Senast uppdaterad: 2012-04-20
Itinerary
Day 1
Gathering at our hotel in Beijing.Day 2
Beijing is the capital of China since 1279. There are many historical points of interest; whereof the Forbidden City 故宫, the Summer Palace 颐和园, Temple of Heaven 天坛公园 and the Great Wall 长城 are the most important.
From the hotel it is possible to take a walk to the Tiananmen Square 天安门广场 and the Forbidden City 故宫. North of the Forbidden City there are a series of parks starting with the Jingshan Park 景山公园 just across the street from the northern gate of the Forbidden City. From the top of the hill of Jingshan Park you get a good view of Beijing and the Forbidden City. Further to the west you will find the Beihai Park 北海公园, which is very popular among Beijingers for skating in the wintertime. Beihai means the Northern Sea. Just south of Beihai is Zhongnanhai 中南海 (Middle and Southern Sea). That is the part of the government area where most of the high rank leaders work and live. It is often called the Forbidden City of the Modern China, since it is not open for ordinary citizens to visit - just as was the Imperial Forbidden City.
North of the Beihai Park, there are a few more lakes surrounded by parks; Qianhai 前海 (the Front Sea), Houhai 后海 (the Back Sea) and Xihai 西海 (the Western Sea). This part of Beijing is quiet and nice for a stroll along the lakeside. Older men are fishing, others are playing table tennis, yet others go for a swim in the water. Close to Houhai you can find some small tea houses 茶馆 where tea is served in the traditional way. There are also many cafes and restaurants. In the area of these lakes there are also some museums and parks worth visiting. Prince Gong's Residence 恭王府 has a traditional Chinese garden and Chinese styled buildings, as has the former residence of Song Qingling 宋庆龄故居.
The city centre of Beijing has a mixture of narrow alleys and modern shopping areas. A traditional Chinese house is built in a square with a courtyard in the middle, siheyuan. Towards the alley there are no windows but just a high wall and a closed gate. Some of these courtyards are well preserved and it has become very popular and exclusive to live in such courtyard houses. There are also many old houses in very bad condition in the alleys. Most of the ordinary people living in the alleys do not have private toilets but have to use the public toilet in the neighbourhood. The Beijing authorities are very keen on tearing these areas down to get space to build hotels, shopping centres and office buildings.
Beijing is changing rapidly and it seems as almost all city is under re-construction. Many new buildings were constructed for the Olympics, such as the famous Bird nest and the Water Cube. And new subway lines have opened. The new Beijing has lots of high-rise buildings, roads in three layers and a great deal of neon and modern architecture. The most modern part of the city centre is situated around the Wangfujing Street 王府井大街. Jianguomenwai Dajie 建国门外大街 is another area with several large shopping centres, such as the Friendship Store 友谊商店. Not far from the Friendship Store, to the East, you will also find the famous Silk Alley 秀水市场 where you can buy clothing garments of all kinds, only some of them made of silk. Another good place for shopping is the Hongqiao Market 红桥市场 just north of the Eastern Gate of Tiantan Park. The Hongqiao Market is no longer a regular market in the street, but a modern four storey-building where everything from CD-players to pearls are sold.
The Tiantan Park 天坛公园 is one of the largest parks in Beijing. In the middle of the park you will find the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan 天坛) which was one of four important temples where the emperor made annual offerings. In each direction from the Forbidden City you will find each of these temples. To the North; Temple of Earth (Ditan 地坛). To the West; Temple of Moon (Yuetan 月坛). To the East, not far from Friendship Store; Temple of Sun (Ritan 日坛). Temple of Heaven, which is to the south was the most important of these temples since the emperor was regarded as the son of heaven.
In most parks there are a lot of activity in the mornings. People gather to do any kind of exercise; taiqi, qigong, dancing and even singing opera. In some parks old men bring their bird cages and let the birds sing together while the men chat away. Tiantan Park 天坛公园 is probably the park with most morning activities of all. It is quite an experience to walk around in the park in the early morning surrounded by all the activity. In the evenings you can visit an acrobatic show or a performance of Peking Opera. The Lama Temple, Yonghegong 雍和宫, is a nice a quiet temple well worth a visit.
