China The Silk Road 2009

              
  
China ~ The Silk Road
October 22 to November 8, 2009



 
Your Executive Worldwide Travel Tour Itinerary
 
 

OCTOBER 23 – Depart Ottawa for Beijing on Air Canada via Toronto.

OCTOBER 24 - BEIJING
Arrive in Beijing and meet our English-speaking guide at the Airport. Transfer to our 5-star hotel, home for three nights.

  OCTOBER 25 - BEIJING Breakfast at the hotel. Morning visit to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, it houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities and was listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987.

In the afternoon, proceed to the Summer Palace, the largest and best-preserved imperial garden in China. Its Chinese name, YiHeYuan, translates as ‘Garden of Nurtured Harmony’ or ‘Garden for Maintaining Health and Harmony.’

Lunch and dinner included. BLD

 
 



OCTOBER 26 – BEIJING

Following breakfast at the hotel, a full-day excursion to the Great Wall at Badaling section, 75 km from the city, walking along the Wall to enjoy the beautiful view of the northern mountain ranges.

This afternoon, visit the Sacred Way and the Changling Tomb, the largest and best-preserved of the 13 Ming Tombs. ChangLing is the tomb of Emperor YongLe (reign 1403-1424) and Empress XuShi.

Lunch and dinner included.

(On the way to the Wall, you may stop at the Olympic venues and take some pictures of the Bird Nest and National Aquatics Center) BLD

  
 



 
 
OCTOBER 27 – BEIJING--XIAN

Breakfast at the hotel. Morning visit to the ancient Beijing Hutong. You will take a pedicab ride to see the old city alley and residential area in downtown Beijing including a local family, kindergarten and Drum tower.

This afternoon, visit the Lama Temple and the Temple of Heaven where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would offer sacrifices to heaven and pray for good harvests.

In 1998, the Temple of Heaven was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In the evening, fly to Xian for two nights at our 5-star hotel. Lunch and dinner included. BLD



 
 


OCTOBER 28 – XIAN

After breakfast at our hotel, a full-day sightseeing tour including visits to the Terracotta Warriors, the Great Wild Goose Pagoda and Banpo Village. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China, dating from 210 BC, include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.

The seven-story Great Wild Goose Pagoda was built in 652AD. It is a striking, elegant building and is the symbol of Xian. The famous Buddhist monk Xuan Zang returned from a 17-year pilgrimage and the square pagoda was built to house the 600 or so Buddhist texts that he had collected in India.

Banpo is an archaeological site first discovered in 1953 and located in the Yellow River Valley just east of Xian, China. It contains the remains of several well-organised Neolithic settlements dating from approximately 4500 BCE.

Lunch and dinner included. BLD

          



  OCTOBER 29 – XIAN – DUNHUANG

Breakfast at the hotel, then visit the Provincial Museum of History, the City Wall and the Great Mosque of Xian, the biggest and best-preserved Chinese mosque. Inside the Great Mosque are such treasures as hand-copied Korans from the Ming dynasty and a calendar stone called “the Moon Tablet.”

In the afternoon, fly to Dunhuang for two nights at 5-star hotel.

Lunch and dinner included. BLD 		 


 
OCTOBER 30 – DUNHUANG

Breakfast at the hotel followed by a full-day sightseeing tour to include visits to the Echoing Sand Dune where you will have a chance to see the five-color sand and the Crescent Lake – an oasis in the desert.

Lunch and dinner included. (Optional camel-riding) BLD

 		 

 


OCTOBER 31 – DUNHUANG – TURPAN

Breakfast at the hotel. A full-day sightseeing tour includes visits to Mogao Grottoes and Dunhuang Museum. The Mogao Grottoes, also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas contain some of the finest examples o f Buddhist, art spanning a period of 1,000 years.

Construction of the Buddhist cave shrines began in 366 CE as places to store scriptures and art. The Mogao Caves became one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1987. Written sutras from the caves are part of the exhibits at the Dunhuang Museum as well as a selection of the relics excavated from the graves in the Han Dynasty (206B.C.-220), Jin Dynasty (265-420), Sui Dynasty (581-618), and Tang Dynasty (618-907) and exhibits that reflect the flourishing social development and cultural exchange between China and the West during the time when Dunhuang was a major center along the Silk Road.

Overnight soft sleeper train to Turpan.

Lunch and dinner included. BLD

 

 
NOVEMBER 1 – TURPAN

Arrive in Turpan in the morning and meet our guide. Full-day guided sightseeing tour including visits to the Ancient City of Gaochang and Karez Irrigation Tunnels. Located at the foot of the Flaming Mountain, Gaochang was a key point along the Silk Road. Built as a garrison town in the first century B.C., it is one of the best-preserved ruins of the ancient cities in China.

