Page 16 - 15 Day China Sample

DAY 09 URUMQI/TURPAN Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch At approximately 9:00 AM be ready in the lobby of the Sheraton Urumqi Hotel in preparation for your overland transfer to Turpan. The drive takes approximately 3-4 hours. Visit the ruined city of Gaochang, once the capital of the Uyghurs and an important staging post on the Silk Road. The ancient city of Gaochang was first built in 1BC and was destroyed by war by the end of 13AD. It is the largest set of ancient city ruins ever found in the Western Regions. After over 2,000 years of exposure, the outline of the ancient city still exists, and the city wall stands imposingly at the foot of the Flaming Mountain. Also visit the Bezeklik (Thousand Buddha) Caves. These remarkable grottoes house 77 caves carved into the rock, the walls of which are adorned with Buddhist frescoes. Some have unfortunately suffered desecration but many remain intact and some are considered masterpieces of religious art. Lying to the north of the Flaming Mountain, the Bezaklik Thousand Buddha Caves is one of the most important Buddha grotto relics in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It was built during the Northern and Southern dynasties (386-589) and for 700 years, it remained the Buddhist center of the Western Regions (the area including what is now Xinjiang and parts of Central Asia). At the Tuha Petroleum Hotel reservations for a Club Room have been confirmed for this evening. This is a new hotel in Turpan, and part of a chain of hotels across the country. This is now regarded as one of the best hotels in a city desperately lacking good accommodation and has been given a local rating of 4-stars.