There are a variety of interesting foods to be tried in Beijing, both local food and from other parts of China. Some local specialities you should try are jiaozi 饺子 boiled dumplings filled with pork or vegetables, and lamian 拉面 - fresh noodles, which they make while you wait. Beijing duck 北京烤鸭 is another must. Korean barbecue has become very popular among the Beijingers. You barbecue your own meet at you table. Yet another special dish for Northern China is Mongolian Hot Pot or shuan yangrou 涮羊肉. A pot of boiling water is placed on your table and you will cook your own mutton meet and vegetables and dip it in a sauce made of sesame paste, coriander and other spices. Traditionally, mutton meet is used (yangrou = mutton) but any meet or seafood will be available. This dish is most popular in the wintertime when northern China is very cold and friends gather around the hot pot for a meal.
There are several spots where to visit the Great Wall 长城, some very crowded, others quite empty. Most "tourist stations" at the wall has a cable car to take you up to the top. Simatai 司马台 is warmly recommended. Go early in the morning if possible. From Simatai you can walk on top of the wall for 4-6 hour until you reach Jinshanling 金山岭.
In the evening day 2, you will take the train to Pingyao from Beijing West Station. You will travel second class, which is also called "hard sleeper". The carriages are open and divided into separate sections with six berths in each. The beds are not as hard as it may seem, the standard is rather like "liggvagn" in Swedish trains. The Chinese trains are a place to meet people indeed. There will be plenty of time to start conversations and many people are curious. Be prepared to reply questions about your marital status, your age, how many children you have etc. There is a restaurant in the train. It is usually only open certain hours. You could also buy one of the boxes of rice and some vegetables that they sell on the train. There is always a free supply of boiled water on the trains so bring a mug and tea or coffee. Or perhaps a bowl of instant noodles. Most often the nights on the train are quiet and you can sleep well.
Day 3-4
Arrival in Pingyao 平遥 in the morning. You will have two days in this ancient town. In many ways, Pingyao represents a typical traditional Chinese town. There were not many such towns left in China after the Cultural Revolution. The town was built in its present form in 1370. A 6,4 km long and 12 meter high wall with 72 towers surrounds the town. You can enter the old town from six different gates. The town consists of four main streets, eight lesser streets and 72 lanes. On the main street the 18-meter tall Market Hall 市楼 (City Tower) is a perfect landmark of the town. If you view the town from above you would see that it was built like the marking of a tortoise shell, the very symbol of long life in Chinese mythology.
In Pingyao, many of the hotels are housed in old courtyard houses. Some of the rooms even have a traditional large family bed, a kang. Which is built with bricks and working somewhat like an oven where you can have a fire on underneath your place of sleep. For many families in the north of China the kang is a place where the whole family is gathering for meals and just to keep warm.
There are many old homes and small museums to visit in the town, such as the old Confucian Chenghuang Temple 城隍财神庙 and Rishengchang 日升昌, supposedly the oldest bank in all of China, established in 1824. There is also Baichuantongpiao 百川通票, which was the second largest bank. A few kilometres outside of the city there's a nice temple called Shuanglinsi 双林寺 with some very nice wooden and terracotta sculptures.
60 kilometre south-west of Pingyao you will find the Wang's Grand Courtyard 王家大院, which is supposedly the biggest private residence in China. And it certainly is enormous! Originally it was 150.000 square meters and built somewhat in the fashion of the Forbidden City in Beijing. In 1997 three separate architectural complexes of over 34.000 square meters opened up to public as a museum. It has a total of 1083 houses, 55 large and small compounds with altogether a few hundred bigger or smaller courtyards. One of the three parts is built like the Chinese character for Wang, which means king.
Some 35 kilometres north-east of Pingyao you will find another old grand home, Qiao Grand Courtyard 乔家大院. It's smaller in size and has more visitors than Wang's Grand Courtyard. Qiao Grand Courtyard has an area of more than 4.000 square meters and contains of 313 houses. Zhang Yimou's well-known film Raise the Red Lantern was filmed at this location. The whole courtyard is built according to the intricate form of the Chinese characters for Double Happiness.
In the evening day 4 you will take the night train to Xian.
Day 5-7
Arrival in Xian 西安 early morning. Your hotel is situated just across the square from the railway station. You will spend three days in the historical city of Xian 西安, which was the capital of the Chinese Empire for more than 1.000 years. At that time it was the biggest city in the world. Nowadays it is the capital of the Shaanxi Province. Both in and outside the city wall you will find reminders of the town's mighty period. The Big Goose Pagoda 大雁塔, the Small Goose Pagoda 小雁塔, the Bell Tower 鼓楼, the Great Mosque 大清真寺 are some of them. An old city wall surrounds the old city centre. You can walk on the wall almost all the way around town. You can even rent a bicycle on top of the wall and ride for a bit! In the night time, several areas of the city are transformed to huge night markets with food stalls. An interesting way to try the local food.
