12 Days Xinjiang Travel with Natural Wonder & Folklore

Xinjiang Museum

Our nice guide will meet you at the airport and then start your Xinjiang Romantic Adventure. Visit Xinjiang Museum, Erdaoqiao Market & International Bazaar if time available.
Xinjiang Museum,the museum is the main institution to collect and investigate the unearthed cultural relics and specimens in Xinjiang. There are more than 50 thousand pieces of various kinds of cultural relics stored in the museum, among them, the ancient mummies represented by ‘the Loulan Beauty', manuscripts in Chinese, Kharosthi, Qiuci, Yanji, Tibetan, Uigurian and other characters prevailed in ancient Westen Regions, the silk ,wool, cotton and hemp fabrics and folk retainment, etc., are unusual tidbits in the world.
Erdaoqiao Market & International Bazaar The Erdaoqiao Bazaar is the largest in Urumqi. You'll find a bustling market filled with fruit, clothing, crafts, knives, carpets and almost anything that you can imagine. On Sunday, there are more stalls and more goods to buy than any other day. The old streets around the bazaar are really worth seeing.Here is the most welcomed place by tourist especially by ladies where they can buy some traditional Uygur make up cosmetic.

Day 2

Urumqi  Burqin

Burqin Colorful Beach

Drive on the National Road NO 216 and enjoy the scenery passing by. Over-viewing the second desert of CHINA-- Gurbantunggut Desert Interior, Karamay Mountain Nature Reserve, Burqin Colorful Beach and Huoshao (Burnt) Mountain on the way. you may see the wild goat or wild donkey if you are luck
Burqin Colorful Beach.It is actually referring to the banks of a river that has desert, oasis and forest on its south side while sand/rock mounds in all shapes formed by years of wind erosion, line the north bank. The mounds have very irregular profiles and although they are mainly red, bands of red, white, black and yellow are also found in them.

Day 3

Burqin  Kanas

Kanas Lake

In the early morning, enjoy the sunrise of Erqis river and then head to Kanas Lake , and enjoy the boating.
Kanas Lake is the latest lake open to all tourists in China and has attained a reputation as “the tourism pearl of Mountain Altai”.There are six bays along the Kanas Lake and each of them holds a marvelous tale. A 'roche moutonnee', bedrock corroded by glaciers, can be found in the first bay. It looks like a sleeping sheep appreciating the beautiful lake and welcoming visitors from outside world. The second bay is the deepest point of the lake and also the place where monsters are often 'spotted'. It is said that some local livestock have been dragged into water by these monsters! The third bay is a nature platform for enjoying the marvelous lake, the fourth bay holds a lovely isle covered by trees, and a hill of magpies exists in the fifth bay. The sixth bay, which is at the end of the lake, is admired as a natural wonder by all visitors. There is a pavilion named Fish Watching Pavilion on the other bank of Kanas Lake. Because it is located on a hill, visitors can look down on the beautiful scenery of the whole area.

Day 4

Kanas  Burqin

Hemu

In the morning drive to Hemu --a fairy-land of Xinjiang China, also called the last pure land in the world. and experience the folklore of local Tuwa People. and take the photo of the beautiful view of the sunset, enjoy the trekking around. what a fresh world !! Besides, we can arrange the horses riding for you.
Hemu,a small village within the Kanas Lake area in the north of Xinjiang province, China, enjoy the untraversed snow mountain, icy lake, grassland and primitive Tuwa minority village whom lived there for thousand years.
The Tuwa Tribe: A Mongolian tribe called Tuwa lives on the south bank of the Kanas Lake. Believing in Lamaism, it is a valiant ethic minority with a long history. Tuwa people speak Turkish, resembling the language of Kazakh, and live on hunting and graze. They also have a special folk custom.

Day 5

Burqin  Urumqi  Kashgar

Ghost City

In the morning drive to Urumqi, visit the Ghost City on the way.And take the flight to Kashgar upon arrival Urumqi.
Ghost City:the most beautiful Yardan landform in this region.The movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” has left you a deep impression of the multi-colored bay where the heroine Ziyi was hidden, this special desert scene shot in the movie is located at the Gobi desert.

Day 6

Kashgar  Karakul Lake

 Karakul Lake

After breakfast drive on the China and Pakistan highway to visit the Karakul Lake
Karakorum high way It is 1200 kilometers almost Sino Pakistan—Chinese friendship high way build since 1976. Ancient Silk Road Merchants often run Via over Karakorum, Wahan corridor with Hindi Kush Mountain to India, Pakistan until Iran. On the road, enjoy the scenery of the Mt. Muztag, Taxkorgan, Persian language that means, stone castle.
Karakul Lake At an altitude of 3,600 m. it is the highest lake of the Pamir plateau, near the junction of the Pamir, Tianshan and Kunlun Mountain ranges. Surrounded by mountains which remain snow-covered throughout the year, the three highest peaks visible from the lake are the Muztag Ata (7546m), Kongur Tagh (7,649m) and Kongur Tiube (7,530 m). The lake is popular among travelers for its beautiful scenery and the clarity of its reflection in the water, whose color ranges from a dark green to azure and light blue. There are two Kirgiz settlements along the shore of Karakul Lake, a number of yurts about 1km east of the bus drop-off point and a village with stone houses located on the western shores.

