Highlights: Grand Bazaar.

After airport pickup and hotel check-in, dive into the ​Grand Bazaar—Xinjiang’s largest market. Navigate 3,000+ stalls selling Kazakh embroidery, Uyghur knives, and dried figs. Watch live naan bread baking at the food court and sample samsa (lamb-stuffed pastries).

Overnight: Urumqi

Highlights: Xinjiang Museum, Heavenly Lake.

Activities: Begin at the ​Xinjiang Regional Museum to see the 3,800-year-old “Loulan Beauty” mummy—proof of the Silk Road’s ancient multiculturalism. Drive through the Fukang Desert Oasis to ​Heavenly Lake, boarding an electric shuttle boat to glide past Siberian pine forests with Bogda Peak’s glaciers mirrored in turquoise waters. Learn legends of the lake as the Queen Mother of the West’s mythical bathing pool.

Overnight: Urumqi

Highlights: Flaming Mountains, Tuyuq Village, Bezeklik Caves.

Activities: After breakfast, drive through the Gobi Desert to the ​Flaming Mountains, where infrared thermometers display ground temperatures up to 89°C. Pose beside the Golden Monkey Thermometer marking China’s highest recorded temperature (82.3°C). Continue to ​Tuyuq Village, a 1,600-year-old Uyghur settlement carved into cliffs. Climb to hilltop ruins for views of grape-drying houses, then explore ​Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves to study rare Manichaean murals of Uyghur nobles.

Overnight: Turpan

Highlights: Jiaohe Ruins, Karez Wells, Emin Minaret.

Activities: Explore ​Jiaohe Ruins, a 350,000㎡ mesa-top city built by the Cheshi people in 108 BC. Walk through Buddhist monasteries and residential quarters preserved in sun-baked earth. Descend into ​Karez Wells, a 2,000-year-old underground irrigation system channeling Tianshan snowmelt. Visit ​Emin Minaret, Xinjiang’s tallest Islamic tower adorned with 14 geometric Quranic patterns. Transfer to Urumqi for your flight to Kashgar.

Overnight: Kashgar

Highlights: Livestock Market, Apak Hoja Tomb, Kashgar Old Town, Id Kah Mosque.

Activities: Start at the ​Sunday Livestock Market, where Uyghur herders trade yaks via secret hand signals. Practice bargaining for silver jewelry and feast on dapanji at food stalls. Visit ​Apak Hoja Tomb, the mausoleum of the Qing Dynasty’s “Fragrant Concubine,” famed for its 10,000 blue-green tiles. After lunch, wander ​Kashgar Old Town’s labyrinth of clay alleys, visiting dutar lute workshops and skywell courtyards. End at ​Id Kah Mosque, joining locals for afternoon prayers under its 140 poplar-wood columns.

Overnight: Kashgar

Highlights: Karakoram Highway, Opal Village, Karakul Lake.

Activities: Drive the ​Karakoram Highway, stopping at ​Opal Village to stock up on walnut-stuffed nan bread and dried apricots. Traverse the ​Oytagh Valley’s rust-red cliffs, scanning for wild Bactrian camels. Pause at ​White Sand Lake, where wind “sings” through dunes, then circle ​Karakul Lake as sunset paints Muztagh Ata Peak pink.

Overnight: Tashkurgan

Highlights: Stone City, Golden Grassland.

Activities: At dawn, climb ​Stone City’s 2,100-year-old fortress walls, imagining Han Dynasty soldiers signaling with beacon fires. Visit ​Golden Grassland, photographing amber-hued marshlands dotted with yurts. Accept a herder’s invitation for yak butter tea before retracing the Karakoram Highway to Kashgar.

Overnight: Kashgar

Activities: Transfer to Kashgar Airport (10km, 20 mins). Optional last-minute shopping for jade or silk scarves at ​Handicraft Street. Tour concludes with a farewell gift of rose tea and almonds.