China Silk Road May trip

Day 0 KLIA 12AM: Meet in KLIA at 12AM for past midnight flight.
Day 1 6 MAY KLIA: Fly KLIA for Shenzen Airlines flight ZH9086 to Shenzen at 0330AM arriving 0705AM. Connect to ZH9843 to Urumqi at 0855AM arriving 4PM. We stay near the huge Wuyi night market and will spend the rest of the day eating and shopping. Overnight (ON) Urumqi.
Day 2 Urumqi: On this day we use the convenient public buses to move about in Urumqi. This leaves members the option to skip certain places and also to come back earlier. We visit Remnin Peoples Park to view hundreds of residents participating in various morning exercise routines. Later we visit the touristic Hongshan Park and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum. We spend the rest of the day at the Erdaoqiao Ethnic Market and the Grand Bazaar. Great eating available at the numerous Uighur restaurants. Overnight (ON) Urumqi.
Day 3 Tianchi Lake: On to Tianchi Lake 120 km 2.5 hrs to begin a 2 day stay in a Mongolian tent or yurt. Arrive in the early afternoon with time enough for to walkabout the lake area aka as the Swiss Alps of China. Simple Kazakh meals are provided. ON Tianchi. Note that these are local nomadic residence and sleeping/eating arrangements are very basic. But warm thick blankets are supplied. Yurts sleeps up to 10 pax. Many past Yongers are of the opinion that this is one of the highlights of the trip with unbeatable sceneries.
Day 4 Horse Trekking Tianchi: A full day on horseback riding to a viewpoint and lunch stop. Cost of horse for te day Y100 (Rm50). We'll have great views of the pine forest, icy streams and the Bogeda Feng (Peak of God). ON Tianchi.

Horse trek Tianchi Lake / Horseman baby boy at Tianchi / 67 years old trekker up Flaming Mountains

Day 5 Turpan: After breakfast, we bus to Turpan 400km 6hrs, also known as the grape capital of China. We should arrive in time for a visit to the Karez Wells and the nearby Jiaohe ancient city, a UNESCO site. ON Turpan.
Day 6 Turpan: We'll start in the early morning to climb the 1,308 steps up to the top of Flaming Mountains with great views of Tianshan mountains and Turpan Valley. There are some grape vines ares below this same mountain. Then we move back to Turpan to browse the colourful Uighur market. Free and easy or we can go to visit the local Village. We then drive on the train station at Daheyan 40 min for the overnight train to Dunhang departing at 10pm. ON soft sleeper train.
Day 7 Dunhuang: We arrive at 830am and we'll spent some time browsing the interesting Dunhuang local market. After lunch we make our way to the UNESCO listed Thousand Buddha Caves at Mogao. We will have some free time in the evening going back to the markets to enjoy the local food. ON Dunhuang.
Day 8 Dunhuang: The sand dunes of Minshashan or Singing Sand Mountains are best visited in the early morning. These are the highest dunes in China. Bactrian camels rides are popular with tourists to move about this pretty desert area but walking is cheaper and better for photo-taking. We lunch in town and in the afternoon, we have the option of hiring bicycles (cost Y10) to visit the surrounding farms and villages. ON Dunhuang.
Day 9 Dunhuang/Mengke Glacier: We bus to Mengke Glacier 280km 4hr. On the way we will visit the Yulin Buddhist caves, a sister cave to Mogao. The Touming Mengke Glacier is the largest valley glacier in the Qilian Range located in Subei County Gansu Province. Its rated the 6th most beautiful glacier in Chinese National Geography book.Those less physically inclined are encouraged to walk as much as they are capable of and enjoy the wonderful mountain scenery. ON Guazhou.
Day 10 Guazhou/Jiayuguan: We bus to Jiayuguan 385km 3hours and visit Jiayuguan famous Fortress located at the Western end of the Great Wall of China and the Xiuanbi Changcheng or Overhanging Great Wall. We also visit some Wei and Jin Dynasties Tombs, built some 1700 years ago. Located some 20km from Jiayuguan, it is famous for its brick wall paintings depicting scenes from everyday life from tea-making to silk production. Later we check into Jiayuguan railway station to catch the 11pm overnight train to Lanzhou. ON soft sleeper train.

Trek up Glacier Jiayuguan / Cycling at Xian Gate Wall / Climbing Huashan

Day 11 Xining: We arrive at Lanzhou at 7am and travel 4hr to Xining. We visit the nearby Ta'er Si Tibetan Monastery, noted for its extraordinary sculptures carved out of yak butter. Expect crowds of local tourist at this popular site that is one of six main Tibetan Temples in China. ON Xining.
Day 12 Xiahe: We start the day early to enjoy the scenic drive to Xiahe on part of the Qinghai Plateau. This less-frequented route is dotted with quaint and pretty Muslim Hui and Tibetan farms and villages. The rolling high altitude grasslands with flocks of yaks and sheeps are especially pretty. ON Xiahe.
Day 13 Labrang Monastery: A full day to visit Labrang Tibetan Monastery that is reputed to be more Tibetan than Tibet itself. We'll have adequate time just walking around and taking in the atmosphere. After the lunch, we bus to Lanzhou 4hr. ON Lanzhou.
Day 14 Lanzhou: We visit the banks of the Yellow River and its water-wheels and sheep-skins rafts. We also visit the White Pagoda Hill and all that will take us a good part of the day. We take a couple of rooms to freshen up and rest before our 1040pm train to Xian. ON soft sleeper train.
Day 15 Xian: We arrive at 630am and will visit musuem and then the Unesco's Terracotta Warrior and some of the other sights. ON Xian.
Day 16 Hua Shan Mountain: This is a full day tour to one of five scared mountains in China, located 120km from Xian. There are some scary climbs up chained platforms. There are also cable car rides available for the regular tourist. ON Xian.
Day 17 21 May Fly Home: We have a couple of hours for final shopping before going to the airport for flight ZH9988 to Shenzhen at 345PM arriving at 615PM. We connect to ZH9085 at 10PM.
Day 18 Home: Arrive KLIA 0130AM early morning (Reached 22 May)