one of the earliest Buddhist states in the world and a cultural bridge across which Buddhist culture were transmitted from India to China, Khotan was established as City in 300BC, so you can visit some ancient Buddha ruins, as well as it’s thousand years old of historical major products such as its famous nephrite jade and pottery factories and silk weaving factories ,Full day excursions to Khotan grand Bazaars, Jade River, ancient style of silk weaving work shop  and Hotan night food market in the evening  , it is one of the diverse and largest night food market in Xinjiang where you can enjoy and taste all kinds of local Uighur foods from different parts of Xinjiang , camel riding in taklamakan desert could also be arrange  up on your request ,

 Night in hotel in hotan

Today is going to be our very exciting and adventurous part of our trip, we drive across the vast Taklamakan desert from south to north, it is second largest shifting desert in the world, full day driving on the new desert highway to reach Kuqa northern Taklamakan oasis city in the middle of Silk Road , we will get our lunch prepared in the morning and drive on the highway cross the desert ,

Arrive Kuqa in the afternoon and transfer to hotel to take rest

Another ancient Buddha cultural city on the middle silk road located north part of Taklamakan desert, Kucha was called Kusan (Qiuci in Chinese) in ancient times, today we will visit all exotic sites like Kizil thousand Buddha caves, Tianshan Grand Canyon, and Kucha Grand Mosque, subash ancient city ruins

 Kizil thousand Buddha caves: located 75km northwest of Kucha, there are 236 Buddhist Rock-cut caves; the caves are the earliest major Buddhist cave complex in China, with development occurring between the 3rd and 8th centuries. Although the site has been both damaged and looted, at least 1000 square meters of wall paintings—mostly Jataka stories—remain.

Subash ancient city: it is the ruins of ancient Buddhist Kucha city, temples and some residential houses still visible, establishment date back to 2nd century BC,

Tianshan Grand canyon: it is one of the weird red rock canyon in tianshan mountain ranges ,it would be nice hiking outdoor for few hrs ,

Kucha Grand Mosque: mosque in Kucha, one of the old mosques in Xinjiang which was built in 17^th century.

Transfer back to the hotel in kucha ,

today we can either drive to Turpan or can take train to Turpan ,it would be 7hrs train and driving from Kuqa to Turpan,arrive Turpan in the evening and transfer to hotel

Turpan is located in the Turpan Basin which is deepest basin in China, northeastern part of Taklimakan desert. it is the Key city on the Middle Silk Road and unique Uyghur Buddha cultural City throughout the Buddha cultural period in the history of Uyghur’s until the 14th century,  and Turpan is transmission point of different religions in Xinjiang where there are many mummies ,ancient graves and historical relics of Islam,Buddhism ,Shamanis and Nestorianism ,Turpan has some very well preserved ancient ruins that protected by UNESCO

Today we spend the whole day to visit the historical sites in Turpan, we will visit Jiaohe ancient city,Karez Well Museum, Tuyuk valley, Gaochang ancient city, and Emin Minarate mosque

.Jiaohe (Yarghul in Uyghur) Ancient City: it is called Yarghul ancient city in Uyghur and well preserved, excavated mud UNESCO ancient city ruin in the world. earliest settlers of this city was no later than 1800 years BC, it is abandoned in 14th century, All the houses, even few stores as well, were built by excavating the clay ground .that’s the distinctive different part than any other ancient cities throughout the silk road .The city was built on a large islet (1650 m in length, 300 m wide at its widest point) in the middle of a river which formed natural defenses, which would explain why the city lacked any sort of walls. It is UNESCO site,

 Tuyuk valley: lovely valley in which the small old Uyghur village located, when we walk around the village we can absorb the Uyghur residential lifestyle in Turpan,

 Gaochang ancient city: called Idiqut(also called Karahoja) city in Uyghur, located 30km south east of modern turpan ,Gaochang was built in the 1st century BC; it was an important site along the Silk Road. It played a key role as a transportation hub in western China. A busy trading center, it was a stopping point for merchant traders traveling on the Eastern Silk Road. There is some documented history surviving today, perhaps stories passed on through oral tradition exist to detail the history. It was burnt down in wars in the 14^th century. Old palace ruins and inside and outside cities can still be seen today.

 Uighur family visit dinner or lunch  could be arranged today in one of the families in Tuyuq , after the excusions in the city ,we weill Transfer back to the hotel ,

in the evening ,guide and driver can take you to night market if you are interested to enjoy the street foods in turpan ,

after breakfast in hotel , we will drive few hrs to Urumqi , capital of Xinjiang ,after the lunch in Urumqi , we will visit Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous regional museum which is one of the best museums in China with its ancient Mummies and distinctive ethnic cultural exhibition, you can learn about the history ,culture ,customs of ethnic minorities in China ,

after visiting Museum , we will be back to Urumqi international grand market for few hrs walk to see the Urumqi evening life and market culture of local people ,

overnight in hotel in Urumqi

after early breakfast in hotel we will drive few hrs to heavenly lake , one of the most beautiful naturel lake in Tianshan range  under the boot of Boghda peak 5500m of Tianshan , it is also callen Tianchi in CHinese , we will spend about 3 hrs there and drive back to urumqi in the evening ,

overnight in hotel in urumqi ,

after breakfast in hotel , our guide and driver will transfer you to airport or train station to send you off from Xinjiang after great memories of silk road ,