When in Xian, a visit to the Terracotta Army 兵马俑 is a must. The army of terracotta warrior statues guarding the tomb of the first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi's was discovered by a local farmer in 1974. Do not miss the introduction film showed in the circular theatre. To get to the Terracotta Army it is very convenient to take the bus from the railway station.
Banpo 半坡博物馆 is the name of a 6000 years old settlement from the early Stone Age that was found in the outskirts of Xian. The excavation is displayed in a museum. It is very interesting and well worth a visit, even though the museum is not very modern. The Shaanxi History Museum 陕西历史博物馆, on the contrary, is a modern museum. Its exhibition displays the rich history of China and you get to realise how important the Xian region has been as the cradle of Chinese civilisation. Unfortunately, only a few signs are in English, but it is still worth a visit.
Outside of Xian there are a couple of nice day trips apart from the Terracotta Army. Hanyangling 汉阳陵, north of Xian, is a newly discovered imperial tomb from the Han Dynasty. Emperor Jingdi's tomb was also surrounded by groups of terracotta figures, but these ones are miniature copies of animals and soldiers. There is a nice and modern museum to exhibit the excavations. In the old capital of Xianyang 咸阳 there is yet another museum for miniature terracotta soldiers. They are not as famous as the large ones, but quite impressive just the same. Apart from this there are dozens of old imperial tombs all over the area. However, they are usually not very much to see.
In the evening there are music and dancing performances at several theatres in town. One of those is the Shaanxi Grand Opera House 陕西歌舞大剧院, which has a beautiful show from the Tang Dynasty.
Day 8
Arrival in Lanzhou 兰州 in the morning. Lanzhou is the capital of Gansu Province. Earlier it was known as the last "civilised" outpost on the Silk Road. Nowadays it is a large industrial city with 2 million inhabitants.
Lanzhou has got a very interesting provincial museum 甘肃省博物馆 with 5.000-6.000 years old porcelain and more than 432.000 objects. Among them, one of the most famous Chinese objects; The Flying Horse of Gansu. The museum has good English speaking guides. Lanzhou also has a nice park, White Pagoda Hill 白塔山, overlooking the Yellow River. You can go there for a cup of tea and a relaxing time. As in most Chinese cities, there are also markets and food alleys to be explored. Here in Lanzhou you should try the typical Gansu food.
Day 9
In the morning you go by a local bus to Linxia 临夏. The landscape is very karst and inhabited by several ethnic minorities. The bus ride will take around three hours.
Linxia is one of the most important Moslem strongholds in all of China. Here are three different kinds of Moslem ethnical groups. The largest group is the Hui Moslems. The town has around 50.000 inhabitants and more than ten mosques. Take a walk around the Moslem part of town. Try the special Moslem spiced tea at any of the teahouses. Also the Linxia la mian noodles are famous all over the country.
Day 10-12
By bus to Xiahe 夏河, which is a town built up around the Buddhist monastery Labrang 拉卜楞寺. This is the largest lamasery outside the present Tibet. It belongs to the Gelugpa (or Yellow Hat) sect, which is the main branch of Tibetan Buddhism today. Dalai Lama is the ruler of the Gelugpa sect, being the incarnation of Chenrezig (bodhisattva of compassion). Labrang has around 500 monks officially registered to the monastery (the unofficial number might be greater). Xiahe itself is a pleasant town, where life circulates around the lamasery. It is full of beautifully dressed pilgrims and Tibetan monks, prayer wheels, small temples and meditating sites. The old part of town is all Tibetan. Around it, there are now one Moslem and one "Chinese" settlement.
The surroundings are very beauiful, with grasslands and mountains, all inhabited by Tibetans. You can rent a bicycle and go out in the countryside and visit small villages. You can ride the bike towards the grasslands with enormous, hilly grass fields as far your eyes reach. It is possible to go horse riding here, but you should have experience of riding if you want to try. There is no official place to rent horses, but you will have to talk to the Tibetan horse owners directly. You can also make day trips trekking up in the mountains - or try to stay overnight with locals, the chances are good that you are invited into Tibetan homes. You will encounter yaks, sheep, and see the Tibetan tents, monks and small villages without road connections.
