3 Days Urumqi Heavenly Lake and Turpan Tour

Overview

Day by day itinerary

1. 1Hotel Pick up and visit Heavenly Lake⌄

   Meet your friendly guide and driver at the hotel lobby, then we will drive 1.5 hours to entrance of the Heavenly Lake about 08:30, following is the 40-minutes shuttle bus twisting through the picturesque Tianshan mountains to the edge of the Lake. Either Trek around the lake, enjoy the boating cruise, or even take the cable car to the explore the Maya Mountain for the incredible view of Bogoda Peak.

   Travel back to Urumqi in the afternoon which is about the other 1.5hrs, continue the tour at the Xinjiang International Bazaar, the largest bazaar in Urumqi. You'll find a bustling market filled with fruit, clothing, crafts, knives, carpets and almost anything that you can imagine. (Option: The Culture Show with Banqute,fr $45/pp)

2. 2Explore the Tuyoq Village & Bezeklik Grottoes in Turpan⌄

   Start the trip off with the 3hours driving to Turpan, passing by the wind power station which is the largest one in Asia spreading at the foot of Tianshan Mountain. Following glimpse of Salt Lake in Dabancheng. We'll be amazed by the histroical sites and oasis land of Turpan. A must and first visit is the oldest Uighur village Tuyoq Village located in the very center of Flaming Mountain Canyon. It used to be the holy site of Buddhism and Islam. The village consists of four parts: Canyon scenery, Thousand Buddha Caves, Maza tomb and the old buildings of the ancient village.

   Following a lunch in local restaurant, drive you to explore the Bezeklik Grottoes, the Buddhist Center of Gaochang area, is a complex of Buddhist cave grottos dating from the 5th to 14th century between the cities of Turpan and Shanshan at the north-east of the Taklamakan Desert near the ancient ruins of Gaochang in the Mutou Valley. Some murals show a large Buddha surrounded by other figures, including Turks, Indians and Europeans. Some of the murals are masterpieces of religious art. From here, you can enjoy the outlook of Flaming Mountain around the Grottoes.

3. 3Turpan City Tour, Then back to Urumqi⌄

   The journey today will begin from the Karez Well, A special irrigation system that the locals make full use of the topography of Turpan to draw the underground water to irrigate their farmland ingeniously.

   Thereafter, we will also pay a visit to Sugong Minaret, the largest Islamic minaret in China built in 1778 by Sulaiman that is the ruler and leader of Turpan to commemorate and commend his father's achievements of the reunion of Xinjiang.

   The tour today end up to enjoy the scenery of Jiaohe Ruins with a history of 2,300 years lies between two rivers on a loess plateau atop a cliff of over 30m. It is one of the best preserved ruins of its ancient era in China, it was include in the World Heritage List on June 22, 2014. We will back to Urumqi in the late afternoon and drop you off at the hotel.