SECTION 2 of 4 Urumqi, Kashgar, Hotan, Turpan, Dunhuang, & Xian 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.

An old man offers his friend some bread in front of a mosque in Kashgar.

In the afternoon we visit the home of a local family and observe the making of the beaded hats worn by the Uighur men.

Hotan is a big craft center. We visit the Silk and Mulberry Research Center, jade carving workshop, silk carpet workshop and various other craft centers. We fly from Hotan back to Urumqi.

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.

The Suliman Mosque near Turpan features a number of striking architectural features, including the Emin Minaret (pictured here).

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.

Gaochang and Jiaohe, ancient cities outside of Turpan, are celebrated as two of China's best preserved ruins. (Sept 24 2001)

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.

This young man in Urumqi makes his bread in a clay oven and sells it to passersby.  Highly recommended!