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7 Days Ancient Silk Road Treasure Tour from Tianshui

Visit Two Greatest Buddhist Grottoes in China plus Many Natural Wonders

Traveling from Tianshui, and marching northwestward along the legendary Hexi Corridor, and getting to Dunhuang, the brightest star on the Silk Road - This is a classic travel route on the ancient Silk Road that has been traveled by travelers for more than two thousand years. It is a route of history, culture and landscape. You will visit two of the Four Greatest Grottoes in China – Maijishan and Mogao which have their own unique features, and many historical sites which have existed more than a thousand years, such as Jiayuguan Pass, Great Wall of Han Dynasty, Giant Buddha Temple, etc., and also explore unique landscape that you can only see in northwestern China - Rainbow Mountains, Yardang Landform, Gobi, desert... Surprises never end in this lifetime Silk Road journey!

Note: Tianshui is a small city located between Xian and Lanzhou. It can be reached by domestic flights from Xian, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chongqing, etc. or high speed trains from Xian, Xining, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Wuhan, Changsha, etc. For more flexible flights and trains, you can also start the tour from Lanzhou or Dunhuang.

  • Type : Private Tour
  • Tour Code : CD-GST-07B
  • Price : from $1154 ()
    1. 1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one double-bed room in a 4-star hotel and traveling in low seasons;
    2. 2. This price is subject to change according to your traveling season, group size, hotel class, change of activities and possible fluctuation of currency exchange rate.
  • Theme : Nature / Culture
  • Physical Demands :

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS TOUR

  • Rare opportunities to visit two of "the Four Greatest Grottoes in China" - Maijishan Grottoes and Mogao Grottoes; Get amazed by their brilliant Buddhist arts, murals, statues...
  • Enjoy amazing scenery of Rainbow Mountains in Zhangye Danxia Geo-park, stunning Gobi and Yardang Landform in remote western Dunhuang a well as the famous Crescent Lake that never dries up;
  • Witness the magnificent view of Yellow River, learn about Silk Road history in Gansu Provincial Museum and try some northwestern style local food in Lanzhou City;
  • Discover Jiayuguan Pass and Yumen Pass, two famous historical passes which were connected by the Great Wall, and used as military bases and border passes in the ancient time;
  • Tailor-made itinerary which can be customized to meet your personal interest, dates and budget;
  • Valuable tour package including hotel, tour guide, transfer, meals, attraction sightseeing, etc.
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Itinerary Day by Day (Can Be Customized)
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Day 1 Tianshui Arrival

Today's highlights: Maijishan Grottoes, Fuxi Temple

Welcome to Tianshui, one of the birthplace of Chinese civilization. Your tour guide will pick you up at Tianshui Train Station, and escort you to check in to your hotel. Then transfer to visit the famous Buddhist cave - Maijishan Grottoes. Maijishan Grottoes, together with Longmen Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes and Dunhuang Grottoes, are known as the "Four Greatest Grottoes in China." Caves were chiseled on a hill shaped like a stack of wheat. The ancient artisans carved more than 7800 Buddhist statues with different colors and size. The largest statue, Dongyan Giant Buddha, has a height of 15.8 meters.

Leave Maijishan Grottoes for the holy Fuxi Temple which was built in Ming Dynasty(1483-1484) to worship the ancient legendary "Fuxi Emperor". Fuxi was very knowledgeable, and created the Eight Diagrams, which made great progress in Chinese civilization.

How to get to Tianshui? - Tianshui can be reached by both high speed bullet trains and normal trains. It takes less 2 hours to get there from Xian by high speed trains. Besides, many trains from other cities also stop at Tianshui, including those from Beijing, Taiyuan, Jinan, Chengdu, Guangzhou, etc.

  • Maijishan Grottoes Maijishan Grottoes View
  • Fuxi Temple Fuxi Temple

Day 2 Tianshui - High Speed Train to Lanzhou (B)

Today's highlights: Gansu Provincial Museum, White Pagoda Mountai, First Bridge on Yellow River

After breakfast, you will go to Tianshui South Railway Station to take a morning high speed train to Lanzhou.

