6-Day South Xinjiang Private Tour of Urumqi Turpan and Kashgar

Attractions: No

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Urumqi

When you arrive at Urumqi airport/train station, you will be met at the exit by a local driver holding a welcome sign with your name and transferred to your hotel in the city centre for check-in. Free to organise the rest of your day at your leisure.

Attractions: Tuyuk Vaillage, Karez System, Jiaohe Ancient City

Meal: Not included

Hotel: Overnight in Turpan

Today we will have a long visit in Turpan to see the classic sites of the Silk Road, you will need to get up earlier than usual and may return to Urumqi in the late afternoon. Turpan is China's most popular city and an outpost of the Silk Road, where you can get an in-depth feel of the Silk Road and explore the cultural heritage associated with the Silk Road.

You will drive about 3.5 hours (245 km) from Urumqi to Turpan to visit Tuyuk Valley. Located in the centre of the Flaming Mountain Canyon. The village consists of four parts: canyon scenery, mazar tombs, and ancient buildings of the ancient village. After finishing there, we will visit the Jiaohe Ruins, one of the best-preserved ancient sites in China, which was inscribed on 22 June 2014 on the World Heritage List.

Mazar Village. It is the oldest surviving Uyghur village, with a history of more than 2,600 years, and is one of the highlights of the Tuluk River Valley. It holds an important position in Buddhism and Islam. The villagers still live peacefully in the village and you can clearly see how they live their daily life in their old adobe houses. Some villagers kindly invite visitors to visit their vineyards and taste their fresh grapes or pickled fruits.

You will then discover the brilliant project of Karez System. Because of the peculiar structure and extraordinary function of the Karez Well irrigation system, it has been attracting people's attention for a long time.

Your last stop is the famous relic - Jiaohe Ancient City. Take your time to walk and stroll. The once bustling neighbourhoods and temples have been preserved, and some of the structures can still be imagined.

After Turpan exploration, drive the same way back to Urumqi for accommodation.

Attractions: Xinjiang Regional Museum, Heavenly Lake

Meal: Not included

Hotel: Overnight in Urumqi

This morning after breakfast, you will be taken to have an educational visit to the Xinjiang Regional Museum. The Xinjiang Region Museum is a provincial-level comprehensive geography museum in China, and also an institution for the collection and protection of cultural relics and specimens, scientific research and publicity and education in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Leaving the museum, you are going to explore the Heavenly Lake. The scenery is like a fairyland. The scenic area encompasses alpine lakes, wetland meadows, forest canyons and other natural landscapes, and in 2013, the scenic area was named a National Geopark by the state.

There are three water areas in the Tianchi Scenic Area. In addition to the main lake, there are two other water areas on the east and west sides.Scenic spots in the area between the various attractions are connected by trestles, can be reached on foot.

After the landscape trip, take a park bus to exit the park, and drive back to Urumqi.

Attractions: Abakh Hoja Tomb Id Kah Mosque, Local Bazaar, Handicrafts Street

Meal: Not included

Hotel: Overnight in Kashgar

This early morning, you will take a flight to Kashgar (about 2 hrs), the southwestern border city of Xinjiang

You will visit the Abakh Hoja Tomb first, which is not a simple tomb but an exquisite architectural complex including chapels, gardens, archways, etc, it is seemed as the best place in the region to admire Uygur people’s extraordinary aesthetics and skills of Islamic architecture. It also offers a rare opportunity to see and learn about the funeral customs of Uygur families because there is a large Islamic family of five generations whose name is Abakh Hoja buried here.

Next, you will visit the landmark of Kashgar - Id Kah Mosque. The whole mausoleum is a group of very beautifully constructed magnificent ancient architectural complex. The Church, high and low worship temple, gate tower, the main crypt, orchard and other major components, a variety of different shapes of the building constitutes a mausoleum of different heights, staggered multi-level landscape.

Only several minutes' walk from the mosque is the exotic Kashgar Old Town. It is one of the world's largest existing raw earth architectural complexes, with crisscrossing streets and lanes, and buildings of different heights, it is currently the only well-preserved labyrinthine city block featuring Islamic culture.In July 2015, Kashgar Old Town Scenic Spot was rated as a national 5A scenic spot, and it became the first national 5A historical and humanistic scenic spot in Xinjiang.

Walk through the famous Handicrafts Street where you are able to see dazzling jewellery, original pottery, unique musical instruments. Free time at a tea house is specially arranged for you to relax and soak up the local culture and traditions.

Today’s activities end. Have a good rest in your hotel in Kashgar.

Attractions: Karakul Lake

Meal: Not included

Hotel: Overnight in Kashgar

Today, you are going to visit the famous Karakul Lake. The lake is in the mountains in the environmental protection, the lake water and grass, often Kirgiz herdsmen stationed here. Karakuli Lake is one of the few highland lakes in the world. Every year in summer and autumn, is the base camp of mountaineering tourists, but also passing travellers to visit the place of excursion.

After an exhausting long drive, it is very sure that you will be compensated by the constant landscape of the overwhelming Pamirs Plateau. This tourist area is centred on the "Stone City, a national cultural relics protection unit, the Golden Grass Beach, a national wetland park, the unique natural landscape of the Caiyun People's Scenic Spot, and the Family Folk Village", which has a profound history and culture as well as beautiful plateau scenery, and also provides an opportunity to learn about the unique folklore of the Tajiks.

Drive the same way back to Kashgar, and have a good rest in Kashgar city.

Attractions: Local Bazaar

Meal: Not included

Hotel: Not included

On this morning, you can enjoy plenty of sleep and wake up to the bustling Kashgar Local Bazaar, which used to be a great place to meet locals, traders and travellers on the Silk Road.  If it happens to be a Sunday, it will be scheduled to a more unique livestock bazaar. Then we will escort you to the airport.