China 16 Days Private Memorial Tour of Beijing, Xi’an, Urumqi, Turpan, Jiangyuguang and Shanghai

Attractions: Not Included

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Beijing

Beijing Airport Parking Lot

Upon your arrival in Beijing, your guide will meet you at the airport and transfer you to the hotel. Relax in the hotel during the remainder of the day, or you can have a self-exploration with suggestions from your guide.

Attractions: Mutianyu Great Wall, Summer Palace

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Beijing

This morning you will be taken to Mutianyu Great Wall to experience at first hand the wonder of the Great Wall. The round-trip cable car will be arranged. Standing on the wall and looking at it stretching up and down into boundless distance is an exciting experience and will leave you a life-long memory. Lunch is on your own and your guide will gladly assist.

Then we will visit Summer Palace, the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China. Stroll around ancient pavilions, mansions, temples, bridges and corridors. Feast your eyes on the vast lotus in Kunming Lake and the colored paintings in Long Corridor.

Attractions: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Flight to Urumqi

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Beijing

After breakfast, you will be picked up at your hotel. Then, start to explore the historical face of Beijing with a brief visit to Tiananmen Square which is now the largest city plaza in the world. Tiananmen Gate on the northern square was the site where the Chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

Stepping into the Tiananmen, you will see one of the world’s 5 most important palaces – Forbidden City (Palace Museum), a huge palace complex of more than 9,000 rooms where 24 emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties used to live in. Pass through various doorways to admire the magnificent and well preserved buildings decorated with yellow glazed tile roof, white marble base and splendid colorful paintings.In the afternoon, drive about 40 minutes to the outskirts of Beijing to spend an enjoyable time in Temple of Heaven, which is the masterpiece of ancient times and China's existing largest structure for sacrifice to heaven. You could also see lots of local residents doing exercises in the square and full of vigor.Take night flight for Urumqi.

Attractions: Heavenly Lake, Xinjiang Regional Museum, Erdaoqiao Bazaar

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Urumqi

Take a driving for 120km northeast to visit the holy Heavenly Lake (Tianchi). The beautiful lake is flanked by rugged pines and cypresses, with clear melting waters reflecting the surrounding of snow capped mount Bogeda. Drive back to downtown in the afternoon, visit Xingjiang Regional Museum, a a large integrated museum and a study on cultural relics in Xinjiang. Then enjoy your free time at Erdaoqiao Bazaar.

Attractions: Flight to Kashgar, Zhiren Street, Id Kah Mosque, Apak Hoja Tomb, local bazaar

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Kashgar

Check out from hotel in the morning and you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Kashgar. Today, take a visit to Zhiren Street, an old street with an amazing hand-made stuff from strictly utilitarian cookware to exotic musical instruments. Then continue your trip to Id Kah Mosque, which is one of the largest and busiest in China. Then, you can take a short visit to Apak Hoja Tomb. If it is Sunday, the local Bazaar will be a good place for you to have a visit. This ancient market attracts locals and merchants from all over Xinjiang and nearby countries such as Pakistan and Kirghizstan.

Attractions: Karakul Lake

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Urumqi 

Today you will have a leisure day in Kashgar. Take a bus tour through the Karakurum Highway to Karakul Lake, enjoy the beautiful snow –capped mountain of Muztagh Ata and the lake. The lake is very clear, reflecting the snowy peaks of the surrounding mountains and the blue sky. There are vast grasslands and beautiful flowers along the shore of the lake, which is an important place for Uyghur herdsmen to graze their animals.Then drive back to overnight in Kashgar.

Attractions: Jiaohe Ancient City, Karez Well, Emin Minaret

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Turpan

Today after breakfast and check-out of the hotel, firstly drive you to visit Emin Minaret (Sugong Pagoda) (1 hour) - the biggest ancient pagoda existing in Xinjiang and the only Islamic ancient pagoda in the country. Continue to the Karez Well (30 min) - reputed as one of the three major construction projects in ancient China. Then go to visit the mysterious death city-the Ruins of Jiaohe Ancient City, which reveals traces of a prosperous ancient trading center and military stronghold 1,600 years ago. Then be transferred to Urumqi (Turpan-Urumqi 200km, about 2 - 2.5 hours driving)

Attractions: Not Included

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

In the morning, drive for 50 km to Turpan railway station to take the bullet train (4 hours) to Liuyuan, which also need another 2 hours driving to the downtown of Dunhuang. Have a good rest today after a long train journey.

