Introduction:
The fabled Silk Road was one of the oldest trading routes between East and West. Our journey traces the main archaeological sites from Xian to Turpan then visits Kashgar's amazing Sunday Market. Crossing the high Torugart Pass we venture into beautiful Kyrgyzstan and continue on to two of the most spectacular Silk Road cities, Bokhara and Samarkand in Uzbekistan.
 The Great Wall & Terracotta Army: Our journey begins in Beijing, visiting the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. The Forbidden City is a maze of palaces and gardens, 'laid out like a chessboard', as Marco Polo wrote. In Xian, our sightseeing will include the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (210 BC) where we view one of the greatest archaeological finds of the century - the 'buried army' of lifesize terracotta figures. Then we continue to the vast Buddhist shrine at Dunhuang, where hundreds of paintings decorate the cave walls. Heading northwest, we stop at Turpan, a famed oasis town close to the ruined citadel of Jiaohe, which flourished under the Han Dynasty.
 Asia's Largest Bazaar: In the remote far west of China, Xinjiang Province is a vast steppe region populated by Moslem Uighurs with their own distinctively different customs, traditions and lifestyle. We cross the mighty Taklamakan desert to Kashgar, once a powerful trading post on the Silk Road, and now home to the famous and colourful Sunday Market where we find ourselves haggling alongside fur-clad Uighur and Kyrgyz tribesmen.
Fabled Bokhara and Samarkand: As we cross the Torugart Pass we enter Kyrgyzstan. Our journey continues through the open steppe and rugged mountains of this beautiful country; then takes us into Uzbekistan and the historic cities of Bokhara and Samarkand. Here we find some of the most dazzling architecture on the Silk Road; elaborately decorated mosques, ornate mausoleums and fabulous madrassas. |
