Beijing And The Silk Road To Dunhuang – 10 Days

Begin at Tiananmen Square, the vast public square at the centre of the capital, flanked by the Monument to the People’s Heroes and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. Then pass beneath the Gate of Heavenly Peace into the Forbidden City, the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where emperors ruled for nearly five centuries.

Walk through the great ceremonial halls and on into the inner courts and gardens where the imperial family lived. Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Climb into a pedicab rickshaw for a ride through the hutongs, the narrow lanes of grey brick courtyard houses that once made up most of old Beijing. Stop to visit a family courtyard and see how neighbours still share these close-knit spaces.

Drive north out of the city to Mutianyu, a well-restored section of the Ming dynasty Great Wall set among forested hills. Ride the cable car up to the wall and walk along its battlements between the watchtowers, with the wall winding over the ridges as far as you can see.

Lunch is at a local restaurant near the wall.

Return to the city and stop at the Olympic Park to see the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest for its woven steel structure, and the National Aquatics Centre, the Water Cube, with its bubble-like facade. Both were built for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Visit the Temple of Heaven, where Ming and Qing emperors came to pray for good harvests. In the park around the temple, local people gather each morning for exercise, music and dance, and you join a tai chi session with a local teacher before walking to the round, blue-roofed Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

Your driver takes you to the airport for your flight to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province and a gateway to the Silk Road. A local driver meets you on arrival and takes you to your hotel in Lanzhou.

Drive about two hours to the Liujiaxia Reservoir, a long lake formed by a dam on the Yellow River. From here a speedboat carries you about an hour across the water and into a canyon of red rock peaks.

Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Explore the Bingling Temple Grottoes, a set of Buddhist caves and niches carved into the canyon walls from the fourth century onwards and part of the UNESCO-listed Silk Roads network. The highlight is a giant seated Buddha carved from the cliff face, surrounded by smaller statues and painted murals. Return by boat and road to Lanzhou in the late afternoon.

Climb up through Baita Mountain Park on the north bank of the Yellow River to the White Pagoda, a Buddhist pagoda that looks down over the city and its bridges. Then walk along the riverbank to the Yellow River Mother statue, a sculpture of a mother and child that honours the river as the cradle of Chinese civilisation.

Lunch is at a local restaurant. Lanzhou is the home of hand-pulled beef noodles, and this is the place to try them.

Board the train to Zhangye, about three hours through the Hexi Corridor, the narrow strip of land between mountains and desert that Silk Road caravans followed westwards. Your guide meets you and takes you to your hotel in Zhangye.

Visit Dafo Temple, the Great Buddha Temple of Zhangye, which holds one of the largest reclining Buddha statues in China. The figure lies peacefully in a dim wooden hall, surrounded by disciples and painted walls.

Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Head to the Zhangye Danxia National Geopark, where layers of red, orange, yellow and green sandstone have been folded into rolling hills that look painted. Follow the boardwalks and viewing platforms as the late afternoon light deepens the colours.

Drive about two and a half hours west to Jiayuguan, arriving at your hotel in the evening.

Visit Jiayuguan Pass, the great fortress that guarded the western end of the Ming dynasty Great Wall, with high earthen walls, gate towers and the Qilian Mountains behind. Continue to the Great Wall Museum, which tells the story of the wall from its earliest earthworks to the Ming dynasty.

Lunch is at a local restaurant, then drive a short way to the Overhanging Great Wall, a section that climbs steeply up a rocky ridge, with views over the desert plain.

Board the high-speed train to Dunhuang, about three hours, and settle into your hotel in Dunhuang, an oasis town on the edge of the desert.

Visit the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the great treasures of Buddhist art. Over roughly a thousand years, monks and patrons carved hundreds of caves into a cliff and filled them with murals and painted statues. A guide from the site leads you into a selection of caves, each one a small world of colour.

Lunch is at a local restaurant in Dunhuang.

Head to Mingsha Mountain, the Singing Sand Dunes, where the sand is said to hum when the wind moves across it. Climb the dunes for a view across the desert, then walk down to Crescent Lake, a small spring-fed lake curved like a new moon that has survived among the sands for centuries.

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel. Your guide and driver take you to the airport for your onward flight.