Arrive at Lanzhou after about 1.5 hours' leisure train ride, then start to explore this beautiful city of Yellow River. You will visit the Gansu Provincial Museum (closed on Mondays) to gain a lesson of the culture and history of the Silk Road. After the museum visit, move to next sight - White Pagoda Mountain. Take a cable car to the top of the mountain where you will visit the Tibetan-style White Pagoda built in Yuan Dynasty, and enjoy a panoramic view of Lanzhou city and Yellow River flowing through the city. Then descend the mountain to the bank of Yellow River where will stroll leisurely to see the First Bridge on Yellow River, Yellow River Mother Statues and Ancient Waterwheels Park.

Lastly, go to check in your hotel in Lanzhou city.

  • Yellow River Mother Statue

Day 3 Lanzhou - Zhangye (B)

Today's highlights: Zhangye Danxia Landform Geographical Park, Sunset

After breakfast, you will take a morning high speed train to Zhangye city from Lanzhou (about 3.5 hrs). Enjoy the beautiful landscape along the road. After arriving at Zhangye West Railway Station, you will be met by a local tour guide. Let's get ready for the trip!

In the afternoon, drive about an hour to visit the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geographical Park. The Danxia landform is a spectacular petrographic geomorphology landscape which is formed from red-coloured sandstones and conglomerates. The one in Zhangye was formed in the pre-Jurassic Age. Thousands of mountains and stiffs stretch like the colorful sunset glow. The barren mountains are covered by a red grit rock stratum. At the same time, some surfaces of mountains appear in other colors, such as white, yellow, etc, and form many irregular lines and blocks looking like some abstract oil paintings. There are four viewing decks for you to watch and shoot. You will visit one by one, and will be transferred by park buses from one deck to another.

You won't miss the precious opportunity to enjoy the amazing sunset. Viewing Deck No. 4 is the best location to take the sunset of the Danxia Landform. It's better to get there earlier to occupy a good location. After sunset, drive back to Zhangye downtown for accommodation.

Tips:

1. Pack with sunblocks, sunglasses, protective clothing and hat to protect from strong sunlight in summer; 2. Sunset is the best time for taking photos, which happens around 19:00~20:00 in summer and 18:00~19:00 in winter.

  • Zhangye Danxia Landform Views After Rain Zhangye Danxia Landform Views After Rain
  • Zhangye Danxia Landform Photography Zhangye Danxia Landform Photography

Day 4 Zhangye - Jiayuguan (B)

Today's highlights: Giant Buddha Temple, Great Wall Museum, Jiayuguan Pass

After breakfast, you will go to visit the Giant Buddha Temple, which is famous for having the largest indoor sleeping Buddha in Asia. This temple is a large complex with regal arrangements built in the Xixia Dynasty(1098), and keeps many precious Buddhist scriptures and wall paintings. Its famous treasure is the Sleeping Buddha, which is centrally seated with symmetric buildings situated along both sides. The Buddha statue was carved by wood with a length of 34.5 meters, telling the story of Buddha's Nirvana. His ears are as big as the space in which 4 adults can sit side by side.

After visiting the Buddha Temple, drive about 220 km (2.5hrs) to Jiayuguan City and check into your hotel. Then you will go to visit "the First and Greatest Pass under Heaven", also the westernmost starting point of the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty - Jiayuguan Pass. Start your exploration with an educational visit to the Great Wall Museum to learn some interesting facts about both the Jiayuguan Fort and Great Wall, including history, old photos, relics, etc. Then enter the gate to explore the grandiose Jiayuguan Fort. It is a complex of towers, city walls and other military buildings covering more than 25,000 square meters. The city wall is nearly 11 meters high, and comprises an outer and inner wall. There are two large gates standing at the east and the west of the inner wall. Walkways lead to the top of the wall, allowing horses to climb up the wall.

