Assemble at Changi Airport for your international flight to Chengdu. Upon arrival,

transfer to the hotel for a good rest.

Accommodation: Chengdu 5* hotel

Step aboard Panda Train · Tianfu Express and enter a journey shaped by the civilisations of the Silk Road, where each hour on board is composed in quiet refinement.

Accommodation: Panda Train · Tianfu Express

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Arrive in Ürümqi to a private station welcome, marking the beginning of your passage into Xinjiang.

At the 【Heavenly Lake of Tianshan】, spruce forests gather around waters held beneath the snow-crowned Bogda Peak. Mountain, lake and legend meet here in one of Xinjiang’s most commanding natural tableaux.

Board Panda Train · Tianfu Express for the overnight journey to 【Altay】.

Accommodation: Panda Train · Tianfu Express

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Follow the 【Ahe Highway】 towards Hemu, a road celebrated as a “thousand-mile gallery”, where the landscapes of northern Xinjiang unfold in one continuous panorama (approximately 240 km; around 6 hours by road).

(Important: Should the road become impassable because of exceptional weather, official traffic controls or other circumstances, an alternative route will be used.)

Continue north to Hemu, a village long evoked as “a realm reserved by the gods” and one of China’s most beautiful ancient settlements.

After dinner, check into the hotel for overnight stay.

Accommodation: Hemu Holiday Hotel or equivalent

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Enter the storybook world of the Tuvan community. From Hemu Bridge, snow lingers upon distant peaks and the river speaks in a low murmur below. Here, in a pocket of perfect stillness, a curated 【tea interlude】 invites the journey to pause.

Travel to 【Kanas】 (approximately 80 km; around 2 hours by road) and take to the waters of Kanas Lake. Snow peaks are held in reflection, blue ripples open beneath an immense sky, and clouds drift across a landscape that needs no voice: mountain, water and light have already composed the poem.

As night falls, a private 【Tuvan music soirée】 awakens ancient melodies — not as performance alone, but as the living pulse of one of China’s smallest ethnic communities.

Accommodation: Manyunjian, Golden Lotus or another premium boutique lodge or similar

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Trace the Three Bays of Kanas: morning mist veils Fairy Bay in gossamer; Moon Bay bends through the valley with quiet grace; and the lucid waters of Wolong Bay rest in sculpted stillness. Each bay forms its own composition; every step enters another frame.

In the afternoon, continue to Burqin (approximately 160 km; around 4 hours by road) for a 【cold-water fish banquet】 rooted in the region’s intangible cultural heritage. Drawn from the waters of the Irtysh, its flavours preserve the long memory of Altay’s fishing and hunting traditions.

After dinner, board Panda Train · Tianfu Express for the journey to 【Yining】.

Accommodation: Panda Train · Tianfu Express

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

From Yining, the road opens towards 【Sayram Lake】 (approximately 150 km;around 2 hours), carrying guests through the breadth of the Ili Valley beneath the grand horizons of the Tianshan.

Spend the afternoon in a more immersive exploration of 【Sayram Lake】, (including an approximately 1.5-hour scenic drive and around three hours of sightseeing). Its clear plateau waters spread like a single vast sapphire beneath the sky, holding snow peaks in luminous reflection.After dinner, check in to the lakeside hotel and enjoy the tranquillity of an evening at Sayram Lake.

Accommodation: Hotel Indigo Sayram Lake or equivalent

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Set out for the 【Tianshan Sea of Flowers】(approximately 90 km; around 1.5hours), entering a fragrant retreat in the Ili Valley where each season offersits own brief, exquisite flowering.

Continue to Nalati (approximately 250 km; around 4 hours), whosename is traditionally associated with "the first place to greet the sunrise".Across this alpine valley, the living rhythms of Kazakh pastoral life remainwoven into a landscape of immense, unforced grace.

After dinner, check into the hotel for the evening.

Accommodation: Hotel Indigo Nalati or similar

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Explore 【Nalati Grassland】, an alpine valley landscape celebrated as the green island of the Tianshan and a "paradise on earth". Meadows, spruce forests and snow covered peaks unfold across the horizon, while the traditions of Kazakh pastoral life remain present throughout the mountains and grasslands.

After the visit, return to Yining (approximately 170 km; around 2.5 hours), then board Panda

Train · Tianfu Express for the journey to 【Kuqa】

Accommodation: Panda Train · Tianfu Express

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Step into the 【Kucha Museum】, where the ancient Silk Road awakens in light and shadow, and the lost world of the former kingdom is summoned vividly back to life.

Explore 【Kuqa Old Town】.

Accommodation: Kuqa Chaoyu Wanhua Hotel / Tianyuan International Hotel or similar

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Enter 【Kiziliya Grand Canyon】, a hidden realm of narrow-sky passages, monumental Danxia formations and red rock shaped across geological time. Along the way, a curated 【tea interlude】 restores a gentler rhythm to the day.

At the Silk Road heritage site of the 【Kizil Thousand-Buddha Caves】, encounter the monumental visual epic of Buddhist art in the Western Regions.

After dinner, board Panda Train · Tianfu Express for the journey to 【Kashgar】.

Accommodation: Panda Train · Tianfu Express

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

After breakfast, visit Kashgar’s 【China Xinjiang Musical Instrument Village】 for a private encounter with traditional craftsmanship. Shape a simple instrument by hand and come face to face with a century-old living heritage.

Ascend towards the 【Pamir Plateau】, pausing at 【White Sand Lake】 where silver dunes rise beside waters of crystalline blue. Linger by the shore in the highland wind before continuing to Tashkurgan County.

Accommodation: Snow Crown Hotel, Tashkurgan / Wanda Moments or similar

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Be welcomed into a local Tajik home and experience two nationally recognised forms of intangible cultural heritage: an 【Eagle Flute performance】 and the 【Eagle Dance】 — expressions of a highland culture shaped by the image and spirit of the eagle.

Continue to 【Karakul Lake】, the jewel of the high plateau, where the great summits of Muztagh Ata, Kongur and Kongur Tiube rise in commanding succession.

Breakfast: hotel             Lunch: Local cuisine                 Dinner: Local cuisine

Accommodation: Radisson Blu Kashgar / UrCove Resort Kashgar or similar

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Visit 【Id Kah Mosque】, a distinguished expression of Islamic faith and architecture, where Islamic architectural traditions meet the refinement of traditional Chinese craftsmanship.

Wander through 【Kashgar Old City】 and pause for a distinctive tea interlude amid its historic lanes, before rejoining Panda Train · Tianfu Express for the homeward passage.

Accommodation: Panda Train · Tianfu Express

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Enjoy a thoughtfully curated programme on board while reliving the most memorable moments of Xinjiang.

Accommodation: Panda Train · Tianfu Express

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner: Served aboard Panda Train · Tianfu Express

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Full day sightseeing on the Jinxiu Tianfu train.  Enjoy a thoughtfully curated programme on board while reliving the most memorable moments of Xinjiang.

Accommodation: Panda Train · Tianfu Express

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner: Served aboard Panda Train · Tianfu Express

• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Return carrying the grandeur of the Tianshan, the splendour of the Silk Road and the resonance of cultures shaped across millennia.

Arrival Chengdu this morning, transfer to the hotel. Then free at own leisure.

Accommodation: Chengdu 5* hotel

Breakfast: Served aboard Panda Train · Tianfu Express     

• Breakfast

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight home. We hope you have enjoyed your holiday with CTC Travel.

• Breakfast