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.

The distance between the downtown city and Dunhuang railway station is 128km, which makes Dunhuang railway station the farthest station from city in China. It takes you about 12 hours in transferring from Dunhuang to Turpan.

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.

Turpan is an Uygur town in a large oasis surrounding by desert and dry mountains. Upon arrival, visit the mysterious death city- Jiaohe Ancient City, which reveals traces of a prosperous ancient trading center and military stronghold at 1,600 years ago, used to be the most frontal barrier at the west for the dynasties.

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.

Coach tour drive to Gaochang Ancient City (40km from Turpan City) ,an extensive ruin since the Tang Dynasty and an ancient Chinese garrison town on the silk road 1st century AD(will be taken by donkey cart to visit the temple area). 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 you will pass by Flaming Mountain, made famous in the Chinese classic literature of “Journey to the West”, and then visit the Bezeklik caves which is located in a gorgeous valley of Flaming Mountain, and Astana Ancient Tombs(3rd—8 rd centuries ). The Grape Valley is located in 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.

Visit Bezeklik Caves which is located in a gorgeous valley of Flaming Mountain. More than 100 caves have been hewn out of this cliff face between the 6th and 9th centuries by Buddhist monks who farmed the valley below. They were abandoned at about the same time as Gaochang Ancient City and Jiaohe Ancient City after the Muslim take over of the region in the late 14th century.

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.

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.

Morning drive two and half hours to southeast of Urumqi, a far-removed world of Silk Road. The city once was an important transportation hub on the ancient Silk Road, and now is served as the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, the city is on the northern slope of Mt. Tianshan and at the southern edge of Jungar Basin. With the unique natural beauty and rich folk custom, Urumqi is an ideal tourist city of China.

Enjoy yourself in the largest Uygur bazaar in Er Daoqiao Market suited at the Er Daoqiao Block of the South Jie Fang Road in Urumqi, where you'll find a bustling market filled with fruit, clothing, crafts, knives, carpets and so on. The market has special room for grand entertainment performance and the folk street is furnished with the miniature landscape of Xinjiang's tourist scenic spots so that you might get a whole view of natural sights and human landscapes while appreciating ethnic song and dances.

After a flight of 1,131 kilometers, which takes you only 1 hour from Urumqi to Kashgar. Hemmed in by deserts and the Pamirs, Kashgar is a fabled city embracing a rich mixed culture with Mosques and veiled women contributing to its Middle East atmosphere.

Located on the hillside of Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, occupying an area of 100,000, the Stone City remains the ruins of the old fort and temple left from Jin and Tang Dynasties and those of official station of Qing Dynasty. The construction of the city is of elliptic shape, clay brick walls being built on the stone base.

Visit Etgar Mosque and Apakhoja Mausoleum in the morning. Etgar Mosque is the biggest mosque in Xinjiang and even China nowadays, covering a land area of 16,800 square meters. The mosque stands on the west of the Etgar Square, facing the center of Kashgar City. Apakhoja Mausoleum stands about 5 km east of Kashgar City. The height of main structure for the mausoleum is 26 meters, whose roof looks like a dome with the diameter of 17 meters and without beams to support. The legend goes that a lady called Yiparhan of Hojia's descendants was once an imperial concubine of Qianlong Emperor. She was commonly-known as a ' Fragrant Concubine'. Therefore the structure is also called 'Fragrant Concubine Tomb' by the locals. Continue your visit to Kashgar Ancient Town in the afternoon. The ancient town will bring you thousand years after back to a paramilitary age.

Continue you trip today to visit Nanshan Pasture, 70km away from Urumqi. The pasture is a fertile place with charming mountains around. Among the mountains White Willow Ditch is a unique and graceful peak standing side by side with snow on tops all year round. In the pasture you can ride on horse running through the valleys, or walk across the woods to pick mushrooms.

Established in 1953, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum occupies a space of 11,000 square meters and is built in a modern style enhanced by local architectural features. The central dome is thirty meters high and from its height one can view the entire city of Urumqi. It is famous for its rich collections of silk artifacts from many periods of history. Brocades from Eastern Han are highlighted, as well as all kinds of specialized silk-woven items from the height of the Tang. They are as lustrous and beautiful today as when they were new and display weaving techniques that were highly refined many hundreds and even thousands of years ago.

Chengdu is a very cultural city and has a lot of interesting and fascinating sights to offer, in the city and also in its surrounding areas, so you star your city tour today with the main sights in the city including Du Fu Thatched Cottage, Wuhou Temple and Wangjiang Park.

Firstly visit Du Fu Thatched Cottage, which is a beautiful garden and museum to honor Du Fu, one of the greatest Chinese poets of all times. Even though you do not have a clue who Du Fu was and you couldn't read the poems since all are only in Chinese, you have a great time there. You could stroll through the huge garden area and find many awesome and picturesque places.Then you continue your trip to Wuhou Temple, which is another very beautiful spot. It also has a great garden and it is very graceful as well. It is special because it is a temple of honoring of an Emperor and his Minister. In Chinese history, there is strict grading between Emperor and Minister, who are not supposed to set together. Moreover you find a nice tea house in the temple and have a cup of tea to relaxing and watching the locals chatting, playing MaJiang and Chinese poker. The Sichuan tea houses really have a very unique atmosphere. You see many old people, who seem to spend the whole day there, some Western tourists, Chinese families and even sometimes young people meeting up with friends. It is always very nice and interesting to watch the people having a good time and enjoying themselves. Bamboo is the main food for lovely giant panda and Chengdu is a place where you find lot kinds of bamboo. The best example is your next destination-Wangjiang Park.

The big draw of Chengdu is delicious Sichuan Cuisine and local snacks. Fortunately, you will have a chance to taste Hot Pot in Sichuan Style at night. Sichuan is famous for its spicy food, and one of its delicacies is the hot pot. It's where you have a pot of spicy broth boiling in front of you and you choose which ever food to cook. The Sichuan hot pot is a bubbling cauldron of extremely hot oil and water. Dip all kinds of food into the pot including meats, vegetables and tofu. It's a very social meal. People sit around to enjoy it and make a long evening out of it. As the saying goes, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do', your trip of Chengdu is completed with eating the traditional spicy hot pot. After dinner, an optional Sichuan Opera is waiting for you. The opera is staged in a tea house so during the show you could enjoy tea and peanuts. There are the music, opera (scene from the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms), some solo music, a bit of comedy, acrobatics, shadow puppets, and the face changing and fire spitting. It is nice to see the colorful costumes, hear the unfamiliar sounds of the music, and watch the amazing act of shadow play. The part with the mask changers is really cool. They change their masks so fast that you could hardly be sure that it really did change! They obviously are masters of 'sleight of hand'.

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.

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 have the chance to explore 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.

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.