The Heavenly Lake is located at the half way of Bogda Peak in Fukang County, 110km east of Urumqi City. As a natural alpine lake, it has an elevation of 1,980 meters. In the shape of a half moon, the lake is 3,400 meters long, about 1,500 meters wide, and 105 meters at the deepest point. With limpid water, the lake shines like a sapphire under the sun and is surrounded by green mountains. To the southeast of the lake is the magnificent Bogda Peak with its meaning of the sacred mountain in Mongolian language.

After that, take a coach pass the Daben City to Turpan, 200km southeast of Urumqi City. Turpan, an oasis city, is located at the south foot of Bogda Peak and the center of Turpan Depression. Because of the drastic 5,000-meter difference in height between the mountain tops and the bottom of the depression, the scenery too, varies greatly at different altitudes from perpetual snow at the summits to green oasis at the foot of the mountains. After a long journey from the desert, tourists are always fascinated by the strange beauty of the depression with its snow-capped mountains, its salt lake, and particularly its Flaming Mountains. Turpan is not only special for its low altitude, but also for its strange climate. In summer the temperature can reach as high as 47oC (117oF), while on the surface of the sand dunes, it might be 82oC (180oF). It is no exaggeration to say that you can bake a cake in the hot sand. The average annual rainfall is little more than ten millimeters; sometimes there is no rain for ten months at a stretch. Days are exceptionally sunny throughout the year. The hot and dry climate is especially beneficial to sugar crops. Fruit trees, melons, and particularly grapes grow very well in the Turpan Depression. Every year more than a thousand tons of grapes are exported to foreign countries. The city used to be an important strategic point on the Silk Road. As early as 2,000 years ago, a town called Jiaohe was built four kilometers from today's Turpan. Jiaohe then was the capital of the Outer Chshi Kingdom. During the first century, Jiaohe came under the rule of the Han Dynasty. During the sixth century, Turpan was under the administration of Gaochang Kingdom. During the reign of Emperor Tai Zong (626-649), the Gaochang Kingdom was conquered by the Tang Dynasty, and Turpan again became a frontier town of China, serving as a stopover for merchants, monks, and other travelers on their way to the west.

Known as the underground Great Wall of China, Karez Well is the unique cultural heritage of Xinjiang. The total length of the underground channel of Karez in Xinjiang amounts to 5,000 meters. Karez was once served as the irrigation system in the ancient times. It was built against the slope of the mountains to avoid to hot and dry weather as well as the wind.

Caochang Ancient City is located 40km from Turpan City. The foundation of Gaochang was laid in the 1st century BC. The city was built during the Western Han Dynasty and re-built in the early Ming Dynasty. It was an important site along the Silk Road, but was burnt down in wars in the 14th century. Old palace ruins known as the best-preserved one of its kind, can still be seen today.

Then comes to Astana Tomb, 6km from Gaochang, the public cemetery of the ancient Gaochang residents, both aristocrats and commoners. However, among the excavated 456 tombs, King of Gaochang has not been found. The dead are placed on an earthen or wooden bed in the back of the chamber. They had wood in both hands and wore cotton, linen or silk clothes. Around them are miniature pavilions, carts and horses, parades, musical instruments, chess sets, pens and ink, grapes, melons, dumplings and pancakes. In the ancient Chinese people's mind, these are to be used by the dead in another world. Owing to the arid climate, the relics are very well preserved. Dumplings are the same as today's with its stuffing as intact as it was when fresh. Some chambers are decorated with murals of vivid pictures of humans, animals, flowers, mountains, and rivers. A painting of ladies playing chess illustrates the happy life of aristocrats in the early Tang Dynasty.

The Grape Valley is located in the Flaming Mountain. From the ancient times, the place is famous for the cultivation of the sweet and tasted grapes. Here you can catch the sight of green pearl-like grapes hanging one bunches after another. Just settling yourselves under the green leaves and try the fresh juicy fruit to enjoy the coolness different from the outside.

Xinjiang is esteemed as a home to song and dance. Where there is a singing, there are music instruments accompanying the songs. If you are interesting in ethnic music and music instruments of Xijiang, you could choose to enjoy a Uygur Ethnic Minority Dance Show in the courtyard at night.

It will take about seven or eight hours on the train. The distance between Dunhuang railway station to the downtown city of Dunhuang is 128km, which makes Dunhuang railway station the farthest station from city in China.

