Kyrgyzstan – China – Mongolia Overland Road Trip

Route: Kyrgyzstan – China – Mongolia

Register in the form on the right to join our Kyrgyzstan-China-Mongolia Group for costs sharing
Starting from Europe or Central Asia, driving/riding through China, and arriving in Southeast Asia.

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Highlights of Kyrgyzstan – China – Laos Road Trip

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, silk road, Hexi Corridor, The core area of Tibetan culture and art, national parks in china, Experience China’s megacities, Giant Panda, World Heritage, magnificent natural landscape, Lots of camping opportunities

Itinerary

Day 1 Irkstan or Torugart – Kashgar
The guide will wait for you at the china side of the border. Procedures for people and vehicles.
Today can’t stay in car or camping. Leave your vehicle at the Customs control department, driver
will come back tomorrow. We will transfer all of you to Kashgar.
Overnight: Today can’t stay in car or camping. Your Hotel for tonight included in price.
Overnight: Seman hotel

Day 2 Kashgar
Get back to the port in the morning and driver/ride your vehicle to Kashgar city.
Today can’t stay in car or camping.
Visit opportunity for people who stay in Kashgar: local Market, the Mosquee Idkar, Abakh Hodja
Tomb etc.
Shopping opportunity: medicine, oxygen, car parts. You’d better prepare car parts that need to be
replaced in your own country, cause some can’t be bought in china, especially when there is nosuch vehicles in china.
Overnight: Seman hotel

Day 3 Kashgar
We will finish the rest of the procedures in Kashgar. Obtain your temporary driver license and temporary number plate. At the same time you could have a visit of this city.
Overnight: Seman hotel

Day 4 – Day 5 Kashgar – Kuche – Korla – Turpan, 1370km
Kiril Grottoes, Kuqa Old Town Mosque, Bazaar, Grape Valley, Ancient City of Gaochang, Ancient City of Jiaohe, Karez System, Flaming Mountain, Astana-Karakhoja Ancient Tombs, Aydingkol Lake, Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, Desert Botanical Garden, Emin Minaret

Day 6 Turpan
Grape Valley, Ancient City of Gaochang, Ancient City of Jiaohe, Karez System, Flaming Mountain, Astana-Karakhoja Ancient Tombs, Aydingkol Lake, Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, Desert Botanical Garden, Emin Minaret, Tuyugou Valley Mazha Village

Day 7 Turpan – Hami, 420km
Hami King’s Palace, Hami Museum

Day 8 Hami – Dunhuang, 420km
Mogao Grottoes are located in Dunhuang at the western end of the Hexi Corridor. Its excavation lasted about 1,000 years from the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Yuan Dynasty, which is unique in Chinese grottoes. It is not only a brilliant art treasure house of ancient Chinese civilization, but also an important witness of the dialogue and exchanges between different civilizations that took place on the ancient Silk Road. There are 735 caves in Mogao Grottoes, more than 45,000 square meters of preserved murals, more than 2,400 painted sculptures, and 5 wooden eaves in Tang and Song Dynasties. It is a microcosm of the development and evolution of Chinese grotto art and enjoys a high historical status in grotto art. The paintings and sculptures of Buddha statues and the content of Buddhist scriptures in the caves are places for Buddhists to practice, view images and worship. The Dunhuang Grottoes are a three-dimensional art combining architecture, sculpture and murals. Mogao Grottoes are UNESCO World Heritage.

Day 9 Dunhuang – Jiayuguan, 400km
Jiayuguan Fort, Overhanging Great Wall

Jiayuguan Fort was first built in the fifth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1372). It took 168 years (1372-1539) from the initial construction to the completion of a complete pass. The most majestic one among them is well preserved.

Day 10 Jiayuguan – Zhangye – Mati Temple, 300km
Zhangye National Geopark: One of China’s most beautiful national park is the Zhangye National Geopark in north-central China. It is most famous for the incredibly colorful rock formations.

Mati Temple: MATI SI (WHICH TRANSLATES TO Horse’s Hoof Temple) is a group of Buddha grottoes located in the Linsong Mountain in the Gansu Province. Thousands of grottoes are grouped together in seven clusters, and each group of grottoes is no more than a mile or so from another. Human-made tunnels link the various grottoes.

Day 11 Mati Temple – Rebkong (Tongren), 500km
Today we drive into Rebkong, the area most well-known for Tibetan tradition art, including making great thangka paintings. We will visit Longwu Monastery, Wutong Monastery, Thangkas art. The area is not very touristy, but has been one of our favorite destinations for many years.

Day 12 Rebkong (Tongren) – Labrang monastery, 120km
Labrang monastery, one of the six major monasteries of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, and is known as the “World Institute of Tibetology” by the world. At its peak, there were more than 4,000 monks, and it was opened to the outside world for tourism in 1980. Labrang Monastery was founded in 1709 by the first Living Buddha Jamyang, and was later built by Dai Jamyang Living Buddha. Now it has become the largest Tibetan religious and cultural center in Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan.

