China’s Silk Road Cities - The Northern Route through Shaanxi, Gansu & Xinjiang

Highlights

• Explore Xian there is a walk through the winding streets of the city Muslim Quarter.
• See the Shaanxi History Museum which explains the history and culture of the province
• Visit Beilin Museum, which houses a collection of stone stelae
• Explore Dunhuang ,see Mogao Caves which are highlight of the Silk Road in China and one of the most important sites of early Chinese Buddhist cave paintings

What's this trip about?

In the second century BC, imperial envoy Zhang Qian was sent on a mission to the West, beyond the outer limits of ancient China, to obtain some of the legendary Ferghana horses for Han emperor Wudi’s cavalry. On the equine front the mission was a failure, but Zhang Qian returned to Chang’an (today’s Xi’an) with stories of the riches he saw and this soon led to the development of trade between China and the alien world beyond its western frontier. Myriad commodities – as well as religious beliefs and cultural attitudes – traversed the land from China, through Central Asia and Persia to the Mediterranean. The formidable Taklamakan Desert, an arid wasteland of shifting sand dunes, posed one of the biggest threats to travellers, who skirted its northern and southern edges, finding respite in the many thriving oasis towns.

Accommodation