Exploring the Silk Road
The Silk Road was first used to transport the silk produced by ancient China. There are ancient cities, temples, passes, deserts and snow mountains alongside the Silk Road. At the Silk Road, you can learn about the long history, rich culture and magnificent scenery. At the trip alongside the Silk Road, you will meet the buildings 2,000 years ago, exquisite grottoes and wall paintings, splendid Terracotta Warriors and horses, colorful Danxia landform, beautiful sand dunes and spring in the night.
Xi'an: Charming Ancient Capital of 13 Dynasties
Xi'an is the starting point of the Silk Road. You must visit the Terracotta Army if you come to Xi'an. The Terracotta Army is named the Eighth Wonder of the World. In 1987, the Terracotta Army was listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Terracotta Warriors and horses are the funeral objects of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty.
Visiting the Terracotta Army, you will be astonished by the technology of Qing Dynasty, which is more than 2,000 years ago. Explanation is recommended if you visit the Terracotta Army, by which you can know more about it and its history. The Part 1 of the Terracotta Army is spectacular, part 2 is smaller and the Terracotta Warriors in part 3 are most representative.
Terracotta Army
The Xi'an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China's long history.The Xi'an City Wall is one of the largest existing city wall in China. Having a history of more than 600 years, the Xi'an City Wall shows the wisdom of labouring people of ancient China. It witnesses the history of Xi’an. It is a symbol of ancient city. It is a concrete object that condenses citizens' memory of the city.
Walking on the Xi'an City Wall, you can feel the long history and the deep cultural deposits of the ancient capital of 13 dynasties. It takes about 3 hours to go all the way around the Xi’an City Hall. If you have enough time, you can walk around. Also, you can ride a bike to experience the life of the locals.
Xi'an City Wall
Zhangye: Colorful Danxia Landform
Zhangye is an important stop on the Silk Road. Covering an area of about 50 square kilometers, it is of high visiting and research value. Colorful Danxia Scenic Spot is the most typical Danxia landform in northern China, and it is also the only region that the Danxia landform overlaps with the colorful hills in China.
The Colorful Danxia Scenic Spot can be traced to 2,000,000 years ago. And the altitude of it is between 2,000 meters to 3,800 meters above the sea level. It is about 40 kilometers long from east to west and 5-10 kilometers wide from north to south, with a distribution area of more than 300 square kilometers. Thousands of cliffs and mountains are all bright red and reddish brown, which are magnificent and marvellous.
Danxia Scenic Spot
Jiayuguan Pass: Traffic Fortress on the Silk Road
Jiayuguan is the traffic fortress on the Silk Road. Jiayuguan Pass is the existing largest pass on the Great Wall, it is also the largest pass in China. It was an important military fortress in ancient China. There are temples, buildings, monuments and gates in the Jiayuguan Pass, where tourists can see the construction style of the ancient pass and the buildings.
Jiayuguan Pass is called the most spectacular pass in China. Standing on the Jiayuguan Pass, you will see the vast desert and rolling snow mountains in the distance, which is magnificent and astonishing. Also, you can climb up to the Overhanging Great Wall to feel the majestic Jiayuguan Pass.
Jiayuguan Pass
Dunhuang: Worldfamous Grottoes and Murals
Dunhuang, a famous stop on the Silk Road, is known as grottoes and murals all over the world. Mogao Caves has 735 grottoes and the murals cover an area of over 45,000 square meters. The spectacular grottoes and the exquisite murals make Mogao Caves the representative for Chinese grotto art. Flying Heaven, Cangjing Hole and Giant Buddha Hall are the name cards of Dunhuang Mogao Caves.
Singing Sands Mountain is famous for the sound of the sand dunes when the wind blows. The highest peak of Singing Sands Mountain is 1,715 meters. The sunrise and sunset at sand dunes should not be missed. Sand Skiing on the soft sand dunes are very interesting.
Crescent Spring is a spring in the sands dunes of Singing Sands Mountain, whose shape is like a crescent. Crescent Spring and the rolling sands dunes of Singing Sands Mountain provides visitors wonderful scene.
Mogao Cave
Kashgar: Islam Ancient City in the West
Kashgar is a representative historical and cultural city on the Silk Road. The Kashgar ancient city has a history of more than 2,000 years, which witnesses the change and development of the city in different periods. The buildings in the Kashgar ancient city are characteristic and beautiful. The sunset in Kashgar is impressive. If you come to Kashgar in the afternoon, you can wait for the sunset.
Kashgar is one of the most complete existing Islam ancient cities in China. You will feel the Islam culture in the buildings and people’s clothes. The performance of Xinjiang dance is worth watching. And the night view of the Kashgar is very beautiful.
Kashgar
Luoyang: Ancient Capital in the East
Luoyang is another starting point of the Silk Road, which is a famous ancient capital of 13 dynasties. It is a famous historical and cultural city in China. The Longmen Grottoes are famous in Luoyang, Henan Province. The Longmen Grottoes is the largest grotto in the world, with the most grottoes. The Longmen Grottoes were built by the royalty. The grottoes in the Longmen Grottoes show the high stone carving technique of Tang Dynasty.
The White Horse Temple is one of the oldest and most famous temples in China. Built in 68 AD, White Horse Temple has a history of nearly 2,000 years. The White Horse Temple is the first ancient temple in China. The buildings in the White Horse Temple has the construction styles of China, India, Thailand and Myanmar. It is the only temple to have the construction styles of 4 countries.
Longmen Grottoes