Day 13 – Day 14 Labrang – Xi’an, 800km
drive 2 days to Xi’an, China’s capital during several dynasties.

A number of important landmarks remain from Xian’s rich history. The city wall is one of the few in China that has survived from ancient times. Other reminders of Xian’s past include the Big Goose and Little Goose Pagodas, built as Buddhist temples in the 7th century, and Qing Zhen Si, a mosque founded in 742 that still serves as the place of worship for 30,000 Chinese Muslims.

The most famous attraction in Xian is the Terra-cotta Soldiers. Peasants digging a well first discovered these pottery soldiers in 1974. They are regarded as one of the most spectacular archaeological finds of the 20th century. The soldiers, representing Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s imperial guards, are located 1500 meters from the emperor’s Imperial Tomb. The warriors have unique facial features and an array of weapons, poses, and heights. Over three thousand soldiers, 96 horses, and 11 chariots have been unearthed so far. Experts believe thousands more will be discovered.

Day 14 Xi’an
Terracotta Warriors and Horses: In 1987, the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit were approved by UNESCO to be included in the “World Heritage List”, known as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, and more than 200 foreign heads of state and government heads visited successively, becoming a glorious ancient China. A golden business card of civilization, and also known as one of the world’s top ten rare treasures of ancient tombs.

Keep visiting city wall of Xi’an, Big Goose and Little Goose Pagodas.

Day 15 Xi’an – Huashan Mountain
Surviving The World’s Most Dangerous Hike – Mt Huashan

Day 16 Huashan Mountain – Yan’an, 390km
If you want to understand the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Red Army, and the Long March of the Red Army, you must go to Yan’an.

Day 17 Yan’an – Pingyao, 360km
Pingyao Ancient Town, The birthplace of China’s banking industry, Famous historical and cultural city in China, world cultural heritage. The ancient city of Pingyao has a history of more than 2,800 years. It also relatively well retains the basic style and features of the county town in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and is the most complete ancient city in the Han nationality area of China.

Day 18 Pingyao – Yingxian, 350km
Visit Yingxian Wooden Pagoda. The original name of the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is Fogong Temple Sakyamuni Pagoda. It is the tallest and oldest wooden pagoda in China, and it is also the only wooden pavilion pagoda. The wooden pagoda was built in the second year of Qingning in Liao Dynasty (1056). It has a history of more than 1,000 years. The tower is 67.31 meters high and the bottom layer is 30.27 meters in diameter. Single eaves. There are five floors and six eaves in total; the appearance is five floors, but there are four levels of dark floors inside the tower, which is actually nine floors. The nine-story tower is all built with red pine wood, and the consumable red pine wood is 3,000 cubic meters and more than 2,600 tons. The whole pagoda has no nails and rivets, and is extremely exquisite. Two Sakyamuni Buddha teeth are enshrined in the pagoda.

Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, together with the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, is also known as the “Three Great Towers in the World”. In September 2016, it was recognized by Guinness World Records as “the tallest wooden tower in the world”. But that’s not the most amazing thing about it. To say that the most amazing thing about Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is that although it does not require any nails or rivets, it has survived wind and rain and has stood up to this day.

Day 19 Yingxian – Hunyuan – Datong, 120km
Hanging Temple: The thousand-year-old Hanging Temple is only supported by a single log without a single nail. It is known as a miracle in the history of ancient architecture.
Yungang Grottoes: Yungang Grottoes is one of the three major grottoes in my country, representing the outstanding Buddhist grotto art in China from the 5th to the 6th centuries AD. Yungang Grottoes have 254 small and large niches, 45 main caves, and more than 59,000 statues. It is the pinnacle of Chinese Buddhist art, a historical monument of cultural integration, and represents the highest level of world sculpture art. In December 2001, it was included in the “World Cultural Heritage” list by UNESCO.

Day 20 Datong – Great Wall of China, 280km
Drive 4 hours to Great Wall of China, one of the most notorious structures in the entire world.We will camp or stay in hotel near the Great Wall.

Day 21 Great Wall – Beijing, 70km
Today we enter the urban area of Beijing, city with the most world heritage sites in the world, with many historical sites and cultural landscapes. Beijing has a history of about 3,000 years, and it is one of the four ancient cities of China. Within the last few decades, Beijing has transformed into one of the most modern, dynamic, and global cities in the world.

Day 22 Beijing
Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, etc.One day is not enough to explore this great city.

Day 23 Beijing
Olympic Park, Bird’s Nest Stadium and so on.

Day 24 Beijing – Erenhot, 670km
Drive 8 hours mostly on highway to the Border City Erenhot.

Day 25 Erenhot – Mongolia
Complete exit procedures such as border inspection and customs. Byebye China, Hello Mongolia.