If time allows, and you are interested, you can take an optional visit to the Xuanbi Great Wall (Overhanging Wall) which is about 18km away from the Fort. The walls were built on lofty cliffs with incredibly large gradients looking like an overhanging cantilever. Climbing up to higher gives you excellent views of the surrounding land and mountains.

  • Jiayuguan Fort Jiayuguan Fort
  • Giant Buddha Temple Giant Buddha Temple

Day 5 Jiayuguan - Dunhuang (B)

Today's highlights: Yulin Grottoes, Shazhou Night Market

Today you will travel to Dunhuang from Jiayuguan in the early morning. On route, visit Yulin Grottoes which is known as the "sister caves" of Mogao caves. It is a Buddhist cave temple site located about 160 km east of the oasis town of Dunhuang and the Mogao Caves, and was listed as the UNESCO World Heritage sites as part of the Chinese Section of the Silk Road. There are 43 existing caves in the Yulin Caves, with a total of 5,200 square meters of murals and more than 259 colored sculptures. You can visit up to 6 caves in which you can admire magnificent mural paintings which are believed to be even more beautiful than those in Mogao Caves. There are also 3 “special caves” (No. 2, No. 3 and No. 25) with outstanding art value that you can visit with extra charges.

After arriving at Dunhuang city, check in to your hotel.

Nightlife Idea: go out for a walk in the Shazhou Night Market where you can try some local food, relax in a drinking bar, or buy some interesting handcrafts, etc.

  • Yulin Grottoes (No. 3 Cave) Yulin Grottoes (No. 3 Cave)

Day 6 Dunhuang Geology & Silk Road History Tour (B)

Today's highlights: Yardang National Geologic Park, Echoing Sand Mountains, Crescent Lake

After breakfast, you will be taken to explore the remote wild Gobi Desert landscape as well as several legendary historical sites. Drive westwards about 100 km, you will firstly arrive at Yumen Pass (Jade Gate Pass) which used to be a military defensive pass as well as an important border for international trading along the ancient Silk Road. It is said that the jade wares from West were imported to China through this gate, which is how the name Yumen was given. About 5 km from Yumen Pass is the Ruin of Great Wall of Han Dynasty which was built to fight against Xiongnu in the ancient time. Keep driving more 80 km, you will get to Yardang National Geologic Park. It is also called Devil City in that you will hear the sound just like the devil screaming when the strong wind goes through the desert. The park is featured Yardang landforms in distinct shapes like Mongolian Yurt, Stone Bird, Peacock and others. Make full use of your imagination, you may find some rocks with some miniatures similar to famed architectures, like the Potala Palace in Tibet, Heaven Temple in Beijing or something else.

Leave Yardang National Geologic Park, and drive along the coming way back to Dunhuang. The following attraction is the Echoing Sand Mountains (Mingshashan). It is said, in the sunny days, the sand mountains echo like Orchestra music even if there is no wind. If you slide from the sand mountains, you can hear the echoing sound clearly. Your last thing to do for today is the Crescent Lake. Surrounded by the Echoing Sand Mountains, Crescent Lake is a beautiful oasis with some well decorated traditional Chinese architecture, some trees and flowers and a lake that has never dried up and shapes like a crescent moon.

Nightlife Ideas: 1) Go out to go for a walk in the Shazhou Night Market where you can try some local food, relax in a drinking bar, or buy some interesting handcrafts, etc. 2) Enjoy the fascinating Silk Road Show - Ancient Sound of Dunhuang. Through the use of high-tech methods such as holographic projection and 3D visuals, it presents a fully immersive theatrical experience of both elaborate dances and unique performance of ancient musical instruments. (Notice: the Silk Road Show is not available during November to middle April of next year. The tickets of the show sell out quickly. If you want to watch the show, please let your travel consultant or tour guide know in advance.)

