Most travelers will leave North America on overnight flights and arrive the next morning or afternoon in Beijing.

1: Arrival Day

Arrive in Beijing in the afternoon and transfer to our fine hotel near the heart of the city. After a long flight, we allow time for you to rest and get ready for our Far East Odyssey. You may want to get out and stretch your legs and begin to experience the beautiful city of Beijing.

2-4: The Great Wall and the Forbidden City

We begin our tour at Tiananmen Square, the spiritual, emotional and patriotic heart of China, then enjoy a morning tour of the Forbidden City, home to emperors for centuries. Lunch is at a unique restaurant where the dishes are meticulously prepared and are completely vegetarian in accordance with Buddhist and ancient Chinese health practices, although they may look like beef, chicken or fish. In the afternoon, you are free to wander the shops near our hotel on Wangfujing Street. Our welcome dinner tonight will feature Peking Duck.

We will continue to explore the city and its environs, combining visitis to the most famous sites with more off the beaten path and personal experiences. Once a year, the Emperor went to the Temple of Heaven to report to Heaven on his rule over China. We will visit this unique spot with its architecturally extraordinary temple buildings. Then we will visit a hutong, a traditional neighborhood, for a personal look at daily life in China’s capital.

One day, we drive north of Beijing to walk on the Great Wall at Juyong Pass, the site of an ancient citadel. This is an area of the Wall that is typically less crowded and we will take the time to stroll and experience this monumental site. In the afternoon we will visit the Fragrant Hills, a summer resort area for the Emperors, and tour the Bright Temple, a Tibetan-style complex built in 1780.

5-6: Urumqi and Tian Shan

NOTE: The following describes a typical itinerary in northwestern China. Due to the weather, infrequency of flights and trains, minimal tourist infrastructure and other local conditions, the itinerary may be adjusted at any time. But that is part of the adventure of being a modern day pilgrim along the Silk Road!

In the morning we fly to the capital of China’s vast northwestern Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Urumqi, which holds the distinction of being further from an ocean than any other city in the world. In the afternoon we will visit the Regional Museum, which houses many treasures from the Silk Road. In addition, we will be able to view the oldest and best preserved mummies in China. One called "sleeping beauty" is over 3,800 years old. We will also visit a mosque that is in active use and an outdoor market that features central Asian crafts.

Seventy miles from Urumqi over winding roads, and over a mile high in the Tian Shan (Heavenly Mountains), is Tian Chi, a beautiful lake that ranks as one of northwestern China's premier tourist destinations. The lake is surrounded by cypress and fir trees, Kazakh yurts, and horses, with views of the surrounding snow-capped mountains. As you enjoy a boat ride across the lake, you may be reminded of Switzerland or the Rockies. We return to Urumqi for the night.

6-11: On the Silk Road

NANSHAN GRASSLANDS

Kazakhs still use the pastures in this mountainous area to graze their livestock between May and October, and during this season they live in traditional yurts, made from grasses and mud. Time and weather permitting, we may be able to ride horses or wagons around the area.

TURPAN

From the Nanshan Grasslands, we descend by motor coach through a long valley to the second lowest place in the world after the Dead Sea. It is also the hottest place in China. But thanks to a unique irrigation system called karez, Turpan farmers grow grapes to produce raisins and the town has water channels running everywhere! In the afternoon, we will visit the ruins of Jiaohe, a 2000-year-old Han Dynasty town on an island once sacked by Genghis Khan. We will also visit an Afghan style minaret and go underground into a karez irrigation well system.

The next day we visit Gaochang, which was a key garrison town along the Silk Route from the seventh century. Later it was the capital of a Uygur kingdom. The ruins remain from a war in the 14th century that lasted 40 years. We will inspect the underground 8th century Tang burial vaults at Astana and then see the Buddhist murals and statues at Bizaklik. Tonight we board a train for an overnight trip across the Gobi desert. This is the segment which the Silk Road traders feared the most on their whole route across central Asia because it was so remote.

In the morning we disembark our train and take a two hour bus ride to Dunhuang. For a thousand years, travelers on the Silk Road paused in Dunhuang to pray to Buddha for a successful journey. They dug hundreds of caves in a hillside, painted murals inside and carved thousands of Buddhas. We will be able to enter selected caves to see this world-renowned artwork that has survived the centuries. Later we will see artifacts from the Han to Tang dynasties in the county museum.

Caravans leaving Dunhuang could take one of two routes into the desert. This morning we will go to the gate for those heading west on the southern route. In the afternoon, we will ride out into the sand dunes on camels just as traders carrying silks and jades did thousands of years ago and visit a lake that has survived in this dry climate.

12-14: Shanghai

We make the long flight to Shanghai where we will transfer to our centrally-located hotel for three nights. In the morning we will tour the Jade Buddha Temple and the Yu Garden. After lunch, we will have time to wander through the Old Town with its zigzag bridge, tea house and numerous shops. Tonight we will be treated to a spirited acrobatic show.

The Shanghai Museum, which will be our first stop on our second full morning, displays treasures from China's past in a beautiful and accessible way. From the museum we will wander through People's Park to Nanjing Road, Shanghai's 5th Avenue. You will be able to buy a lunch of your choice in a fabulous food hall on the top floor of one of the department stores. Tonight we will have a farewell dinner and, weather permitting, end our tour with an evening cruise to see the Bund and lights of Shanghai Harbor.

15: Departure Day

The mysteries of the Silk Road are now part of our history. Today we board our flights back to the world of the familiar.

NOTE: For those who want additional time in western China, we also offer an extension to the western provincial capital of Lanzhou and the Tibetan Buddhist mountain village of Xiahe. On Day 12, you will fly to Lanzhou instead of Shanghai, spend one night in Lanzhou and three nights in Xiahe, then return to Lanzhou for a flight to Suzhou (for two nights) and Shanghai for the final days of the trip.