Attractions: Jiayuguan Pass,Dunhuang Yadan National Geologic Park

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

Today after breakfast, you will firstly have a 3-hour driving to the Yumenguan Pass (30 min) also known as the Small Fangpan City, prospered with the prosperity of the Silk Road, and was once a place through which merchants from the Western regions and people from the Central Plains came and went. Because Hetian jade was imported from here to the Central Plains since ancient times, it is called the Jade Gate Pass.

amazing Dunhuang Yadan National Geologic Park (1 hour) - the largest one of Yadan Landform found so far.Commonly known as Dunhuang Yadan Devil City. It is an important part of Dunhuang Global Geopark in China. At the same time, it is also one of the three most beautiful Yadan landforms in China. When finish the tour, you will have another 3-hour driving back to the Dunhuang downtown. After that, have a rest of this day in hotel.

Attractions: Mogao Grottoes, Mingsha Sand Dunes and Mingsha Hill

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

Today, you will take a visit to Mogao Grottoes (2 hours) - which is considered the great treasure house of Buddhist arts in existence.The Mogao Grottoes, commonly known as the Thousand Buddha Caves, are located on the cliff at the eastern foot of the Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers southwest of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, China, facing the eastern side of the Tongquan River. 

After lunch, go to have a visit of Mingsha Sand Dunes (Crescent Spring and Sighing Sand Dune) (2 hours) - Singing Sand Dune (Mingsha Hill) helps people free from all worries and Crescent Spring purifies people's minds.

Attractions: Jiayuguan Pass

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Jiayuguan 

Departure from Dunhuang in the early morning, take about 4.5 hours driving (385km) to Jiayuguan City. Upon arriving, you will take a visit to Jiayuguan Pass, which has been praised as 'Mighty Pass No.1 under Heaven'.Here, the "Ancient Silk Road" opened up more than 2,000 years ago for economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West and the "ancient battlefield" beacon beacon of military battles of all generations can be seen. 

Attractions: Weijing Tomb Mural

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Xian

In the morning, visit to Weijin Tomb Mural, the famous JinWei Tombs, and they were reputed as “world’s largest underground art gallery”.After the tour, be transferred to the airport for your flight to Xi’an – the most famous ancient capital of China.

Attractions: Terracotta Warriors, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Xian City Wall

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Xian

Today we'll explore the most fascinating Terracotta Warriors and Horses on our trip to Xi 'an. The Terracotta Warriors are considered one of the world's greatest ancient military monuments, attracting countless visitors to admire and explore.

After lunch, stroll through the Ancient Wall, which is one of the most complete and largest surviving ancient city walls in China, built in the 14th century davuring the Ming Dynasty.Then we come to visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda holds a rich collection of Buddhist cultural relics and scriptures, which are of great significance to the study of Buddhist art and culture in the Tang Dynasty. Climbing up the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, you can enjoy a magnificent view of the city of Xi'an.

Attractions: Shaanxi History Museum

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Shanghai

Before heading to Shanghai, you can take a short visit to the famous Shaanxi History Museum.The museum has a large collection of historical relics covering all periods from the Neolithic to the modern era. The museum showcases the rich and colorful history and culture of Shaanxi, including pottery, bronzes, calligraphy, paintings and precious Han Dynasty relics.After lunch, be transferred to the airport to board a short flight to Shanghai.

Attractions:Jade Buddha Temple, Yuyuan Garden, Chenghuangmiao, Oriental Pearl TV Tower, The Bund, Nanjing Road

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Shanghai

This morning pay a visit to the Jade Buddha Temple, also known as Jade Buddha Zen Temple, located in Putuo District Anyuan Road, although the temple history is not long, but it is one of the most famous ancient temples in Shanghai, one of the four Buddhist temples in Shanghai. The Ruyi Wheel Guanyin statue of Jade Buddha Temple is located in the Hall of Great Compassion in the temple.Then we visit the Oriental Pearl which is located in Pudong New District, Shanghai, was built in 1994, is one of the landmark buildings and tourist attractions in Shanghai, the first batch of 5A tourist attractions in China. 

Then pay a visit to the Yuyuan Garden, Yu Garden was originally a private garden in the Ming Dynasty, which was built in the Ming Dynasty and has a history of more than 400 years as of 2015. In the evening, we can stroll along the Nanjing Road and the bund to enjoy the fabulous night of Shanghai.

Attractions: Not Included

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Not Included

Today is free for you until your tour guide and driver escort you to the airport in time for the scheduled flight/railway station to other destination. Tour ends.