The Silk Road,
from Xi'an to Ürümqi

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Arrival in Xi'an

   400 m

   The starting point of the Silk Road. Transfer and a first evening in the Muslim Quarter, around the Great Mosque, where the food is thick with cumin and lamb.

2. The Terracotta Army

   400 m

   Morning in all three pits and the bronze chariot hall, ahead of the crowds. The afternoon is for the Wild Goose Pagoda and the Shaanxi history museum.

3. City wall and departure west

   400 m

   Ride the 14 km city wall by bike, then climb the Drum and Bell Towers. An evening flight west to Dunhuang, the gateway to the desert.

4. Dunhuang and the Mogao Caves

   1,139 m

   The Mogao Caves: 492 painted temples cut into the cliff, with 45,000 square metres of wall painting and 2,000 sculptures spanning a thousand years.

5. Mingsha dunes and Crescent Lake

   1,139 m

   Camel riding and sand sledging on the Mingsha dunes, and the Crescent Lake that has kept its shape in the sand for two thousand years. Best at sunset.

6. Drive to Turpan

   32 m

   West along the old Silk Road to Turpan, the hottest and lowest place in China, in a depression that drops below sea level. Overnight in the oasis.

7. Gaochang and Jiaohe

   32 m

   Two ruined Silk Road cities: Gaochang, a walled oasis town, and Jiaohe, built on a plateau between two rivers and abandoned in the 14th century.

8. Grape Valley and the karez

   32 m

   The Grape Valley, a green ribbon of vineyards under the desert sun, and the karez, the 2,000-year-old underground channels that made the oasis possible.

9. Turpan to Ürümqi

   800 m

   The Emin minaret and the Bezeklik caves, then on to Ürümqi, the largest city in Central Asia, at the foot of the Tianshan range.

10. Ürümqi: market and museum

    800 m

    The Grand Bazaar and the Xinjiang Regional Museum, with its Tarim basin mummies and Silk Road textiles recovered from the desert.

11. Tianchi Lake

    1,910 m

    A day at Tianchi, the Heavenly Lake, a blue alpine lake at 1,900 metres beneath the Bogda snow peaks, with a boat trip and forest walks.

12. Departure

    800 m

    Transfer to Ürümqi airport for your flight home, or continue to Kashgar for the far western end of the route, two or three days further on and a very different China.