15
Day China Silk Road
Ritz Tours
· All prices and hotel
accommodations are subject to change without notice
You will board an overnight flight from the US to Beijing, China.
Upon arrival in Beijing, a tour guide will help you transfer to the hotel for some rest.
The city of Beijing is the capital of modern day China. In days past, Beijing was also home to China’s emperors. The city tour will take you to the Forbidden City, the Tiananmen Square and the Emperor’s Summer Palace. For dinner, there will be a traditional Peking Duck Banquet.
Built as a defense against marauders from the north, the Great Wall is considered on of the seven great man-made wonders of the world. Spanning thousands of miles across Northern China, the Great Wall is the highlight of your morning tour. You will spend the afternoon at the Ming Tomb Museum. In the evening, you will savor wonderful Imperial Dishes for dinner while watching a Chinese Opera.
The final destination in Beijing is the solemn Temple of Heaven. After lunch, you will board a flight to Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyguy Autonomous Region.
Today, there will be a tour of Urumqi. It will take you to the Lake of Heaven where there will be a boat ride. On the way back to the city, you will visit the local market place, the bazaar. In the evening, enjoy a local specialty of roast lamb for dinner. A Uiqur Folk Dance Show will be provided for your enjoyment.
After breakfast in the morning, you will cross the Tianshan Valley by coach and travel to the oasis town of Turpan, where you will visit the ruins of Gaochang City, the ancient tombs of Astana and also pass by the Flaming Mountain. Upon arrival, you will check in to the hotel for some rest.
Highlights for today’s excursions include the Grape Valley, the Jiaohe Old Cities and the Kan-er Well. A minority dance show is featured for the evening’s entertainment.
You will board a coach bound for Urumqi in the morning. Upon arrival in Urumqi, you will take a flight bound for Dunhuang. At Dunhuang, you can visit the Singing Hill, the Crescent Moon Springs and the City Museum. Enjoy a local minority show while having dinner in the evening.
There will be a tour of the city today. It will take you to Mogao Grottoes, known as the world’s greatest treasurehouse of Buddhist arts today. The existing 492 grottoes contain some 45,000 square meters of murals and more than 2,000 painted sculptures which spanned through 10 consecutive dynasties. That’s over 1,000 years. In the afternoon, you will visit the Historic Museum, the White Horse Pagoda and the Film City.
After breakfast, you will depart Dunhuang for Xian. Upon arrival, you will visit the ancient City Wall. An Imperial Dumpling Banquet Dinner is served for your enjoyment.
There will be tour of Qin Shi Huang’s amazing legions of Terra-Cotta Warriors, built to protect the emperor even until after death. Another highlight is the 1300-year old Big Goose Pagoda. In the evening, you can enjoy a Palace Banquet while being entertained by a Tang Dynasty Stage Show.
Today, you will be transferred to the airport to catch a flight bound for Shanghai, the largest city in China. In the afternoon, the tour will arrive at the famous Bund, the Nanjing Road and the Yu Garden. The Yu Garden is a classical Ming Dynasty garden with pavilions, towers, terraces and halls everywhere. The exotic, foreign style buildings earned the Bund a reputation of being an “International Architecture Museum.” In the evening, you can attend a Chinese Acrobatics Show.
You will have the whole day for your leisure time. If you wish, there is an optional tour to the Garden City of Suzhou. Suzhou is known as the “Venice of the East” and it features visits to the Humble Administrator’s Garden, Tiger Hills and the Grand Canal. If this doesn’t suit you, you may chose to stay in the hotel and rest or explore the rest of Shanghai on your own. You can also take a little shopping spree at the many shops around town.
You will have the morning for free time to do some last minute souvenir shopping before you transfer to the airport in the afternoon for your overnight flight back to the US.