Useful Tips: 1) Pack some food and water for the long driving on the desert; 2) get fully prepared for the strong sunlight and high temperatures in the daytime.

  • Beautiful Yardang National Geopark Sunset in June Beautiful Yardang National Geopark Sunset in June
  • Crescent Lake Never Dry Up Crescent Lake Never Dry Up
  • Riding Camel at Mingshashan (Echoing Sand Mountains) Riding Camel at Mingshashan (Echoing Sand Mountains)

Day 7 Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes Art Tour & Departure (B)

Today's highlights: Mogao Grottoes, Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center

After breakfast, drive about 10 km from the Dunhuang city to visit the newly opened Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center before go to Mogao Grottoes. You will watch two short but well-produced educational documentary movies that introduce the history, arts, and other facts about Mogao Grottoes. After the movies, take the interzonal bus to Mogao Grottoes.

Mogao Grottoes is famed as the "Louvre of the East", which is outstanding for its exquisite mural paintings and statues. There are now 492 grottoes in which about 45000 square meters long mural paintings and 2100 colorfully painted statues from which you can trace the development of Chinese art over 1600 years from one dynasty to the next because each dynasty built own caves to record its own features. There are about 40 common caves opened to the public. In the tourist area, you will be divided into groups by different tour guides who will accompany you to visit the caves (usually 7~8 caves during April~November and 12 caves during December~March) with great introduction. After that, if you want to visit more other caves, you can do it by yourselves or follow other tour guides. Besides, there are 10 special caves (with extra fees) available for your extensive visit.

The rest of today is free for you to catch your flight/train to the next destination. Your Dunhuang Silk Road tour ends!

Useful Tips:

1. During peak seasons (May to October), there are usually a lot of visitors to Mogao Caves, so it is recommended to make reservation in advance for at least 7 days. 2. If you want to see the Special Caves (excluded in the regular visit, and only open for limited individual visitors or small groups with reservations), you can contact our travel consultants or your tour guide to arrange for you, but you have to pay the extra admission fee for each cave. 3. It is not allowed to take photos inside grottoes.

  • Mogao Grottoes Mogao Grottoes
  • Mogao Grottoes Feitian (Flying Apsaras) Mogao Grottoes Feitian (Flying Apsaras)
  • Watch a documentary film in the Dome Theater of Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center Watch a documentary film in the Dome Theater of Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center

The quotation for this trip is from $1154 Per Person

1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in 4-star hotel and traveling with our private tour in low seasons.
2. This price is subject to change according your traveling season, group size, hotel class, change of activities in your itinerary and possible fluctuation of currency exchange rate. If you want a lower price, you can get more people to join you, or use economy class hotels.
3. This price is only valid to March 31, 2025.
4. Reference exchange rate of USD 1=RMB 6.85. The final quote is based on current exchange rate. It may change according to the currency fluctuation, while the RMB quotation will be remained the same.

What's included?

  • Professional licensed English-speaking guide;
  • Admission tickets for all attractions listed in the itinerary;
  • Accommodation as listed in the itinerary (4-star standard);
  • Necessary vehicle transfers as listed in the itinerary;
  • Domestic flights (economy class) and high-speed trains (second class) as listed in the itinerary;
  • Airport (and train station) pick up and drop off;
  • Luggage Transfers: between airports (railway station) and hotels;
  • All meals as listed( “B” for Chinese and Western breakfast buffet in your hotel; “L” for Chinese Lunch in local restaurant; “D” for Chinese dinner in local restaurant.);
  • Accident insurance;
  • Our service charge, including tour planning, handling, operational and communication charges.

What's excluded?

  • China visa;
  • Personal expenses;
  • Accommodation not listed in the itinerary;
  • Single Room Supplement;
  • Tourist sites which are not listed in the itinerary;
  • Recommended optional activities;
  • Flights or trains not listed in the itinerary;
  • Excess Baggage Charges;
  • Optional tips to guides, drivers, etc.

