Asia Transpacific Journeys' extended journeys to Western China provide a multitude of memorable experiences. Travel to China with us to experience the culture, cuisine, history, and scenery of this vast and unique country. Our Western China tour will reveal the sights and sounds of China’s Silk Road, the rich cuisine in Urumqi, and a World UNESCO Heritage Site in Turpan. We assure your China vacation will be a journey beyond the ordinary.
The Great Silk Road
Fabled trade route of ancient China’s silk and spice caravans, the Great Silk Road was the main artery linking the Far East to Europe for over 1,000 years. In reality a shifting network of desert passages, the route nonetheless converged at great centers, giving rise to some of the most culturally diverse cities in Asia, smack in the middle of some of the most desolate and remote regions in the world. The representative western cities are Dunhuang, Urumqi, Turpan, and Kashgar. Explore them all in a retracing of the Silk Road, or visit one or more as fascinating destinations in their own right.
Dunhuang
One of the great points of convergence along the Silk Road, Dunhuang is a city in three colors: an oasis of brilliant emerald fields set amidst sweeping brown sand dunes, and snow-white peaks towering in the distance. The tree-lined streets are picturesque thoroughfares for Mongolian ponies and locals in tradi-tional dress. The city itself is a beguiling study in contrasts: ancient yet modern, lively yet relaxed.
It’s worth a visit to Dunhuang’s rustic local museum, which provides a good overview of the history of the area, as well as nearby sections of the Great Wall. The city’s market is a delight, with colorful dried fruits—raisins in ten colors!—nuts, textiles and steamed dumplings. At sundown take a camel ride through the Mingsha Dunes in the surrounding Gobi Desert to recall a way of life which reigned here for a millennium.
The massive Mogao Caves feature stone Buddhas large and small, hewn from sandstone walls, housed in ornate, protective structures. Many of the walls are adorned with elaborate, ancient frescoes. You may also want to explore the nearby Sui, Tang, and Western Thousand Buddha Caves. Have dinner at a tradi-tional farmhouse, where a delicious local meal may be enjoyed amidst apricot orchards.
Urumqi
Unbridled development in Urumqi has resulted in bellowing smokestacks and architecture that is, to put it kindly, less than whimsical. Still, you’ve got to go, because from Urumqi you can access a truly fascinating area in China, with 13 distinct ethnic minorities calling the area home.
The Xinjiang Museum houses interesting exhibits relating to the many ethnic minorities who inhabit the area. It also showcases artifacts which reveal the daily lives of the Silk Road’s early inhabitants, including some of their mummified remains, unearthed from the nearby desert of Taklamakan, which literally means “Go in and you won’t come out.” Take a day trip to nearby Heaven Pool, a beautiful lake surrounded by stunning mountains, rolling green hills, grazing ponies and the circular yurts of the Kazakh people. Or better still, spend a night or two in a yurt, and explore the area on horseback with a Kazakh guide, to witness the equestrian skills which have always made these people famous and feared.
Be sure to sample the local Uyghur cuisine, a culinary crisscross of Chinese and Middle Eastern influences. Try the laghman, thick noodles topped with a sauce of spicy lamb, eggplant, tomatoes, beans and garlic. The fresh tandoori oven breads are scrumptious, and go down well with a cold beer, or green tea with nutmeg. The authentic cuisine will be one highlight of your Silk Road travel.
Turpan (Turfan)
The essence of ancient Asia is like a pervading fragrance in Turpan. The place is awash in traditional scenes: twisting alleys lined with mud-brick houses; grapevines winding their way up trellises; raisins and apricots drying in wind-blown chambers, the summer sun too intense for the work; ponies pulling ploughs through fields of grain. This is the grape-growing region of China, and the Uyghurs who inhabit Turpan produce the delicious wine for which the region is renowned.
At the Gaochang Ruins just to the east of Turpan you can explore the remains of this ancient Uyghur capital which flourished as a Silk Road center around the 9th century. Recalling Pompeii in scale, this city was lost to the sands of the Gobi for hundreds of years until recent excavation. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ramble through the Grape Valley to see, well, lots of grapes! The picturesque vineyards are surrounded by the starkest of desert landscapes. You can enjoy lunch among the vines, or a picnic while walking in the Flaming Mountains, named for their profusion of red and purple flora.
The area surrounding Turpan is a veritable archaeological sandbox, and it seems every peasant you meet has unearthed Roman coins, Persian pottery, swatches of ancient Tang Dynasty silk, even carved wood which predates the invention of paper. To stand at such a crossroads of antiquity is an awe inspiring experience.
Kashgar
The ultimate exotic outpost, Kashgar was, and still is, the last frontier. Almost frozen in time since its trad-ing heyday ceased four centuries ago, the old section of Kashgar remains much as Marco Polo found it: an intoxicating, marvelous confluence of Indian, Persian, Arabian and Chinese cultures layered one on top of the other. Just spend the day walking through the Old Town and you’ll realize that, trains, planes and automobiles not withstanding, you are out there. The Sunday Market is hands down the best, the most interesting, and maybe even the largest bazaar in all of Asia—an absolute must see on this leg of your China Silk Road tour.
The Id Kah Mosque is huge and suitably impressive; around town you’ll discover dozens of smaller mosques at every turn. While strolling the city’s alleyways you’ll catch glimpses through the mud-brick doorways of people engaged in all manner of ancient arts, including bread making, metal forging, musical instrument manufacturing and firing of hand-made tile.
>>China ActivitiesChina Travel |
Essential China |
Extended Journeys: North China |
Extended Journeys: South China |
Extended Journeys: Central China Region |
Extended Journeys: Eastern China |
Extended Journeys: Western China |
China Activities |
China Sample Itinerary |
China Travel: Accommodations