Known as Shazhou in ancient times, Dunhuang was served as a rest stop for traders as the gateway through which Buddhism, Islam and Christianity entered China. Dunhuang is located at the western end of Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province in northwest of China. It is a small oasis surrounded by high mountain, deserts and the Gobi Desert with Dang River as the city's water supply. The city boasts 241 places of historic interests, and many of them are world-famous for its long history.

Lying at the foot of Sighing Sands Dune and 25km southeast of Dunhuang City, Mogao Grottoes measures 1,680 meters from south to north. It has more than 700 caves, of which 492 caves hold more than 2,000 painted sculptures and 45,000 square meters of murals. There are five grottoes with a wooden structure. Mogao is the largest, oldest and the best-preserved Buddhist grottoes with the richest contents in the world today.

Sighing Sands Dune starts from Mogao Grottoes in the east. It is 40km from east to west, and 20 from south and north. The dune with an elegant shape. When people slide down along the slopes, a sound will be heard, hence the name. TheCrescent Spring is surrounded by the sand dunes with the shape of crescent. It is a miracle that the spring has never dried up over the past thousand years.

The flight to Xi 'an will take about two and a half hours. Xi 'an is a city with time-honored history. It is the city can bring you back in time to ancient Chinese civilization. During its 3,100 years development, 13 dynasties have occupied the region. Besides, the city was the start point of the famous Silk Road. You'll find Xi 'an a large city with a much more relaxed atmosphere than that of Beijing. There are lots of cars but without the traffic pace of Shanghai. One of the important reason for no subway in the city is that there is large part of the wealth of ancient treasures buried here.

Terror-cotta Army Museum, regarded as the '8 nth Wonder of the World', is located at 30km east of Xi 'an City. The site was discovered by farmers in 1974. It was created to guard Emperor In Sichuan's tomb that's to protect him in his afterlife in the mind of ancient Chinese. Three excavation pits have been opened to the public with a fourth underway. During his visit to China, US former President Clinton came to visit the dig. The fine troops, horses and carriages in battle formation are ancient art treasure and complete illustration of the history of In Dynasty.

Then comes to Great Wild Goose Pagoda and Shaanxi History Museum, this two are not far from each other. The former site is where the sixty-four meter high multistoried brick structure erects. The pagoda was built in the Tang Dynasty in 652AD to house and protect Buddhist scriptures collected in India by Ulan Sang, a famous Chinese monk. The Though simple, it is very much an appealing structure considering its sacredness especially to Buddhists. Besides, climbing the building rewards you with a bird-eye view of the whole city. In the ancient city like Xi 'an, the museum should be an indispensable part of your visit. Shaanxi History Museum is a showcase of the civilization from Emperor In Sichuan to the present day. The museum is housed in a striking Tang Dynasty-style pavilion and features an enormous collection of 113,000 historic and cultural relics. We continue the trip to the nearby Ancient City Wall. It is the most complete city wall that has survived in China as well as one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world.

Tibet, the roof of the world, remained unknown to the world until the beginning of the 20th century. Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this land is encompassed by some of the world's highest mountains, several rushing rivers and many crystal lakes. With an average height of 4,000 meters above the sea-level, Tibet covers a massive 1,220,000 square kilometers, which is about 13% of the whole China. Located in the valley of the Lhasa River, Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet. In Tibetan language, the city's name means holy land. Due to the sufficient sunshine, it is regarded as the sunshine city.

For this most mystery and paradoxical land in China, you must hold more expectations than any other cities. After arrival at the airport, the terrain you could see as you approach your hotel is pretty special. Mountainous, but stark, any growth on these slopes has camouflaged colors of those gray or greens. Some distant peaks are snow capped and the odd turquoise lake is visible. Beautiful, but it looks to be such a hard land to live in. For the rest of day, please do not hurry to do any sightseeing at once. Instead of, taking a half-day rest to adjust yourselves to the altitude sickness for tomorrow's trip.

For the in-depth insight of this land and people, the morning will be spent to visit the Tibet Museum and Tibetan family. Tibet Museum has a rich collection od cultural relics, such as the objects of the prehistoric culture, hand copied classics in Tibetan language, colorful Tangkas, various musical instruments, handicrafts with distinctive ethnic characteristics, and pottery wares in unique style.

