SILK ROAD CHINA EMBROIDERY AND TEXTILES TOUR

Saturday, September 8 - Sunday, September 30, 2007

The Silk Road tour has been organized at the request of several clients who traveled to China with me on the Embroidery Class tours and the Historical Sites and Textiles tours. Many requested that we tour Shanghai and Suzhou for another visit to the National Embroidery Research Institute.

*Pictured above:

A Kashgari woman sews beads into a Uighur hat and a prior tour group taking a camel ride through the Gobi Desert near Dunhuang.

Pictured here: A young man sells dried peppers and tomatoes at a local market in Kashgar.

The Silk Road was once the most important route for commerce. It is a history lesson of religion and cultures. Merchants and animals traveled this inhospitable area challenged by intense heat of the deserts, lack of water, and high mountain passes. Death was common. The caravans carried cargos of silk, spices and incense, gemstones, tea, and other goods.

Urumqi is the most land locked place on earth. We travel to Lake Tianchi in the mountains and visit a local family. The lake is brilliant blue and surrounded by hills with fir trees. This area is home to Kazakh families. They live in yurts and are known for their superb horsemanship.

We will visit a carpet factory and the Museum of Minorities and Mummies. We have an evening flight to Kashgar. The following morning we visit the Mosque and the tomb of Abakh Hoja, a 17th century chieftain. We tour the old city and local markets.

The major reason for visiting Kashgar is the world famous Sunday Bazaar. We will see many ethnic minority people. This is the most colorful Asian bazaar which is least changed for centuries. Thousands of people come to sell produce, spices, nuts and dried fruits, fresh fruits and melons and grapes, tea, livestock including sheep and cashmere goats, Kashgari (nan) bread, rock sugar, colorful rugs and silks and furs. The enthusiastic traders add to the excitement of this chaotic market.

In the afternoon we visit the home of a local family and observe the making of the beaded hats worn by the Uighur men. We fly back to Urumqi and overnight there.

The next morning we travel two hours by bus to Turpan. It lies in a great land depression, 505 feet below sea level. We visit one of the 950 underground canals that carry melted snow used for irrigation from the nearby Tian Shan Mountains. Here we visit the Great Mosque of Suliman and its unusual tile work on the single minaret. Turpan is a grape and melon oasis. It is situated on the northern border of the Taklamakan Desert.

We visit the nearby lost city ruin and military outpost of Jiaohe. We visit Gaochang, an ancient city surrounded by walls of yellow, beaten earth, 39 feet thick at the base. Gaochang and Jiaohe are two of China's best preserved ancient cities.

We bus to the Flaming Mountains and visit the Bezeklik Caves that are also known as Ten Thousand Buddha Caves. They are situated high above the river gorge with thousand years old painted murals.

We will overnight on a train from Turpan to Liuyuan. Then we travel by bus to Dunhuang. After dinner, we enjoy a sunset camel ride on the edge of the Gobi Desert.

Dunhuang is one of the world's most engaging archaeological sites. Devout worshippers carved the Magao Temple Caves from steep cliffs. These Grottos contain some of the most fabulous Buddhist art in the world today.

We end our Silk Road portion of the tour in Xian, that was the starting place of the Silk Road at its easternmost terminus. We enjoy a noodle and dumpling dinner. We visit a farmer-painter workshop in the countryside and have the opportunity to observe the locals in the village.

A few of these farmers have traveled to the USA and other countries promoting exhibitions of their art works in galleries and botiques. The paintings are inexpensive but highly collectable.

The Terra Cotta Warriors are the most famous tourist site in Xian and we also visit the Shaanxi Provincial Historic Museum.

From Xian, we fly to Kunming and enjoy an evening buffet dinner in the hotel. The next morning, we fly to Dali and tour the Three Pagodas, cruise Erhai Lake and visit a smalll fishing village on an island in the lake. There is time for visiting the local markets and shopping on the ancient streets. We also visit Lijiang, including the Museum of Dongba Culture, visit a workshop for tie-dying and indigo dyeing. In Lijiang we enjoy a special evening performace of music and dance. From Lijiang, we fly to Shanghai and bus to Suzhou.

 

Suzhou was founded in 514 BC and is built around an intricate network of canals and criss-crossing bridges that fan out from the Grand Canal. Suzhou is known for its classic gardens and has a long history of silk embroidery and the production of silk.

 

 

We will tour the Silk Embroidery Research Institute as well as its wonderful garden with some very special rocks. They will open their small museum of embroidered robes and two-sided embroideries for our group. At the Silk Reeling Mill, we learn about the production of silk from the tiny silk worm eggs to finished product.

 

 

The next morning we go high above the city to check the view from the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Tower. It is the tallest building in China and the world's third tallest. We visit the Bound Foot Shoe Museum in a private home and the famed Shanghai Museum. On the last evening we enjoy a farewell buffet dinner at our hotel.

ADDITIONAL TOUR NOTES

Tour includes hotels, daily buffet breakfasts, lunches and dinners in China. It also includes all transportation required within China to travel from site to site, and any sightseeing costs for items listed in the itinerary. Includes all airport departure taxes and tips to drivers, local guides and national guide.

All hotels are four or five star, except in some remote areas where only three star hotels are available.

Please email for the tour price or for answers to any additional questions.