17 day deserts grasslands grottoes

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day01 arrive beijing & transfer to the hotel, pm visit the temple of heaven.

day02 visit the palace museum and summer palace, beijing opera in the evening.

day03 the great wall

day04 am free time, pm transf er to the railway station for t41 (sofsleeper) which leaves beijing at 17:12

day05 arrive xi'an at 06:45 transfer to the hotel, then visit the terra-cotta army, banpo museum & the big wild goose pagoda.

day06 drive (2 hrs)to huashan mountain, reach the north peak by cable car, then walk up to the east peak on foot(2.5 hrs), the middle peak & the south peak(1 hr) orderly it needs 2 hrs go down the north peak, lastly go down mountain by cable car.

day07 am visit shaanxi history museum, the great mosque & the city wall, then transfer to the railway station for t2585(soft sleeper) which leaves at 16:50

day08 arrive zhongwei at 05:01 the early morning, after breakfast in hotel, drive to the yellow river(1.5 hrs);then explore to da-shui-che on foot(2 hrs),visit the local family. after dinner travel downstream to sha-po-tou by sheepskin rafts (3 hrs).

day09 full day's camel trek in desert

day10 desert trek.

day11 drive back to zhongwei, free time.

day12 am boated sheepskin rafts, travel downstream to 108 pagoda near qingtongxia (3 hrs),drive to wuzhong bazaar and short walk on the greatwall, late pm drive to yinchuan.

day13 am drive to ningxia museum & west pagoda, pm drive to western xia mausoleums to visit the tombs, cliff pictures of helan mt. then drive to the railway station for night train t44 (hardsleeper) which leaves at23:35.

day14 t44 arrive hohhot at 09:15, transfer to grassland area(xilamuren) to visit pastroal families and stay overnight in gers.

day15 drive back to hohhot for train k218 (softseat) which leaves at 11:29 & arrives at 15:50, transfer to hotel.

day16 visit the hanging temple, the yungang grottoes & the wood pagoda, then drive to the railway station for k706 (softsleeper) which leaves at 23:30

day17 k706 arrives beijing at 06:10, tour ends.