17Days Southern Xinjiang Tour Urumqi/Turpan/Korla/Ruoqiang/Qiemo/Hotian/Kashgar/Kuqa

Day 1Urumqi Arrival Transfer
Welcome to Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. Upon arrival Urumqi, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. Enjoy your free time to explore.

Transport: Private vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Urumqi

Day 2Urumqi to Xinjiang Museum and Tianchi, then drive to Turpan
This morning you will take 1-hour ride to Heavenly Lake, or Tianchi in Chinese, which is a high mountain lake with stunning scenery in the Tianshan Mountains. After lunch, you will visit the renown Xinjiang Museum that is famous for the well-preserved mummies, particularly Loulan Beauty and Xiaohe Princess.
Afterwards you will take 3-hour car ride to Turpan via the desert, grassland, and Tianshan highway.

Transport: Private vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Turpan
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch


Day 3Turpan City Day Tour
Turpan is a hub on the ancient Silk Road, and there are lots of historical attrations that are renowned for its well-preserved conditions. Today you will visit Bezklik Grottos, Astana Ancient Tombs, the Ancient City of Jiaohe and Gaochang, Karez Irrigation System, and Emin Minaret with a local guide. You will taste some dried fruits and eat Uyghur food.

Transport: Private vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Turpan
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4Turpan to Korla, visit Bosteng Lake on the way
Today you will take a 5-hour ride from Turpan to Korla through the middle part of Tianshan, view the imposing scenery. Visit the biggest inland fresh water lake Bosteng on the way.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Korla
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5Korla one day tour to Lop Village
After hotel breakfat, you will take 1 hour ride to Luobu Village which is located at the edge of Taklimakan Desert, there are traditional Uyghur living here. Afterwards you will be transferred back to Korla.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Korla
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 6Korla to Ruoqiang
Today you will take a 8-hour car ride along the ancient Silk Road from Korla to Ruoqiang, enjoy the scenery on the way.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Ruoqiang
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 7Ruoqiang
Today you will visit the new Ruoqiang Museum that is well-known for the relics exavated from Lop Nur and The Ancient City Loulan, the museum is closed on Mondays. Then you will wander around the local bazaar, and taste the local food. Note: You can not visit ruin of Milan for foreigners.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Ruoqiang
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 8Ruoqiang to Qiemo
Take 5-hour ride by car to Qiemo along the east edge of Taklimakan Desert, enjoy the endless desert view. Upon arrival, you will visit Zhaguiluke Ancient Tombs, which were the family tombs. There are dried mummies and amazing relics unearthed from here, and renow for the angels pattern on their silk embroidery robe.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Qiemo
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 9Qiemo to Hotian
After breakfast, you will take 8-hour car ride to Hotian on the southern edge of Taklimakan Desert. Arrival Hotian, you will visit a local Bazaar that sells local food, fruits, cloths, and handicrafts etc. Moreover you will also visit the well-known Edilis silk factory.

Later you will be transferred to hotel.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Hotian
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 10Hotian to Kashgar, visit Yarkand en route
Today you will take a long ride for 8 hours to Kashgar. En route, you will visit Amaniza Mausoleum and Yarkand Kingdom Tombs in Shache (Yarkand). The road is well-constructed highway, and easy to drive, and you will see the sands from time to time from Taklimakan Desert on the road.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Kashgar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 11Kashgar City Tour
Today it is a busy day to explore Kashagr with a local guide. You will take the city tour by the first stop to visit the Apa Hoja Mausoleum which was built in 1640 by local Imam for his father, and later it became a family graveyard to bury 72 people for 5 generations. The mausoleum is impressive for its delicate Uyghur architectural style including the blue tiles, the dome and the minaret.

Next, you will visit Kashgar old town to explore the interesting area where there are old houses for shops, workshops, restaurants, bakery, and tea houses etc. It displays the long history and vivid lifestyle in Kashgar from ancient Silk Road period to today. Handicraft Street is a must-see section in the old town, where the huge music instruments and bronze vessels are very impressive. You might taste some local snacks here, such as Nang Bread, grilled eggs, dried fruits etc. before visiting the old Id Ghar Mosque, the biggest mosque in Xinjiang. Enter the mosque at non-praying time to appreciate its architecture and decor, please wear long pants and cover the shoulders for ladies while visiting this mosque.

