Secret China: Zhangjiaji, Zhangye, Dunhuang & Beyond
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Overview
Highlights
- Discover Beijing
- Visit Temple of Heaven, Beijing Zoo, Lama Temple
- Experience the Architectural tour to Yu Garden, Jewish Quarter
- Explore Terracotta Solider and Horse Museum Shanxi Historical Museum
- Visit Fenghuang Ancient Town
What's this trip about?
Details
Travel Themes
Destinations
Activities
Trip includes
- Internal airfare (broken out separately
- Accommodations as listed, including all service charges and taxes
- First Class compartments on trains
- All ground transfers
- All excursions with expert English-speaking guides
- Entrance fees to museums, temples, etc.
- All meals as indicated with B-breakfast, L-lunch, D-dinner
Itinerary
Accommodation: Bamboo Garden
Arriving in Beijing, you will be met just outside the customs area by our operator holding a sign with your name on it. He will take you to your hotel where you can unpack and shower. Tonight there will be a welcome dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Shangrila Hotel
This morning, you will head to the airport to catch a flight to Xian. On arrival, you can have a nice lunch at the airport restaurant, and head out to see the famous Terracotta Warriors. O...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Shangrila Hotel
You have a full day to explore Xian. In its heyday, Xian was said to rival Rome and Constantinople for the title of the World’s Greatest City. Its history dates back to the Neolithic perio...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Dunhuang Hotel
The morning is free until time to transfer to the airport for your flight to Dunhuang. When you arrive, you will transfer to the Dunhuang Hotel.
Dunhuang lies at the western end of t...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight On The Train
In the Buddhist tradition, art and life are one and meditating on the art is one path to achieving enlightenment – a concept that was soon assimilated into the Chinese traditional c...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Huozhou Hotel
This morning, you will arrive in Turpan a place that is unique in China for two key reasons – part of the Turpan Basin is more than 505 feet below sea level, and is not only the lowest spot ...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Huozhou Hotel
Today you will continue your exploration of Turpan and the surrounding area. You can spend a bit of time in the market, and visit the Emin Minaret on the eastern edge of town. Then you can h...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: West Lake Yindu Hotel
This morning, you will head west to Urumqi. The drive itself, only about three hours, is a study in contrast. You leave the green oasis town of Turpan and drive out along the vast, a...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: West Lake Yindu Hotel
Ozymandias would be comforted to know that there were many other desert cities and monuments that crumbled under the ravages of time. If you feel up to a hike in the desert, you can ...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Niya Hotel (very basic)
You have about a 4-5 hour drive ahead of you today through the desolate Taklimakan Desert to the small town of Mingfeng.
On the way, you will stop in the small town of Yu Ti...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Kuqi Lidu Hotel
This morning, you will leave Mingfeng and head out again for a very long drive across the Taklimakan Desert to the town of Kuqa or Kuche. This “Ocean of Death” as it was called, is the lar...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Kuqi Lidu Hotel
Until the 1880s, “Quici”, was an important Silk Road city between the Tien Shan Mountains to the north, and the Taklimakan Desert to the South. After the 1880’s it was renamed Kucha. Today...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Kuqi Lidu Hotel
If yesterday was sightseeing outside of Kuqa, today is a chance to explore the city. Like other towns, Kuqa was formerly the seat of a prosperous Silk Road Kingdom. During the Han Dynasty,...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Sheraton Hotel
From Kuqa, you will catch an afternoon flight back to Urumqi. During the afternoon, you can wander the market and visit sites you may have missed earlier.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Sheraton Hotel
This morning you will drive about 68 miles east to Heavenly Lake (about 2 hours drive).
The Tianchi or “Heavenly Lake”, overshadowed by the ominous peak of Mt. Bogda (The Mountain of...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Bamboo Garden Hotel
This morning you will catch a flight from Urumqi back to Beijing. On arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is free to explore on your own.
Meals Breakfast
You will be picked up at your hotel in time to transfer to the airport for your flight home.
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Dates & Availability
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Myths and Mountains.
The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.

Myths and Mountains Reviews & Ratings
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We were definitely off the beaten path
It is a difficult job to make everybody happy all of the time, but you ladies do a superb job. We were definitely off the beaten path, and when following that path t...
China provides a very diverse experience
China provides a very diverse experience, but when all is said and done, it is the people that provides the basis for everything you see and do. The people are both ...
just beautiful!
The houseboat trip on the Kerala backwaters was a highlight of our tr...
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Logistics
What's excluded
- Comprehensive insurance coverage, including medical, evacuation, baggage loss/delay, cancellation ins., etc.
- International airfare
- Visa fees
- Meals where not indicated with a B,L,D
- Tips/gratuity (porters, drivers, local guides, etc.)
- International airport taxes
- Other items of a personal nature including laundry, alcoholic beverages, etc.
- Additional expenses resulting from the delay or extension of the trip due to causes beyond our reasonable control
Accommodation
- Bamboo Garden
- Shangrila Hotel
- Dunhuang Hotel
- Huozhou Hotel
- West Lake Yindu Hotel
- Niya Hotel (very basic)
- Kuqi Lidu Hotel
- Sheraton Hotel
14 Breakfasts, 13 Lunches and 13 Dinners
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