Liuyuan Holidays
Sample Itinerary - REF CHINA 946
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Day 2: Beijing - Urumqi
Return transfer to the airport for your flight to Urumqi. Welcome to Urumqi, in Xianjiang, a massive province which shares borders with eight countries! A number airlines service Urumqi and our tour starts at this point. Arrival transfer from airport to hotel.
Day 3: Urumqi - Kashgar
Capital of Xinjiang, a largely desert and grassland province fringed by some of the highest mountains in the world, Urumqi sits amidst beautiful scenery, with the snow-clad Tian Shan range to the city’s east. We enjoy an excursion to Tian Chi (Heaven Lake), located at an altitude of 2,000m among the Tian Shan Mountains. Later, fly west to Kashgar.
Day 4: Kashgar
Kashgar’s importance grew from its location as an oasis at the point where the northern and southern routes of the ancient Silk Road converged. See the Id Kah Mosque, Aba Khoja Mausoleum, where the local cemetery filled with distinctive mud and brick tombs is still used by the local Uighur peoples and the colourful Old Town.
Day 5: Kashgar - Urumqi
A visit is made to Kashgar’s local market with free time to explore. Later, a flight to Urumqi.
Day 6: Urumqi - Turpan
Enjoy an excursion to the southern mountain pastures before continuing by road to Turpan. Located on the northern Silk Road, Turpan is a rural Uighur settlement, descended from nomadic Siberian and Central Asian tribes who settled the region in the 9th century. Renowned for its grape production, you’ll visit Putao Gou (Grape Valley).
Day 7: Turpan
We drive to Bezeklik past the Flaming Mountains which due to sun and shadow at certain times of the day seeming to flicker as though glowing poker-hot and visit the Bezeklik Caves which once formed part of a Buddhist monastery. Beyond here are the Astana tombs and the impressive ruins of Gaochang city. Tonight, enjoy a traditional show of song and dance.
Day 8: Turpan - Liuyuan
Visit to Imin Ta (Imin Minaret) constructed in 1778, before heading beyond Turpan to the Jiaohe Ruins. Occupying a spectacular position on a steep plateau, the ancient street plan is still evident. A stop is also made at some 2,000-year-old Karez water channels, an irrigation system that many Silk Road cities and towns relied upon.
Day 9: Liuyuan - Dunhuang
Arrive Liuyuan, and continue to remote Dunhuang, a small and strategically important desert oasis town on the Silk Road, a stone’s throw from the end of the Great Wall. Visit Yueya Quan (Crescent Moon Lake), a small spring-fed lake surrounded by gigantic sand dunes, that has been a vital source of water here for millennia.
Day 10: Dunhuang
Visit perhaps Dunhuang’s most famous attraction, the UNESCO-listed Mogao Caves. The colourful cave paintings which were the legacy of travelling pilgrim monks, merchants and nobles form the most fascinating repository of Buddhist art in China.
Day 11: Dunhuang - Jiayuguan
Enjoy a visit to Jiayuguan Fort at Jiayuguan Pass - the farthest outpost of the Great Wall which was built here by the Ming in 1372, over 5,000km from the wall’s easternmost point at Shanhaiguan. Situated between striking mountain ranges, everything that travelled between central Asia and China had to file through the Jiayuguan Pass.
Day 12: Jiayuguan - Lanzhou
Today we take a flight from Jiayuguan to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province and a former staging post on the Silk Road. Enjoy a boat ride on the 5,487 km long Yellow River (2nd longest in China after the Yangtze) and a visit to Bingling Temple.
Day 13: Lanzhou - Luoyang
Free day to explore tonight we transfer you to the station for the sleeper train to Luoyang.
Day 14: Luoyang
Welcome to Luoyang. Arriving in the morning we transfer you to your hotel. Later today we will take you on a guided tour to the Longmen Grottos and White horse Temple.
Day 15: Luoyang - Xi'an
Early AM a visit to Peony Square to watch ballroom dancing, tai chi and sword fighting the locals do this every morning as part of there exercise regime. After we travel by express train to Xian. Arriving into Xian, transfer to your hotel followed by a visit to the City Wall, Muslim Markets and Wild Goose Pagoda.
Day 16: Xi'an - Yangshuo
This morning we enjoy an in-depth tour of the Terrecotta Warrior site. Later you fly to Guilin. Arrival transfer to your hotel in Yangshuo.
Day 17: Yangshuo
Today enjoy an included bamboo rafting trip on the Yulong River followed by visits to some of local spectacular giant caves and we go to Xanadu - a primitive minority village bursting with rural charm, culture and genuine hospitality. Evening at leisure.
Day 18: Yangshuo - Guilin
This morning we drive to Longsheng. Here, we explore the rice terraces of the Dragon’s Backbone! Beginning at the base of Mt Longji the verdant green rice fields coil the steep mountain layer upon layer climbing to its summit. We then drive to Guilin.
Day 19: Guilin - Guangzhou
This morning you pay a visit to The Reed Flute Cave Within the cave there are enchanting stalagmites, stone pillars, stele, stone curtains and stone flowers. Then we continue on to Elephant Trunk Hill Located at the confluence of the Taohua (Peach Blossom) River and the Li River, this Hill is too famous to be missed. Later we transfer to the airport for the train to Guangzhou.
Day 20: Guangzhou - Hong Kong
Arrival early into Guangzhou our rep will meet you and take you to the station for the express train to Hong Kong. Arrive Hong Kong and make your own way to the hotel nearby.
Day 22: Hong Kong - Shanghai
Morning make your own way to the airport for your flight to Shanghai. Arriving into Shanghai we will meet you and transfer you to your hotel. Later enjoy a visit to the Oriental Pearl TV tower, explore the Jade Buddha Temple, charming Yuyuan Gardens, and the Old City area.
Day 23: Shanghai - Beijing
Today we venture out to visit Zhujiajiao, located in a suburb of Shanghai city, Zhujiajiao is an ancient water town well-known throughout the country, with a history of more than 1700 years. Enjoy a relaxing day with guided explanation and free time to wander old narrow lanes, peculiar stone hawsers on the riverside and old residences. Return to Shanghai Evening transfer for the train to Beijing.
Day 24: Beijing
Today our guide will take for a full day hiking on the great wall of China at Mutianyu Section.
Day 25: Beijing
This morning, we embark on a guided sightseeing tour of the nation’s capital first stop Tiananmen Square! After heading back a few centuries, we step into the Forbidden City, the walled city of the former Chinese emperors for an in depth guided tour. Later a visit to the Summer Palace and explore the lavishly decorated temples, halls and courts, reconstructed in 1902 at the whim of the extravagant Dowager Empress Cixi.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong, with its remnants of the colonial era plus its Chinese heritage, is a fascinating, lively city with multiple ...
Weather in Shanghai
Fair, 29°C
Local Time: 5:56 AM
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