In the afternoon, the Sera Monastery will be a good choice as well. Sera means ‘Hailstone' in Tibetan, and legend tells that it hailed during the foundation of this famous monastery. The Sera Monastery is the last of the three principal Yellow Sect monasteries built in Lhasa . It is destined to be one of the most enjoyable afternoons of the whole trip. The setting itself is very beautiful and there are many cobbled alleyways, temples and colleges on a hill. One chapel will be strike you in particular: it houses only statues and paintings of Dark Goddesses with devouring humans. A solitary monk sits inside the chapel, banging a big drum and sounding a gong. The highlight will be watching a monks debating inside the shady courtyard behind the main temple. Every day, hundreds of red-robed monks assemble in small groups and practice their debating skills. It is a highly entertaining spectacle, during which they strike poses not dissimilar to hip hop rappers. They are clap, turn, and finger point, whoop, holler, and throw their prayer beads about. In most cases, one monk sits on the floor, while another one stands, and between them, they argue about Buddhist rituals - immensely enjoying their debates. As tourists you are allowed to walk around the edge and observe the very dynamic and animated monks asking and answering questions like ‘why', ‘what came first the chicken or the egg' and ‘who is your favorite Buddha'. The spectacle is just so fun-filled and high energy. It's a bit like a Sicilian market place, or a football match, increasing in volume all the time, and some of the monks are really good showmen, sometimes mischievously involving you in their debates, as if trying to get you onto their side.

Religion is such an important element of Tibetan life that it's hardly surprising most of the attractions are monasteries, temples and palaces. The awe-inspiring Potala Palace perched high above much of Lhasa, is definitely your good choice. The palace is a complex of political and religious function, which consists of the Red Palace, the White Palace and some attached buildings. The Red Palace contains various chapels and mausoleums for previous Dalai Lamas. The White Palace contains the living quarters of successive Dalai Lamas and their tutors. The offices of the old Tibetan government and their assembly halls are also located here. The Potala is full of elaborate artwork and frescos that tell many stories. They portray religious subjects as well as the customs and traditions of Tibet . Although you need to climb up, it will be richly rewarded for your efforts. Words may fail you to convey the scope of gold, pearls, carvings, gems, incense, monks, rooms, stairs that are in this incredible place. It is a pity that there are no photos allowed in the palace. However you would take photos by your eyes and embed them into your minds forever.

The local Tibetan lunch is very different from the previous cities, but you will find its specialist and enjoy it. In fact, the most popular cuisine in Tibet now is Sichuan Cuisine. Moreover there are also western-style restaurants in Lhasa. You are delighted to eat what Tibetan eats in Tibet. Then you will visit the Jokhang Temple in the afternoon. According to Legend the Jokhang Temple was built on the former site of a lake. However, every time a temple was built, it would collapse later. Confused by this phenomenon, Princess Bhrikuti turned to Wen Cheng, the Princess of Tang Dynasty, for help. Being a well-educated woman, Wen Cheng told the Princess that the geography of Tibet was very much like a hag, with the lake at the heart. In order to build the temple, Wen Cheng advised they must demolish the hag by filling and leveling the lake using 1,000 sheep to carry soil from a mountain far away. When the temple was done, it was called Ra-Sa-Vphrul-Snang ('ra' meaning sheep and 'sa' meaning earth in Tibetan) to commemorate those sheep. It was built by craftsmen from Tibet , China and Nepal and thus features different architectural styles. The three-level roof of the Jokhang offers splendid views of the Bhakhor Streets across to the Potala Palace. The golden roofs are superbly crafted with many birds, beasts, bells and other intricate figures. The Tibetan people are absolutely beautiful - very warm, friendly and welcoming. There are so many impressions and interesting and bizarre things happened every day in Lhasa .

Then you will spend a whole afternoon exploring Barkhor Street. The markets in Lhasa are on a scale quite unlike anything else you have seen. You can buy anything Tibet-related, from sacks of incense, chunks of yak butter to monk outfits. When walking along the Barkhor Street , you need to follow the clockwise direction. You see many Tibetan pilgrims in town taking part in the various koras (pilgrimage circuits): the Nangkor, Barkor, Lingkor and Potala. Maybe there are even others associated with various monasteries. They are devout Buddhists who perform these koras as a part of their lives and a means of gathering merit. They are from different parts of Tibet but still have a distinctive look - heavy, colorful clothes, dark-haired, hair plaited and braided with beads. They travel in family groups with a prayer-wheel in constant motion. Among these various koras you see many prostrating themselves, some doing this repeatedly on the spot and others prostrating every 3 paces until they have circumambulated the route.