Lunch is arranged at a local Uyghur's house for you to taste the authentic and traditional Uyghur food including nang bread, hand-stretched noodles, and pilau...etc.

In the afternoon, you will wander around the Grand Bazaar in Kashgar, which is well known in Central Asia for its colorful and lively market. As a Uyghur saying goes that you can buy everything except for your parents. There are more people in the afternoon, because the farmers will drive to here from different area in the morning and buy things in the afternoon at the market. Actually the bazaar opens every day, and more people on Sunday. The animal bazaar is relocated near Kashgar Airport and opens only on Sundays. If it is Sunday, you will also visit the Animal Bazaar.

When your tour is finished, you will be transferred back to your hotel.

Transport: Private vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Kashgar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 12Kashgar to Taxkorgan, visit Karakul Lake en route
Today you will take a 4-hour car ride to the pretty Karakul Lake which is situated by the renowned China-Pakistan friendship highway. Karakul Lake is a beautiful mountain lake with altitude nearly 3600 meters, it is an imposing picture to view the lake and the snow-capped mountains at the same time. The Muztagata(7546m) is just standing beside the Karakul Lake, creating a stunning picture. You will also visit the White Sand Lake on the way, and view the yurts speading on the grassland.

Afterwards, you will drive on to Taxkorgan that is situated at the border between China and Pakistan.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Tashkurgan
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 13Taxkorgan back to Kashgar(320KM 6H)
Enjoy the small town scenery in Taxkorgan, then you will visit the Stone City that was built 2000 years ago, and the ruin still can trace back its original style. Enjoy the grassland view outside the town.

Later you will take a car to drive back to Kashgar.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Kashgar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 14Kashgar to Kuqa
Today you will take 10-hour ride to Kuqa by car on the western edge of Taklimakan Desert, enjoy the desert view.

Kuqa is well-known for its splendid ancient Buddhism cultural as one of the 36 states in the history 2200 years ago. Kuqa, the old name Qiuci. used to be an important town on the Silk Road, and there are lots of historical sites here, including Kizil Grottos, Kizilcara Grottoes, Simsam and Kumtura Grottoes etc.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Kuqa
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 15Kuqa: Kizil Grottoes and Tianshan Canyon
This morning you will take one-hour ride along the ancient Silk Road to Kizil Grottoes, the earliest one in China, which was built 1700 years ago and still can see the colorful frescos and paintings in the caves. The Kizil is famous for its various Jataka stories that were painted on the diamond paintings.

Later, you will head another one hour to explore the red Tianshan Canyon, that is a 5-km long canyon in the southern Tianshan Mountains.

Afterwards you will be transferred back to Kuqa hotel.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation: Overnight in Kuqa
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 16Kuqa to Urumqi by air
Today you will visit the Subash Temple ruin, which was a renown Buddhism temple in Tang Dynasty 1300 yeara ago. There are pagodas, halls, rooms, and walls that can tell this site used to be a huge temple. The famous monk Xuanzang in Tang Dynasty had stayed in Subash and described the temple in his journey Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang.

Then you will visit the old town of Kuqa and Kuqa Mosque, which are different from the new city. Later you can wander around the local bazaar to view the fresh fruits, tea, snacks, and clothings etc.

Moreover, you will visit Kizilcara Beacon Tower that was built in Han Dynasty about 2000 years ago, which was the oldest well-protected beacon tower in Norther Silk Road.

In the evening you will catch flight to Urumqi. Upon arrival, you will be transferred back to hotel.

Transport: Private Vehicle + Flight
Accommodation: Overnight in Urumqi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 17Departure from Urumqi
Today you will depart from Urumqi. You will be transferred to Urumqi airport to catch your flight, where the wonderful tour concludes.

Transport: Private Vehicle
Accommodation:
Meals: Breakfast