The remarkable 2,000-year-old Karez Irrigation System (Kanerjing) allowed the desert cities of the Silk Road to flourish despite an unrelentingly arid environment. In the oasis cities of Turpan and Hami, 1,600 km (990 mi) of underground tunnels brought water – moved only by gravity – from melting snow at the base of the Heavenly Mountains.

Overnight at a 5-star hotel. Lunch and dinner included.   BLD

 



 

NOVEMBER 2 – TURPAN – URUMQI

After breakfast at the hotel, visit the Grape Valley, filled with trellised walkways covered with grapes. Located on the western face of the Flaming Mountains, east of Turpan, this 8km (5 mile) long valley remains cool and humid, despite the surrounding desert heat. Grapes were first grown in the city over 2,000 years ago and together with Turpan’s melons and wines, soon became the region’s specialty products. The delicious produce was often presented as tribute to the Tang imperial court.

This afternoon enjoy the scenery on our drive to Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the most ‘inland’ city in the world.

Overnight stay at 5-star hotel. Lunch and dinner included. BLD



 
NOVEMBER 3 – URUMQI – KASHGAR

Breakfast at the hotel before departing for a short cruise on the crescent-shaped Pearl of Heavenly Mountain, nestled in the middle of Bogda Peak, 110 km east of Urumqi.

An alpine drift lake 2,000 m above sea level with melted snow as its source, Heavenly Lake enjoys crystal water.

After the cruise, a guided tour at the Xinjiang Regional Museum, devoted to archeological treasures from the Silk Road and the province’s minority cultures.

This afternoon, fly to Kashgar for a two-night stay at a 5-star hotel. Lunch and dinner included. BLD

 



 


NOVEMBER 4 – KASHGAR

Breakfast at the hotel, then a full-day sightseeing tour including visits to the Id Kah Emin mosque, one of the largest in China, and the Tomb of the Fragrant Lady, the final resting place of Xiang Fei, the only Uigur concubine among the 41 wives of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Legend has it that Iparhan, a descendant of Abakh Khoja, exuded an enchanting fragrance without using any perfume, hence the name Xiang Fei (Fragrant concubine in Chinese).

This afternoon, visit Kashgar Bazaar. More than 2,000 years old, the Kashgar bazaar is the biggest international trade market in the northwest region of China.

Lunch and dinner included. BLD



 
NOVEMBER 5 – KASHGAR – URUMQI

Breakfast at the hotel followed by a morning visit to the Old Town and Handicraft Street.

This afternoon, fly back to Urumchi for an overnight stay at the 5-star hotel. Lunch and dinner included. BLD

  



 

NOVEMBER 6 – SHANGHAI

After breakfast at the hotel, transfer to the airport and fly to Shanghai where we will stay for two nights at a 5-star hotel. Time permitting, visit The Bund on the western bank of the Juangpu Jiang River, one of the remaining vestiges of Shanghai's colonial period. It was here that the European, American and Japanese built their banks, trading houses, consulates and hotels.

If possible, visit Nanjing Road, China's premier shopping street. Over 600 businesses on Nanjing road offer countless famous brands, superior quality, and new fashions. Upscale stores i nclude Tiffany, Mont Blanc, and Dunhill. In addition, approximately a hundred traditional stores and specialty shops still provide choice silk goods, jade, embroidery, wool, and clocks. Lunch and dinner included. BLD (B)



 
NOVEMBER 7 – SHANGHAI

Breakfast at the hotel followed by a full-day sightseeing tour including the Yu Garden, a beautifully-preserved garden and estate with a maze of pavilions, grottoes, lotus ponds, and rickety bridges crossing lazy streams, as well as Jade Buddha Temple, named after its exquisite milk-white jade Buddha brought from Burma in the 19th century by a Chinese monk.

Tour Shanghai Museum and "Xintiandi" old Shikumen Long-tangs, an area of restored traditional Shikumen (stone gate) houses on narrow Long-tangs (alleys) which is a special old form of building architecture only found in Shanghai.

We’ll also visit Pudong New District and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the world's third tallest TV and radio tower, which rests on rich green grassland and gives the appearance of pearls shining on a jade plate.

Lunch and dinner included. BLD

  NOVEMBER 8 – SHANGHAI

Breakfast at the hotel, check out and transfer to the airport for our return flights to Ottawa.





 




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