Kunming is the capital city of Yunnan Province. With a history more than 2,400 years, it owes its importance to the fact that it was the gateway to the celebrated Silk Road that facilitated trade with Tibet, Sichuan, Myanmar and India. The city enjoys a pleasant climate and does its best to live up to its title of the City of Eternal Spring. Its alluring highland scenery, bewitching Karsts landform, varied and exotic habitats and customs, places of historical interest can be found at major scenic spots. Besides, Kunming is the focal point of Yunnan minority culture with 26 ethnic groups like Bai, Dai, Miao in the area.

Lijiang Ancient Town is a well-preserved one known for Naxi people's brilliant culture. With a history more han 800 years, the town was firstly built at the interval of the Song Dynasty changed to the Yuan Dynasty, and occupies an area of 3.8 square kilometers. It is built alongside the lie of mountains and the flow of rivers with the ancient water-supply system which still in use today, providing a vary precious sample of the research on ancient architecture. As a result of the multi-culture and the progress of Naxi ethnic group, the buildings in town incorporate the best parts of the architectural traits of Han, Bai and Tibetan into the unique Naxi style. The layout of the town is free and flexible, the houses are close and diverse and the lanes are narrow and meandering. Along the both side of the lanes, there are shops selling superb handicrafts. Here you also have the chance to trace the Ancient Tea-Horse Road.

Follow the Yu River up about 1km, there is Black Dragon Pool at the foot of Xiang Hill. It should be great to take a leisurely stroll around the pristine natural surrounding.

It will take about half an hour to reach Jade Dragon Sown Mountain which is located at 15km north of Lijiang Ancient Town. It is the southernmost glacier in the Northern Hemisphere, consisting of 13 peaks with the highest one at an altitude of 5,600 meters. Looking from the town, the mountain resembles a jade dragon lying in the clouds, hence the name. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is a sanctuary for rare animals and wild plants. About one fourth of all the plant species in China can be found here and 20 primeval forest communities shelter a big family of 400 types of trees and 30 kinds of animals which are protected by the state. These species living in different temperature levels create different kinds of views of the mountain. The peaks of the mountain are covered by snow all year around and gain the name of natural glacier museum. You can find rivers and pools formed by the thawed snow flowing along the valley and through the forests.

Continue our visiting after lunch. First built in 1756, Yufeng Temple is located at the southern foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, 13km from Lijiang Ancient Town. The temple is surrounded by the flourishing forest and river with the snow mountain at its back. It displays a distinctive architectural style of Han Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism and local Naxi Dongba Religion. It is also the witness of the peaceful coexistence of multinational cultures and religions. Today it still plays an important role in local residents religious life.

Baisha Mural is located at Baisha Villages, 10km north of Lijiang Ancient Town. Although the traditional houses do not look impressive, the place was the cradle of Naxi people and ancient capital of Naxi Kingdom. The valuable mural are protected inside Dabaoji Palace and the colored glaze temples. The originality and figures of the mural reflect the different religious cultures and artistic forms of Buddhism, Lamaism, Taoism and local Naxi Dongba religion's development into Naxi School. Each painting includes at least one hundred portraits are not only Buddha but also ordinary people such as bureaucrats, criminals and so on. Many of the scenes and subjects are drawn from people's daily life showing fishing, riding horses, weaving, dancing and casting iron. The photography is forbidden.

Beside the Dianchi Lake, the Village of Ethnic Culture is about 8km from the city proper, and faces the Western Hill across the lake. The hill stretches along more than 40 km (25 miles) of Dianchi Lake and rise to an altitude of 2,350m (7,710 feet). The local people gave the Western Hill the nickname, Sleeping Beauty Hills. The panoramic views are unforgettably beautiful and you will certainly want to bring your camera to capture these glorious scenes. Dragon Gate is the steepest spot in the Western Hill and well worth climbing up the winding old stone stairs because the view is spectacular. When standing at Dragon Gate and seeing the splendid views, you cannot but feel awe-inspired by the vision, dedication, and reverence for nature and the people who created this walkway.

In the village 25 villages are meant to the built for each of the 25 ethnic minorities in Yunnan, now some of them are still under construction. In the Nationality Song and Dance Hall you can watch the song and dance performances given by minorities. At the Plaza of Unity of Nationalities, in fact it is something like an arena theatre, you can watch not only the song and dance performances, quite different from those you watch in the Nationality Song and Dance Hall, but also the Asian Elephants Show. In the evening the Water-Screen Film will surely make you forget to go back.