10 Days Silk Road Adventure Muslim Tour

Our professional Muslim expert tour guide will pick you up at Beijing capital international airport and transfer you to the hotel. Relax during the remainder of the afternoon and evening to recover from the jet lag.

We will start to explore Beijing from the largest city square in the world; the impressive Tian'anmen Square. From there we will enter the "Imperial Palace" known as the Forbidden City to explore its many fascinating halls and pavilions. After lunch and prayer at Niujie Mosque we will visit the Temple of Heaven, the place where the Emperors worshipped the Heaven for good harvests. Today’s shopping stops are the Muslim Supermarket and Traditional Chinese herbal medicine of Tongrentang.

Today is the highlight of our China tour, the climbing of the Great Wall of China. In 220 B.C., under Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, sections of earlier fortifications were joined together to form a united defense system against invasions from the north. Construction of the great wall continued up to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), when the Great Wall became the worlds largest military structure. Its historic and strategic importance is matched only by its architectural significance. In the afternoon we will visit the Ming Tomb Sacred Way where we will learn the ancient Chinese Fengshui Theory. On the way to the Great Wall, we will make a stop at Bona jade carving factory where we will learn the ancient art of jade carving skills.

In the morning we will visit the largest garden in the world, the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace first built in 1750, largely destroyed in the war of 1860 and restored on its original foundations in 1886, is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value. After prayers at Madian Mosque, we will fly to Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Uyghur (Muslim) Autonomous Region in the afternoon.

Urumqi is the capital city of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Today’s ascension to Tianshan Mountain reveals the beautiful Heavenly Lake. We’ll stop at Red Hill on the Urumqi River for a panoramic view of the city and the 9-story hillside Zhenlong Pagoda. We will also visit the Tartar Mosque.

After breakfast we will drive to Turpan which survives with the assistance of karez, covered water channels that bring melt-water from the Tianshan Mountains to the north and west into the Turpan basin. After lunch, we will visit Emin Minaret. This 40 meter-high brick minaret is part of a large mosque, built in 1778. The minaret has an elegant conical shape; its brick laid in patterns that make it looked knitted. Then visit the ancient city of Gaochang which was built of mud and adobe bricks thousands of years ago. The city was abandoned somewhat in history and what is left now is just ruins of the ancient temples, houses, palaces and the old city wall.

We will visit another ruins of ancient city, Jiaohe and the underground irrigation system of Karez after breakfast. We will also visit a Uygur family to know Muslim Uygur people’s daily life. After lunch we will drive back to Urumqi to board our flight for Kashgar, the Uyghur capital of whole Xinjiang.

In the morning we will visit the largest mosque in Kashgar, the Idkah Mosque and Abakh Hoja Mausoleum. After lunch we will join hundreds of thousands of local Uyghurs for one of the worlds greatest bazaars, the Sunday Great Bazaar of Kashgar. This is a meeting place for all of Xinjiangs Muslim minorities and their neighbors from Pakistan. Sunday is no day of rest but Karshgars busiest, and the town empties as residents and visitors join rivers of arrivals from neighboring areas flowing to the Sunday Great Bazaar.

Fly to Urumqi in the morning. Upon arrival we will visit the Xinjiang Regional Museum which is famous for its rich collections of silk artifacts, brocades from Eastern Han Dynasty, as well as all kinds of specialized silk-woven items from the Tang Dynasty. After prayers at Tartar Mosque, we will visit the Urumqi International Bazaar.

After breakfast, we will be transferred to the airport for our flight to Beijing. The flight ticket from Urumqi to Beijing is included in our price. Tour ends after getting boarding pass at the airport from our tour guide.