Day 13
A whole day of travelling. Departure early in the morning by bus back to Lanzhou. In the evening you take a night train to Dunhuang which mostly run through the desert..Day 14-15
The small town of Dunhuang 敦煌 is the home of China's (maybe the world's) richest ancient Buddhist murals and sculptures, the Mogao Caves 莫高窟. In the second century, Dunhuang was one of the biggest cities along the Silk Road with a population of 76.000. This is to be compared with the 14.000 that inhabit the city today. The Silk Road was the route for transporting silk, spices, jewellery and other things between eastern and western parts of Asia and even Europe. Maybe more important was its roll as a bridge between east and west and between different cultures and religions.
The northern form of Buddhism (Mahayana) spread to East Asia through the Silk Road. The Mogao Caves were found in the end of the 19th century, after been hidden in the sand dunes for over 600 years. 50.000 manuscripts in 17 different languages were found. Some of the languages were, by then, unknown to the world. There are 2.000 sculptures and 45.000 square meters of murals dating from year 200 to 1200. There are almost 500 caves, and you will be allowed to see about 20 of them. The murals are fantastic in colours and created with an enormous fantasy. You will be able to trace influences from Persia, Arabia, Tibet, China, India and many others places. The caves are very dark, so you will have to use flashlight to light up the walls.
Mogao Caves is the main reason to come to Dunhuang, but the town has more to offer. You can ride a bicycle out to the Mingsha sand dunes a few kilometres outside of town. Or hire a car and go to any of the passes of the old Great Wall. There is also a small museum in Dunhuang 县博物馆. Leave by bus to Jiayuguan in the afternoon.
Day 16-18
Arrive in Jiayuguan 嘉峪关, early in the morning. Here you have the opportunity to see what is often said to be the westernmost extreme of the Great Wall, the Jiayuguan Fort 嘉峪关城楼. The fort is standing on a pass between the snow-capped Qilian Mountains to the south and the black Mazong Mountains to the north, making it one of the most impressive sites in the entire area. Finally you will reach Jiayuguan, the former border town between China and the "barbaric Western Regions of ancient times". There is also a museum of the Great Wall. The town of Jiayuguan itself has got nothing to offer. Lately it has grown to become a small sized industrial town. There will be plenty of time to see the end of the Fort and the tombs and murals from the third century at Xincheng Weiji Art Gallery east of town.
Night train to Turpan.
Day 19-20
The area around the city, the Turpan Depression, is the lowest point in China and the second lowest on Earth. At 154 meters below sea level it is very dry and sometimes very hot. The local people have developed karez, an irrigation system composed of wells connected by underground channels, to counter the heat and drought of the place. Turpan is famous for their grapes, grown primarily for raisins but also wine. The locals in the area are called Uygurs.
Here you can visit the Emin Minaret 额敏塔; (Émǐn Tǎ) that was built in 1777 in honor of the heroic Turpan general, Emin Khoja. It's the tallest minaret in China.
About 45 km east of Turpan you can visit the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves 柏孜克里千佛洞. Of the 83 original caves, 57 caves currently remain. The murals cover an area over 1,200 square meters in more than 40 caves. Beginning in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the construction experienced Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties, Song and Yuan dynasties. Buddhism in Turpan began to decline in popularity with the introduction of Islam. Subsequently, the religious importance of The Bizalkik Thousand Buddha Caves became less apparent. Many of the caves were destroyed during the ensuing religious clashes. Vandals dug out the eyes of many of the portraits human figures contained in the murals. Later, at the beginning of the 20 century, foreign explorers robbed the caves of much of the treasures. Despite all the destruction, the surviving parts, such as the delicate Buddha seat and the bright color of the murals, give us some idea of its past glory.
Day 21
Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang province.clashes and hence a big city. Here you'll find a mix of different ethnic groups, the Uyghur and Han, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Mongols and Hui Muslims. Regardless of ethnicity, most people in Urumqi can speak some level of Mandarin Chinese, however in some parts of he city Uyghur, a Turkic language, is dominant. Few people speak English.
The Grand Bazaar is a popular tourist destination but still worth a visit. More interesting though is the surrounding areas which is the heart of the Uyghur community.
Day 22-24
You fly back to Beijing for three more days in northern capital (Bei Jing).
Day 25
Tour ends.