Check What our delighted customers are saying about our services

Hi Mr Wang,

Thanks! I had a weekend away to Xi’an, China to celebrate my birthday. It was an exciting weekend and it was certainly something off the beaten trail for most of my friends. The itinerary you have suggested provided good coverage of the city’s rich history. From the fascinating Terracotta Army to the City Walls to the sacred Mount Hua, to the Muslim Quarter to the Drum & Bell Towers, there’s an interesting story from every historical era in Xi’an. I managed to hike up Mount Hua from North Peak to West Peak, but I didn’t get to do the dangerous plank walk as it was closed.

The hotel Eastern House was very accessible too with food places within steps and its proximity to the Drum Tower is a plus. The room was very clean and comfortable.

At this point, I have to quickly mention our amazing tour guide Betty Jiao Yan who was assigned to us as part of our private tour package. She made our time feel so very special and I wonder if Xi'an would have been as awesome without her. She had such a positive and caring nature and when we had to say goodbye, we felt very sad. It was strange to miss a guide after only knowing her for 5 days! Luckily we still keep in touch on WeChat. Our driver Mr Ma was very polite, punctual and accommodating, making our travel a pleasant experience

Anne

Anne‚ Singapore, January 25, 2024

Hi Jack,

Thanks. The Harbin and Snow Town trip was excellent and very enjoyable. We are now in Japan skiing, and will send our feedback upon our return on 31st Jan.

Best wishes

Leong

Leong‚ Singapore, January 24, 2024

Hi Rita,

From my end, everything is remarkable! Jane is amazing! She really make us feel welcome.

All the hotels were amazing too! My parents also very impressed.

I will definitely reaching out again, next time when I visit China. There’s many more places I want to visit.

Best regards,

Jefry

Jefry‚ Indonesia, January 21, 2024

Dear Rita,

We are home. Thanks for arranging this nice trip. Everything worked out nicely except the smoking room problem in Chengde.

Thanks again.

John

John‚ USA, January 19, 2024

Hi Rita,

In response to your enquiries, we had a wonderful experience with the tour arrangements in both Guilin and Yangshuo. Both the tour guide and driver were very professional and handled the arrangements well.

I am surely recommending any friends or relatives who are interested in travelling to China in future to use China Discovery. Also, will be looking at other destinations for ourselves too.

Thanks once again for the wonderful experience.

Kwan

Kwan‚ Malaysia, January 18, 2024
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There will be some meals excluded in your itinerary as you like, and your private guide will be delighted to give you some suggestions and take you to the local restaurants to taste like Beijing Roast Duck, Xian Dumpling Dinner, Sichuan Hotpot, etc., if you are interested in local food tasting.

All the dining options will satisfy your stomach!

Photo gallery of this trip

  • Maijishan Grottoes Maijishan Grottoes
  • Fuxi Temple Fuxi Temple
  • Yellow River Mother Statue Yellow River Mother Statue
  • Zhangye Danxia Landform Views After Rain Zhangye Danxia Landform Views After Rain
  • Zhangye Danxia Landform Photography Zhangye Danxia Landform Photography
  • Jiayuguan Fort Jiayuguan Fort
  • Giant Buddha Temple Giant Buddha Temple
  • Yulin Grottoes (No. 3 Cave) Yulin Grottoes (No. 3 Cave)
  • Beautiful Yardang National Geopark Sunset in June Beautiful Yardang National Geopark Sunset in June
  • Crescent Lake Never Dry Up Crescent Lake Never Dry Up
  • Riding Camel at Mingshashan (Echoing Sand Mountains) Riding Camel at Mingshashan (Echoing Sand Mountains)
  • Mogao Grottoes Mogao Grottoes
  • Mogao Grottoes Feitian (Flying Apsaras) Mogao Grottoes Feitian (Flying Apsaras)
  • Watch a documentary film in the Dome Theater of Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center Watch a documentary film in the Dome Theater of Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center

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