13-Day Southern Xinjiang Silk Road Private Tour

Meals: No meal
Accommodation: In Urumqi

Arrive in Urumqi , Xinjiang, where your guide will meet you and arrange the hotel transfer. The remainder of the day is free to settle in before beginning the overland journey.

Urumqi City View

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: In Urumqi

Drive approximately 100km northeast to Heavenly Lake (Tianchi), where meltwater, pines and cypresses frame views toward snow-covered Mount Bogeda. Return to central Urumqi and browse Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar, regarded as the city's largest outdoor market.

Heavenly Lake (Tianchi)

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation:In Turpan

Drive about 3 hours to Turpan, China's lowest depression, and visit Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves. The royal temple of the historic Huihu state preserves murals depicting rulers and people from different levels of society.

Continue to Emin Minaret, Xinjiang's tallest surviving ancient pagoda and China's only ancient Islamic brick pagoda. View the red sandstone Flaming Mountains from the road, then explore  Jiaohe Ancient City, whose ruins record a trading center and military stronghold active about 1,600 years ago.

Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: In Korla

Set out toward Korla, an oasis on the Peacock River at the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. Before the roughly 5-hour drive, visit the underground irrigation system at Karez Well . En route, stop at Qigexing Buddhist Temple Ruins, a former Buddhist center on the northern Silk Road active in the latter half of the first millennium CE.

Karez Wells

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: In Kuqa

Leave early for the approximately 300km, 4-hour drive to Kuqa. Visit Subash Ancient City, once a substantial settlement spanning both sides of a river flowing from the Tian Shan toward the Tarim Basin.

Continue to Kuqa Grand Mosque, the second-largest mosque in Xinjiang after Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar. Rebuilt in brick after a 1931 fire, the compound preserves Xinjiang's only surviving Islamic court.

Finish at Kizilgagha Beacon Tower, a Han-dynasty frontier alarm tower where guards used fire at night and smoke by day.

Kuqa Old City

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: In Kuqa

Drive to Kizil Thousand-Buddha Caves, the largest surviving Buddhist cave complex in Xinjiang and among China's earliest western grotto sites. The caves were first excavated around the 3rd century BC, nearly 260 years before Dunhuang's Mogao Caves. Continue to Tianshan Mysterious Grand Canyon, a 5.5-kilometer red-brown canyon with an average depth of 1,600 meters, shaped over time by wind and water.

Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: In Alar

Walk along Kuqa Old Street, also called Restan Road. Its shops sell local handicrafts, clothing and spices, while the brightly decorated Uyghur-style buildings reflect both traditional and modern influences.

Continue to the Kuqa Ancient Tombs Museum, an in-situ museum protecting 15 brick tomb chambers from the Wei and Jin periods (220–420). The 5,000-square-meter exhibition was built after the tombs were found in 2007 and helps explain the history of the ancient Qiuci state., Afterwards, drive to Alar for the night.

Kuqa Ancient Tombs Museum

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: In Hotan

Cross the Taklamakan Desert toward Hotan, a 450km journey through a region associated with significant archaeological discoveries. En route, visit the  Ruins of Rawak Temple, a pagoda-centered temple site about 50 kilometers northwest of Hotan and an important relic on the southern Silk Road during the Jin and Tang dynasties.

Taklamakan Desert Highway

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: In Hotan

Begin at the Hotan Museum, whose collection of more than 10,000 objects traces the southern Silk Road through Buddhist sculpture, mural fragments, musical artifacts, Kharosthi wooden tablets, Han-period textiles and Hotan jade. The museum closes on Monday; when closed, visit Hotan Jade Bazaar instead.

See how locally distinctive silk textiles are produced at a workshop, then walk through Hotan Old Town. In the evening, explore the night market and sample local snacks independently.

Hotan Old City and Night Market

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: In Kashgar

Drive approximately 500km from Hotan to Kashgar, a journey of about 7 hours. Stop en route at the Mausoleum of Amannisa Khan, built in memory of the musician and poet Amannisa Khan, who helped systematize the Twelve Muqam. The structure has a round tower, 20 carved pillars and plaster decoration inside the dome.

The Mausoleum of Amannisa Khan

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation:In Kashgar

Spend the day in Kashgar Old Town, beginning on Zhiren Street to see locally made cookware, musical instruments and other craftwork. Continue to Id Kah Mosque, one of China's largest and busiest mosques, and pause for tea at a century-old teahouse. If the visit falls on Sunday, browse the local Bazaar , which draws traders from Xinjiang and neighboring regions.

Kashgar Old City

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: In Kashgar

Follow the Karakoram Highway to Karakul Lake at 7546m above sea level, with views toward snow-covered Muztagh Ata. Stop en route at Baisha Lake at about 3500 meters above sea level, where water, grassland, birds and pale sand slopes meet beneath the mountain landscape.

Return to Kashgar after the excursion. The evening is free for an independent walk or time at a local market.

Karakurum High Way and Karakul Lake

Meals: Breakfast
 

Enjoy free time, then transfer to Kashgar airport for the flight to your next destination.

Service Ends