Apak Hoja Tomb

After breakfast Visit Sunday Bazaar, Id Kah Mosque,Apak Hoja Tomb, Old Town.
Id Kah Mosque It is the large Mosque in China and most famous one in Xinjiang. The Mosque started to build in the mid of fifteenth century, and has gradually developed to the present size. Id K ah Mosque, with about 16800 square meters in area, consisting of Pray Hall, the Koran teaching Hall, The Corridor, the Arches and other buildings attaching to it. The Pray Hall of the mosque can hold 4000 prayers is supported by 140 carved wooden pillars.The buildings of Id Kah Mosque look magnificent and solemn , and display the artistic styles of Islamic mosque architectures.
Apak Hoja Tomb This Mazar is the holiest place in Xinjiang and an architectural treasure Built in 1640 ， it is reminiscent of the Central Asian artistic style of Samarkand or Isfahan. A handsome blue-and-white tiled gate leads into the compound, which includes a small religious school and the Abakh Khoja family tomb. The latter is domed and faced with multi - colored tiles. I t most complete Islamic tomb of the Qing Dynasty up-to-now in China.
Old town,walking in the streets of its Old Town, will provide a sense of what this legendary Central Asian hub was like in the days when the Silk Road was at its zenith. 500-year old remnants of the city wall, narrow lanes and colorful multi-ethnic crowds combine to make Kashgar's historic district a highlight of any visit to the city.

Day 8

 Kashgar   Turpan

After breakfast transfer to the train station,and take the soft sleeper to Turpan ,the famous for the grapes, hot weather and historical sites.

Karez Irrigation System

Meet and visit the Karez Irrigation system, Sugong Minaret, and Jiaohe Ruins,and have dinner in the Local Uighur family.
Karez Irrigation System is a unique irrigation system in Turpan, which, taking advantage of the slopes, draws the underground water to flow by itself to irrigate farmland. It consists of four parts: vertical wells, underground channels, ground canals and small reservoirs.
Sugong Minaret,Located in Mura Village 2 kilometers to the east of the city of Turpan, the Tower was built in the 41st year of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty,It is an embodiment of the ancient architectural arts of the Uygur nationality. The tower is 37 meters high and 10 meters in diameter at the base. The body of the tower is cylindroid in shape, built with bricks arranged in various symmetrical patterns on the outer wall. The tower has 14 windows and a spiral stairs inside it leading to the top.
Jiaohe Ruins The Jiaohe Ruins is located on a mesa in willow leaf shape between the Yarnaz River valleys 10 kilometers to the west of Turpan City. running from northwest to southeast, 1760 meters long and 300 meters across at the widest part. The city includes city gates, streets and lanes, government office, temples, domestic houses, cave houses, wells, and an underground temple.

Day 10

Turpan  Urumqi

Bezklik Grottoes

In the morning visit Bezklik Grottoes, Astana Tombs, Tuyoq Valley ,and then back to Urumqi.
Bezklik Grottoes. “Bezklik”means “a place with beautiful decoration”. These caves are first excavated in Qu`s Gaochang period. The excising caves were reconstructed by Uighur people.
Astana Tombs are the graveyard of the residents lived in the Gaochang City in the Jin-Tang times. Between 1959 and 1975, a great number of cultural relics have been unearthed, including Chinese documents, textiles, epitaphs, coins, clay sculptures, pottery, wooden wares, silk-paintings, crops and foods ,etc., Known as “the Underground Museum.
Tuyoq Valley,constructed in eastern and western cliffs in Tuyoq valley . more than 40 caves, there are 10 preserving murals. They are considered to be the earliest caves in Turpan, Murals are mostly damaged, but unique in style

Day 11

Urumqi  Heavenly Lake

Heavenly Lake

After breakfast head to Heavenly Lake, experience the local Kazak's lifestyle in the deep of Tianshan Mountain.
Heavenly Lake,110 kilometers from Urumqi, the Heavenly Lake is a long and narrow gourd-shaped moraine lake, 3400 meters long, about 1500 meters wide, 105 meters at the deepest point, with an average depth of 40 meters, covering an area of about 5.9 square kilometers. There are eight beautiful scenic spots in the lake scenic area, they are “A Ray of Stone Gate”, “Dragon's Pool and Green Moon”, “Magic Needle for Guarding the See”, “Three Stones Bearing the Sky”, “the Snowcapped Southern Mountain”, “Pine Billows in Western Mountain”, “the Hanging Waterfall”, and the “Sea Peak's Sunrise”.

After breakfast check out the hotel, transfer to the airport and take the flight to your destination.